To conserve time and effort, we have decided to shorten our blog installments and possibly describe only a few events for each day.
Leaving Lijiang, we noticed that our van now displayed the Chinese flag on its antenna, a reminder of the Olympic torch relay from the day before. It was now much easier to spot in a sea of parked vehicles.
While traveling the winding road to Tiger Leaping Gorge, Elena talked about some ancient history of the region. One interesting item was that centuries ago, merchants wore silver as they traveled on the Tea and Horse caravan road. The purpose of the silver was to test the water. If the silver turned black, the water was not safe to drink.
Along the way we stopped at the historic site called Big Stone Drum, and first sat for a short concert by Naxi band playing their ancient instruments. We then walked to the ancient Big Stone Drum which has inscriptions describing how the Yunnan and Naxi warriors fought and conquered other tribes. Later, along the way to Tiger Leaping Gorge we stopped to enjoy a short rafting trip on a section of the Yangtze called the Jianghua meaning golden sands. The water was light brown.
Our trek to Tiger Leaping Gorge was along a walkway cut into the side of the gorge. Before arriving in the parking lot, Elena warned us about the risk of falling rock along the walkway, and said that we needed to stay close to the wall. During the rainy season, it is actually closed due the increased number of rockslides. The gorge was formed by the Yangtze River and is very deep, narrow and beautiful. As we walked towards the rapids, guards and signs repeated the message to stay close to the wall. If anyone wandered away from the rock face to peer over the edge, usually a nearby guard picked up his megaphone and reminded them to move back. The English translations on the warning signs were both confusing and humorous, for example: “Within 200 meters, notice the rockslide, please is run about by cliff.”
On the opposite side of the gorge is a road at about the same elevation as our walkway. At one point, we heard some noise and quickly looked to see a small rockslide in progress. Fortunately, there were no vehicles in that section of the road at the time.
We continued to watch as the rocks crashed against the canyon wall and into the river.
Along the walkway, several sections were blocked and we were diverted into tunnels recently cut through the canyon wall to go around the most dangerous places. While traversing the tunnels we noticed the echo, and after one thing led to another, we were all singing “Row, row, row your boat” with staggered starts. Elena loved it and wanted to sing it in every tunnel so she could really learn the song. We’re going to miss her.
The legend of Tiger Leaping Gorge relates that several Naxi men went hunting for many days searching for a tiger. When they finally had a tiger trapped at the edge of the cliff, it only hesitated for a short time before jumping down onto the large rock in the middle of the raging river that split the gorge, and then leaped to the other side to freedom. The “tiger stone” saved the tiger. The gorge is one of the deepest in the world and the Yangtze River sounds like a roaring tiger as the water crashes around the rocks.
In this gorge the Yangtze has 34 rapids, and looking at some of them, we couldn’t imagine anyone safely rafting this section and living to tell the story. The Yangtze in this area is called the Jinsha relating to the gold that used to be found in this area.
Leaving Tiger Leaping Gorge we reluctantly said goodbye to Elena at the restaurant where we had lunch. She was catching a bus back to Lijiang and we headed to Shangri-La.
Along the way, our new guide mentioned that Shangri-La’s elevation is the highest in China. A total of 360,000 people live in the Shangri-La area, and its population makeup is 55% Tibetans and 45% other minorities.
In 2001 the Chinese government changed the name of the town from Chungking to Shangri-La, and has pumped money into the area to develop tourism. A new paved winding mountain road, completed in three years, replaced the old narrow road from Tiger Leaping Gorge to Shangri-La to provide easier access. Earlier this morning the Olympic torch relay had passed through the town.
Consider picking up a copy of Hilton’s “Lost Horizon” to decide for yourself if this could be the location of his Shangri-La.
Tamara, Rich and Garry
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