This sponsored blog post has been brought to you by Country Holiday.
Yunnan is one of the most colorful and scenic regions in China. The landscape is extremely varied – from the luxuriant fertile plains to rugged Tibetan highland. This area is home to most of China’s colorful ethnic minorities.
The gorge’s namesake, Tiger Leaping Gorge, is derived from a legend about a tiger that jumped across the river at the narrowest point of the gorge, at 25 meters, to escape from a hunter.
It is the norm for tourists to do a “touch and go” by snapping pictures at the legendary rock. Instead, I decided to take my family on an off-the-beaten path trek to admire the majestic beauty of the gorge.
A 2-day trek was prepared by Country Holidays. At the start point of the trail, our guide arranged for two mules; one to carry our luggage and another on “stand-by” just in case my kids were too tired for the climb and wanted a ride. It felt “safer” to walk then to ride mules that prefer to stay on the edge of the trail. It was a challenge to negotiate the “28 bends” but we made it to our highest point at 2660m. The aerial views were breathtaking with the gorge plunging deeply into the river and the snow-capped mountain as the backdrop.
After a tough ascent, we were rewarded with flat land surrounded by corn, wheat and farms. We arrived at our destination, the Tea Horse Guesthouse. The name “Tea Horse” conjured up images of an ancient road treaded by human feet and horse hoofs in the mountains of Southwest China. The guesthouse was surrounded by mountains and the Jade Snow Mountain was visible with the good weather. Equipped with modern amenities, the guesthouse provided a good night’s sleep well after a hard day’s walk.
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, my family started our descent. We enjoyed the crisp air, passed by a series of streams and even crossed a three storey high waterfall! Our hike brought us through a stretch of forest teeming with birdlife and as we came out of the jungle trail and walked through a village, our trek came to an end.
As much as my family enjoyed our trek, we were happy to be roaming around the Lijiang Old Town (heart of Naxi minority and a UNESCO heritage site) with its ancient canals and unique well-preserved houses that evening. The trip ended on a high note at the famous cultural show choreographed by the famous Chinese Director Zhang Yi Mou. With more than 500 dancers as well as horses with the Jade Dragon Mountain as the backdrop, it was the ultimate entertainment.
Written By: Tan Siew Yim
Trip organized by Country Holidays.
To learn more about tours and packages, please email beijing@countryholidays.com.cn or call (010) 8587-9263 and log onto: www.countryholidays.com.cn.
This sponsored blog post has been brought to you by Country Holiday.
Photos courtesy of Country Holidays
