hiking – Page 4 – HurricaneMaine

Tiger Leaping Gorge hike

This is one if the most popular hikes in China but generally only foreigners will hike it. Very few nationals will trek and only locals also use the path. It is difficult in the ascent and a few spots where coordination is required.

The Jinsha river flows through Tiger Leaping Gorge and is between two mountains: Yulong Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. There is a huge stone in the center of the river, and a tiger once leaped from Yulong Snow Mountain to Haba Snow Mountain by jumping on it, which contributes to the name of Tiger Leaping Gorge.

We hired a driver for 500 kuai ($71) to take us there, wait for us, and bring us back to Shuhe old town. We started at the Naxi Family Guesthouse and started along Haba Snow Mountain. The first part of the hike took 2 hours up the steep switchback called 28-bends. There were arrows and signs along the way to help guide in the right direction.

One of these peaks is Jade Dragon Snow mountain.

Looking back to where we started. They are building a new bridge.

A place for a rest in the middle of the 28 bends. This is all uphill.

The views are unbelievable and unforgettable.

We then arrived at the Tea Horse guesthouse to have a Naxi bread sandwich with eggs and vegetables another hour or so later.

We continued until we were at Halfway guest house but stopped at a little place selling cold drinks on the first part of the village instead.

We only saw a handful of people and they were all locals carrying goods or herding their goats and cows.

This gentleman was calling for his cows and then you could hear their bells as they started moving towards him.

Along the way there were great views of Yulong Snow Mountain and the Jinsha (Golden Sands) River Valley below. You could actually break up the hike over many days and stay at these guest houses.

There were lots of spray paint signs just when you thought you were possibly lost.

We hiked down to Tina’s Guesthouse (about another 2 hours) and passed through some pretty waterfalls and canyons on the way. There were a few rockslides to maneuver around.

In total it took us about 7 hours. We carried plenty of water but there are great places to stop along the way. We were grateful for good weather as rain would make this more treacherous. You could spend more than one day meandering and stopping at guest houses. This eventually takes you to Shangri-La.

Of course at the beginning there was some construction to stop traffic so we had a late start. Then there was more construction when we were leaving to view the gorge along the viewing platform. It had just closed when a bunch of people begged the guard to let them in to get a picture. When he did we snuck in too. We could not go down to the bottom but we did get some pictures. There is a place where the tiger statue is on the rock. We did not get to see that.

Not far from the gorge we saw a rainbow. It had rained at the bottom of the mountain.

In this hike there are also caves with cave paintings on them but we should have tried to figure out where those were.

We also saw insects that I could not help taking a picture of.

We also saw wildflowers.

And more grave crypts.

Cangshan mountains, Yunnan

These mountains are the foothills of the Himalayas. The highest peak is Malong at 4122 meters (13,523 ft). You can hike up some very steep paths and do the fitness mountaineering hike up to a glacial lake. But with the rain of the past few days and the rain that had just started that morning, we took the Zhonghe cable car to an elevation of 2600 meters (8530 feet) to start the hike along a paved path. There are 18 peaks in the range. The path cuts across several.

There are many tombs in the side of the mountain. This was popular practice which is no longer allowed to do the large Chinese population.

We took the cloud travellers path across the mountains to the Gantong cable car to go back down. It rained the whole time. This hiking is in paved paths but was still beautiful.

We used a restroom that had a squatty potty over a trough. Water runs every free minutes through the trough. This was a different one for me.

The Zhonghe temple

Some views of the hike were shrouded in low clouds but we took pictures where we could.

The Phoenix eye came was unfortunately closed.

Qilongnv pools

These people are created from a river running through the gorge. There are 6 pools where water is collected in flat areas. There was quite a climb to get above all 6.

The path and the Gorge viewing platform

After returning to old town, we found a Chinese foot massage. Or get needed it after two days of hiking.

We then went to dinner. I tried Dali ice flower beer. It was light and refreshing.

Erhai lake in Dali, Yunnan

Early morning run

It was due to rain all day but as it did not rain at night I was hopeful to get a run in. It started raining when I wanted to begin but tapered off enough to run 7k. I came close to the lake we were visiting today.

We had breakfast and then rented a car to take us to the lake and be at our disposal. For 300 rmb ($42.50), we could go anywhere and he would pick us up for 8 hours. That is for four of us. He drove us to the other side of the lake which is 72 miles (116 km) around it. The west side had many flower and vegetable farms but the east side is where there are villages and better photos.

Shangluang ancient town

We had coffee and cheesecake at a little cafe.

Denied Nanzhou Island tour to foreigners

Bai families live here on this island. We went to buy tickets but they would not sell to foreigners claiming that it wasn’t open fully. I used my translator to inform them that I would be sure to tell tour groups that they were not welcome here in Dali. He looked surprised and I was pretty upset about the interchange as so many others were glad to see us due to lack of tourist money.

Instead we started walking a section around the lake to see other villages. Along the way we were met by police who were obviously looking for the foreigners on the road. They asked us many questions and wanted to see the health code that is standard for moving between places. We cobbled together enough Chinese to answer their questions.

Little Putuo Island 小普陀岛 Xiao Putuo Dao

We called the driver to come get us and we drove to the next island we could visit. Here they sold us tickets as it is manned by locals. On this smallest island in the lake, there is Little Putuo Temple, which was built in the 15^th century, and originally devoted to Bodhisattva Kwanyin (the female Chinese Bodhisattva of compassion, Guanyin).

They use a rope to pull the boat to the other shore.

We drove to another island we could visit that is a fishing village. We decided not to go on it and instead walked along the road to try to take a photo of Dali old town from across the lake.

Dali old town is just across the water and slightly hidden from view of the island.

We had the driver pick us up and take us to Dali city. There we were dropped off on the lake front and what looked like a Thai restaurant was there. It wasn’t Thai. We were not sure what cuisine it was but it was more Thai than anything. The food was delicious.

Sticky rice, peanuts, whole fish, some other meat, pickled fish, and lots of vegetables.

The view right before sundown was gorgeous as well.

A very tiring day but beautiful and… Without rain!

Dragonback, second day

It was a wonderful night of sleep in the village. Quiet and peaceful. Of course we were up late with rice wine and games but it was still a good sleep. Lots of roosters around so most people were not as happy that they were getting up a little earlier. We had time to relax before breakfast.

The Yau minority women stop cutting their hair at the age of 18. If sections do need cut they keep the lengths to make a larger hairpiece as a bun at the top of their head. The shine and health of the hair is amazing. They use the water that they soak the rice in as a rinse.

After breakfast we started our trek back through the terraces, this time going in another direction to see another village and the terraces from a different perspective. We walked through jungle on clay and rock paths winding up mountains and back down the other side. My hiking pole purchase was a great idea. The hike also took us through the terraces where we walked on the paths that Villagers use.

This different dog kept us company the whole hike. He seemed to know the way.

The irrigation and care of the terraces is amazing. There are a lot of rushing streams and waterfalls throughout.

We would still stumble upon random crypts of Villagers who are buried in the terraces.

At the Dazai village we wandered around.

If you enlarge the picture this man is carrying a huge snake!

At the top of the viewing platform. More stairs up and then more stairs back down!

On the way down we stopped to have tea with a friendly villager. I bought two kinds of dried mushroom and also a tea I’ve never had before. This is made from the inside of a mature fruit and it makes a naturally sweet tea. It is called Luo Han Guo.

Another hike and we were at Danzai village where we ate lunch then walked to the parking lot at the base of the cable cars (there is an easier way to see the terraces!)

After a two hour plus bus ride and then a similar length high speed train ride we were home. It only rained once we were on the bus. It was perfect weather considering we are in South East Asia and it is the wet season. At the train station we took over a row of massage chairs!

On a last note, we had to register our names, passport, copy of negative covid-19 test, date arrived back in China, quarantine dates, etc. The police had our itinerary and followed up at every stop requesting those people collect and submit our information again. By the end of the trip we were pretty tired of the scrutiny and the fact that many people have our personal information. Good thing a consulate person was with us as this will be addressed at a higher level. On the train we were asked to show our passport arrival stamp when we came back to China. Myself and a few others refused. Traveling as foreigners is still contentious.

Dragonback rice terraces in Guanxi

After an early morning run and a full breakfast we made it way to the train station to meet everyone that on the tour.

We took a 2 hour bus ride to Longji terrace. This guy hooked a ride on the bus the whole way.

We hiked to the restaurant in PingAn village. They make their own rice wine here.

Longji Rice Terraces, which means Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces, was given its name because the rice terraces resemble a dragon’s scales and the mountain range looks like the backbone of a dragon. It is noted as one of the most beautiful rice terraces in the world and has taken 600 years to build.

We visited the “Seven Stars Accompany the Moon”, which is made of seven small piles of rocks left on purpose by people when they dig up the terraces and a
moon-shaped terrace in the middle.

We also went to another platform
called “Nine Dragons and Five Tigers”. The nine ridges
spread from the main vein of Dragon’s Backbone, which look
like nine dragons bending over to drink water from the Jinsha river.

We then hiked to Zhongliu village. We had to go up and over larger hills and walked around the rice Terraces. Throughout the jungle were other rice Terraces and crypts or vaults built into the terraces were found for those who died.

There are many ethnic groups dwelling in that area and they
account for more than one third of local total population. Our night was a homestay with a family from the local Yao minority. Their one street dog followed us the whole way. I learned to speak Chinese to ask if I could give him the leftover pork. There Chinese lessons are paying off.

Mt. Danxia

I took a trip with Pacha Mama over the weekend. They always find great hiking trips. This trip was to a geopark in the province that is made of red sandstone. With erosion over the centuries, it has created a variety of landforms.

Mount Danxia is about 1 hour high speed train to Shaoguan and another hour or so drive from Guangzhou. That drive takes you to a very different place in China. It is one of the two UNESCO heritage sites in Guangdong province. The draw of this place for the Chinese is the two rock formations that resemble male and female anatomy.

Mount Danxia was beautiful with s variety of trails all with amazing views. There were narrow paths along steep cliffs.

After traveling there and eating a yummy lunch we took a boat ride through the park.

The hike was pretty spectacular with steep, wet stairs. This was to be a sunset hike but impending rain changed our plans.

This is the rocks we need to climb. A series of steep stairs wind around and up this. Our destination is the pagoda at the top.

This rock resembles a male organ. Yangyuanshi is known as the male stone.

Morgana and I. The whole thing is pretty ridiculous, right?

If you look closely you can see the pathway we had to climb.

After making our way up the stairs along the cliff, we were now at the top.

The next morning were supposed to have a sunrise hike but they had closed the opening of the park until 8 due to rain. It didn’t rain though.

I found this guy at the entrance to the cable cars which we used to get to the top and then go down the other side. We were originally to climb the mountain but lost time when that hike was cancelled.

Grotto temple built during the Ming Dynasty. It was abandoned when China became PRC.

A few more stairs again to the pavilion at the top.

Then we had to go back down the stairs that were very narrow and steep.

Biechuan Temple

Walking back towards the entrance.

Xianglonghu lake means flying dragon. It refers to the shadows of the lake when flying overhead as it resembles a dragon. Here we saw children feeding the fish.

The female rock is called Yinyuanshi.

We stayed at a quaint little hotel in the base of the park. Our was a great weekend with people from all over the world.