Tiger Leaping Gorge on the Yangtze River

Tiger Leaping Gorge
Up Close View of the Water Current at Tiger Leaping Gorge
Photo from: Livepine, Creative Commons

Tiger Leaping gorge is located between Yulong snow mountaiun and Haba snow mountain which is about 100 kilometers northwest of Lijjang old town. The gorge is believed to be the deepest valley between the two cliffs in the world. Tiger Leaping Gorge is rated as the worlds number one contestant for the deepest river valley. At the entrance of the gorge, you will find the flowing gold sands of the River Jingsha. This river is about 30 meters wide with fantastic frothing surface.

Spring season is the best time to visit this splendid greenery adventurous spot. Tiger Leaping Gorge is defined as the worlds deepest river-gorge in the world for its death defining depth of approximately 3000 meters from lateral sides of the mountains. The birth of ancient Lijing culture took place in Tiger Leaping Gorge and the Lijing people lived in valleys and caves of Yulong and Haba mountains for many generations. The Tiger Leaping Gorge resembles the culture, resources and traditions of the ancient Lijing people. There are rock paintings in some of the caves of Yulong mountain which resembles the ancient culture.

Tiger Leaping Gorge is divided into three different sections, the first section is the uppermost section with narrowest flow of Jingsha River. This river flows continuously with charming foam and with huge sounds. Jingsha river gets down to 100 meters with increase in incredible speed of flow rate in the middle section the of Tiger Leaping Gorge. This is the place where the water smashes into the large sharp rocks and return back in to the charming foam river forming a whirling motion . This scenic spots makes us feel like heaven.

In the middle section of the gorge, there is a large rock 30 meters wide, positioned at deep narrowest section of the gorge. It is believed that in the past, there was a tiger which used this rock as a stepping stone to leap from one end to the other end . That’s why this gorge is named as “Tiger leaping Gorge”.

The cliffs of the tiger leaping Gorges are more dangerous and much steeper with a sharp inclination angle. This angle makes the Jingsha river turn and twist with intense force of energy forming high tidal waves, as it makes direct impact with the mountain edge. This scenic view gives us a adventures feel and also fulfills the desire of boat rafting. The tiger Leaping gorge expands up to 16 kilometers, which helps the tourists by providing the possibility of boat rafting and drifting. Boat rafting is an adventurous and breathtaking event in the Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Tiger Leaping Gorge is the best place for tourists to go on an extended walk for pleasure. There are 2 ways to reach the gore: one is from Lijing old town, which takes at least two days to climb up the uppermost path of the gorge and the other path starts from Ganhaizi, which is located in Yulong snow mountain. This path takes you to the Lower range of the Tiger Leaping Gorge. This beautiful scenic spot is full of breath taking activities and tons of excitement for the adventurous personality.

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