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Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the deepest in the world – hiking it was an absolute must on my Yunnan itinerary.
After spending three days in Shanghai, then flying to Lijiang, where I spent another three days, I did the Tiger Leaping Gorge trek on the way to Shangri-La and Yubeng.
Because China is changing so quickly and there hasn’t been muhoch information published post-COVID, I found that A LOT of the information about Tiger Leaping Gorge in guidebooks and online was totally wrong or outdated.
Therefore, I’m writing this article to share the most current information about how to get from Lijiang to Tiger Leaping Gorge, how to send your luggage to the end of the trail, the new trailhead for the two-day hiking route, why I chose to sleep at Halfway Guesthouse (see on Trip / Booking / Klook), and how to take the bus to Shangri-La after.
Table of Contents
Tiger Leaping Gorge Hike Quick Intro
Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峡 or Hǔtiào Xiá) is a dramatic canyon on the Jinsha River (金沙江), which is an upper stretch of the Yangtze River (长江).
Technically in Shangri-La county, it lies 60 kilometers north of Lijiang and 80 kilometers south of Shangri-La city.
The river flows in a northeastern direction (you’ll be trekking downstream), carving out a 15-kilometer canyon that is 3790 meters from river to the highest peaks flanking it.
Notable mountains around it include Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to the east (玉龙雪山, 5596m), which I visited in my Lijiang itinerary, and Haba Snow Mountain (哈巴雪山, 5396m) to the west.
The gorge is named after a legend that a tiger escaped hunters by leaping across the river at its narrowest point (25 m). There’s actually two claimed spots where this happened – I’ll introduce both in the article below.
Tiger Leaping Gorge and the hiking trail through it are well-known across China and even abroad. It has been popular among trekkers for decades.
Most of the trekkers I met in the gorge were Chinese, but there was a sprinkling of foreign visitors, too.
The gorge is divided into three sections: Upper (starting point, in the southwest), Middle (ending point for most trekkers), and Lower (in the northeast, also called Walnut Grove – most trekkers don’t go that far).
For the typical two-day trek which I’ll be guiding you along, I took a bus from Lijiang to the trailhead at the Upper Section and had my driver drop my luggage at the Middle Section (where I would end my trek).
The trail traditionally starts at a village called Qiaotou, but as I will describe in the article, the bus I took from Lijiang skipped Qiaotou and dropped me at a new starting point a little further into the gorge.
I then hiked to and spend the night at the stunning Halfway Guesthouse (see on Trip / Booking / Klook). I recommend using Trip for your hotels in China, since that is the most common one there, plus the prices tend to be lower.
From trailhead to guesthouse on Day 1, the hike took me six hours (including one hour lunch stop).
The next day, I did the short and comparatively easy hike from there to Jiantang Village or “Middle Gorge” (2 hours), then a very tough side hike down to Tiger Leaping Stone at the riverside (2 hours return), for a total of four hours of hiking on Day 2.
Finally, I retrieved my luggage (I explain the new luggage pick-up location at the end of the article) and caught the bus to Shangri-La.
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Getting from Lijiang to Tiger Leaping Gorge
The information in this section is crucial, as all of the information I had found for getting from Lijiang to Tiger Leaping Gorge before my trip was wrong.
How to Buy the Bus Ticket
In the Lonely Planet China I was using (16th edition, published 2021, which was likely researched in 2020), the information was very outdated for this part of my trip.
For example, it said there was a special shuttle for trekkers which would pick you up from any guesthouse in Lijiang, take you to the trailhead, and forward your luggage to the end of the trek.
Update: The 17th edition of Lonely Planet China (2025) was published shortly after my 2025 trip, although it was likely researched in 2024. Now that I’ve looked at, I’m sorry to report that it still has multiple errors, including the non-existent shuttle. It doesn’t even mention the actual bus (which I will describe below) and it wrongly describes where your luggage will be sent to at the end of the trek.
I stayed in two different guesthouses in Lijiang, and neither of them had heard of this shuttle.
In the end, I simply walked to Lijiang Bus Station (here) – it was a 15-minute walk from Zhongyi Market at the southern entrance of Lijiang Ancient Town.
At the ticket counter, I asked for a ticket to Tiger Leaping Gorge trailhead (虎跳峡登山口) for two days later. I also stated that I wanted my luggage to be dropped off at Middle Gorge (虎跳峡中峡).
They simply charged me for a single ticket to Middle Gorge and told me that I would need to inform the driver that I would get off at the trailhead and my luggage should be dropped off at Middle Gorge.
I should note that I can speak Mandarin. If you cannot, and you want to do exactly the same as me, then I suggest you just show them the following Mandarin sentences:
我要去虎跳峽，我想在虎跳峡登山口下车，但请帮我把行李搬到虎跳峡中峡。(I want to go to Tiger Leaping Gorge. I want to get off the bus at Tiger Leaping Gorge Trailhead, but please take my luggage to Middle Gorge).
Next, they will likely ask you how many passengers and which date and time you want to go – just use your favorite translation app if needed.
When I went, there were two departing buses per day, at 9:00 AM and 9:30 AM. My one-way ticket to Middle Gorge cost RMB 40 (USD 6). I had to show my passport to buy the ticket.
They also offered me a second option: to purchase a ticket to the trailhead only, which would have been cheaper, then pay the driver RMB 20 to take my luggage to the end – I didn’t choose this option, but I mention in case they try to offer it to you, or that’s the ticket you somehow end up with.
If your ticket is to Middle Gorge (meaning you’ve paid for your luggage to be taken to the end of the gorge), then it will say 中峡 (Middle Gorge) somewhere on it – most likely 丽江 –虎跳峽中峽 (Lijiang to Tiger Leaping Gorge Middle Gorge).
Riding the Bus
The next day when I boarded the bus, I mentioned again to the driver that I wanted to get off at the trailhead but he should take my luggage Middle Gorge (just show the Mandarin sentence I typed above to the driver).
Later, the driver of my bus tried to ask for me for an additional 20 for taking the bag, even though I’d already paid for it to be taken to Middle Gorge.
I reminded him of this and showed him my ticket, and he let it go. Whether he was trying to scam me for extra cash or had simply forgotten, I’m not sure, but I would guess it was the latter.
Arriving at the Gorge
The bus ride to Tiger Leaping Gorge took two hours. As for where to get off the bus and the trailhead location, my Lonely Planet was again outdated here, while the newer edition just doesn’t even mention the bus.
The guidebook described that I would need to get off the bus at Qiaotou village (here), pay the park entrance fee, and walk up a road past a school to find the trailhead. The trail would then supposedly ascend to Naxi Family Guesthouse in Nuoyu village (诺余), where I planned to have lunch.
Maybe it was like this in the past, but the bus I took did not even go to Qiaotou village.
Instead of turning left to Qiaotou village, we turned right to the Tiger Leaping Gorge Scenic Area Ticket Office (here), where a park staff member boarded the bus and charged everyone the park entrance fee (RMB 45).
Most of the passengers (all locals – I was the only foreigner on the bus) got off the bus here, and there were taxi drivers waiting to take them to their hotels in the area. I seemed to be the only person on my bus that was doing the full hike.
At this point, I was confused, because I felt like we’d skipped the stop where I was supposed to get off and find the trailhead, as described in the Lonely Planet.
But the driver insisted that I just hang on, as he’d be taking me to another trailhead. I trusted him and waited.
After the short stop, the bus started driving up the vehicle road which runs through the gorge (also called the Lower Road, while the hike above is the Upper Road).
Five minutes in, just after a distinctive tall blue bridge across the river (see photo above), the driver let me off here. It was at this point that I realized what my trekking route would be.
Instead of walking from Qiaotou village to the west up to Nuoyu village (my lunch stop), I would be taking a small car road directly north (and steeply uphill) to Nuoyu.
In other words, I would skip the first section of the hike (I don’t think I missed any great views or anything) and take a steep road uphill to join the traditional hike at Nuoyu.
My Experience Hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge
I’ll now cover every step of my route on the two-day trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Trailhead to Nuoyu Village (Lunch Stop)
If you somehow start your hike in Qiaotou, the traditional starting point, the trail will go uphill to Nuoyu village. But for me, I started my hike a little further into the gorge where the bus dropped me off.
As soon as I got off the bus, there was a driver waiting at the bus stop asked me if I wanted a ride up to Nuoyu, but I insisted on walking up.
Despite the poor, overcast weather and occasional drops of rain, I set off in a high mood.
The small car road wound its way steeply uphill, with views looking down on the gorge behind me quickly growing more dramatic.
Within a short time, I had reached the height of the tall blue bridge and then continued to ascend far above it. I now have a silly number photos of that bridge, because the view looking down on it kept getting better the higher I went.
Signs along the way pointed towards Naxi Family Guesthouse (纳西雅阁客栈), where I planned to have lunch.
I passed several small farms, a camel (??), and some cool traditional gravestones. The scenery of course continued to get better and better.
Finally, I reached an intersection in Nuoyu village (more like a couple farmhouses than a village) where I could go right to the 28 Turns (the main trail I’d soon be taking) or left to Naxi Guesthouse, which was visible just a few steps away.
I reached Naxi Guesthouse (not marked on GoogleMaps) almost exactly one hour after I’d got off the bus.
In the guesthouse, I enjoyed a lunch of homemade chicken soup, cucumbers fried with egg, mint tea, and also purchased a couple bottles of water.
In total it cost me RMB 60 (USD 8) – pricier than in the city most likely, but still a bargain compared to back home.
Nuoyu to 28 Turns
The owner of Naxi Guesthouse told me that it would take me 4-5 hours to hike from there to my hotel, Halfway House in Bendiwan village, or 3 hours if I hiked very quickly (I hike at average speed, and in the end, it would take me 4 hours).
From Naxi Guesthouse, I returned towards the intersection I’d just come from, but instead of taking the car road, I bypassed the intersection by taking a nicer walking path above it – the guesthouse owner pointed me to it as I was leaving.
After I few steps, I found myself at what felt like the actual start of the hiking trail. Several horses waited here for potential clients like me. As I passed, one of the horse guides said, “Ha-lo! Hor-sa?”
While I’d love to support these local villagers, to be totally honest, you couldn’t pay me enough to ride on one of those up poop-dropping machines up the precarious, cliffside trail to come.
On a related note, this would be a good time to mention that I highly recommend getting some kind of travel insurance for your trip. While Tiger Leaping Gorge isn’t particularly dangerous as long as you hike carefully, things can go wrong on any kind of trek.
If you’re a frequent traveler like me, I recommend the Nomad Insurance offered by SafetyWing. Click here to read about the differences between their Essential Insurance, which would cover any potential trip delays or hospital visits, and their Complete Insurance, with even more comprehensive coverage.
Anyways, as I started along the trail, I turned back to see views of Nuoyu village and that same blue bridge.
Within minutes, I reached the start of the 28 Turns (28道拐, here). This is a notorious section of the trail which goes steeply uphill.
There are of course 28 sharp bends in the trail along the way. As expected, it was gruelling.
Nearing the top, I passed a café with a view and a cute name: 加油站 (jia you zhan). Literally “add oil station”, this means “gas station” in Mandarin.
However, “add oil” (加油) in Mandarin is also used as words of encouragement to passing trekkers, along the likes of “good job, keep going!” in English. So rather than a literal gas station, this is a stop where you can fuel up on energy.
Just above the “gas station”, I reached a sharp corner with a particularly stunning view. Looking backwards, I got what I thought would be my last view of the blue bridge (there would still be one more later – honestly, I was tired of seeing it).
But also, this was the first time I could actually see down the valley in the direction I’d be walking.
The large mountain dominating my views around this part of the trail was Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which I had just visited from Lijiang the day before.
Having left my lunch spot at 1:00 PM, I reached the top of the 28 bends at 1:40. But that was a tough 40 minutes of hiking!
At least I thought it was the top – after a false peak, the trail just kept going upwards even more. It wasn’t very clear at what point I’d finally finished the 28 Turns, and it really felt like there were more than 28 of them!
28 Turns to Tiger Leaping Rock and Bendiwan
Around 2:30, I finally reached what I believe was the highest point of the whole trek, marked by a Chinese flag. An elderly couple ran a tiny shop there with instant noodles, chocolate bars, and drinks.
And yes, every vendor on the trail, even the tiniest ones like these, takes WeChat and AliPay.
The flag was planted out on a point which I assume offered an epic view looking both up and down the valley, but the couple was trying to charge RMB 10 to step out onto it.
Now 10 yuan isn’t much, but I’m not a fan of locals asking for money for views that should be part of the trail, not to mention there were so many other viewpoints before and after it, so I skipped this one.
Also, looking back from here, I got what would finally be my last view of the blue bridge for the day. It was hard to believed I’d hiked from the riverside all the way up to this height in only a couple hours.
From there, the narrow trail went along a rather precarious cliff for some time, with stunning views to my right. On the plus side, the trail was mostly flat here.
Then the trail finally started going downhill through some forest, including a section with bamboo. Gorge views were limited, not to mention it started raining.
At some point, I got a view looking down at Tiger Leaping Rock (here on the Lower Road through the gorge). This is the first of two claimed spots where the Tiger Leaped from one side of the river to the other via a huge stone, thus it is known as Upper Tiger Leaping Rock (上虎跳).
This is the most popular tourist attraction in the gorge for those who are just driving through and not hiking it.
From far above, I could see a parking lot filled with tour buses and cars, and tourists on a large platform looking out at the huge stone in the river.
Not long after the Tiger Leaping Stone viewpoint, I encountered a tiger statue along the trail. A sign said I should pay RMB 5 to take a photo with it, but no one was around to collect the money.
Looking down on the gorge, it was particularly narrow at this point. There was a trail carved into the cliffs on the opposite side, which I assume is mainly for locals.
Around 3:30, or 2.5 hours after I’d left my lunch stop, I reached Tea Horse Guesthouse (茶马客栈, here, see on Trip / Booking / Agoda) in Yacha village (牙叉).
Many hikers spend the night here, and I was very tempted to, especially since it is closer to the actual mid-point of the hike, whereas my hotel (Halfway Guesthouse) is closer to the end.
However, in the end I went with Halfway House, because it looked a smidge nicer to me. And I didn’t mind hiking longer on Day 1 so that I could have a shorter hike on Day 2, and more energy for the steep side trail I’d be doing at the end.
And so I pressed on past Tea Horse, following a paved vehicle road out of Yacha village. This eventually turned into a dirt road and then narrow walking path again. There were more people (both trekkers and villagers selling things) along the trail here.
I passed some pretty cliffs, random goats, and another forest section before Bendiwan village (本地湾), the location of my guesthouse, came into view.
I had to cross most of the town, the final slog of my day, to reach Halfway House at the end of it. I finally reached the guesthouse at 5 PM – six hours after I’d got off the bus or four hours after I’d left my lunch stop.
Staying at Halfway House
I was thoroughly exhausted as I finally stepped foot in Halfway Guesthouse (see on Trip / Booking / Klook). The entrance at Halfway leads into a large courtyard surrounded by the rooms.
A staircase on the side of the courtyard leads up to the guesthouse’s large lookout platform.
I found the check-in window and restaurant at the side of the courtyard. At the front, staircases led down to the best (gorge-facing) rooms.
I had paid extra for one of the better rooms here, which came with a small balcony and epic gorge view.
After checking in to my room, I went up to the lookout balcony and café, which has the bad-ass name “Tigerbucks.”
The café is in fact gorgeous, with huge floor to ceiling windows facing the gorge and a variety of cozy chairs and tables.
A completely unexpected surprise was the fantastic array of regional craft beers on offer here, for a very reasonable RMB 20 (under USD 3) per bottle.
I got to try a Tibetan pale ale from Shangri-la Brewery, beers from Anhui and Heilongjiang provinces (the latter had Russian writing on it), plus they had others from Laos, Belgium, and more.
With a satisfying buzz, I next made my way to the restaurant, where I splurged on a feast of a whole river fish fried Sichuan-style with copious dried peppers and Sichuan peppercorns. On the side, I had an order of fried green beans and eggplant.
Just after ordering my meal, I started to notice some commotion at the front windows of the restaurant.
When I looked out, I saw that the setting sun was lighting up a few of the peaks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain directly across the gorge – this came after a full day of hiking in crappy weather with no direct sunshine whatsoever.
I wasn’t the only person to notice or get excited. Literally every person in the nearly-full restaurant bolted outside and up to the lookout balcony, which was now packed with guests.
Everyone was snapping photos and I did the same. We were rewarded with the most stunning views of the towering peaks – snow-capped mountains that had been hidden by clouds all day long.
This was a shared moment of awe and achievement among the 100+ guests crammed on the balcony at that moment.
Those Chinese craft beers may have had something to do with it, but I was moved to tears.
Bendiwan to Jiantang Village (End of Trail)
Halfway House may be roughly in the middle of Tiger Leaping Gorge. But since I would be ending my hike at Middle Gorge, which most people do, Halfway House is well over halfway to the end.
I left Halfway at 9: 30 AM and it only took me about 2 hours to hike to Jiantang village (建塘村), also known as Middle Gorge (中峽). Most of this walk was flat and much easier than the day before.
This was however a particularly gorgeous part of the hike, despite the rain that persisted through the morning.
This section was also far more crowded than the day before – I’m not sure if it’s just a more popular section, or everyone happened to leave the hotels around a similar time.
Leaving the village, the trail hugged the steep cliffs for much of it. Just after the end of town, I passed some lookout platforms then the path took a sharp turn.
I also passed some local villagers with horses and a few interesting local houses.
At this point, I got my first view of the incredibly scenic Jiantang Village in the distance. The village hangs from the top of a particularly steep and narrow section of the gorge, where I would soon hike down to the second Tiger Leaping Stone (visible in below photo).
Before reaching Jiantang village, the trail veered to the left and Longdong Water Waterfall (龙洞水瀑布, here) came into view across a small valley.
Following the narrow trail towards it, with increasing numbers of trekkers, we had to cross a section where a small landslide had just happened. Some small rocks were even still falling down.
After crossing the landslide as quickly as I could, which was terrifying, I reached the waterfall, where many trekkers were taking photos.
Moving along, I encountered more goats, more impressive views, and more vendors along the trail.
Near the finish, there was one final steep ascent and then a descent to the the Middle Gorge trailhead in Jiantang village, which is marked by Tina’s Guesthouse (中峡国际青年旅舍).
This is the end of the hike for most people, myself included.
From the point where the trail meets the highway (here), I had to walk up a short but steep driveway to the entrance of Tina’s (not marked on GoogleMaps).
Lunch, Luggage Confusion, and Buying Bus Ticket
In the Lonely Planet, it says that Tina’s Guesthouse (see on Trip) is the main guesthouse in Middle Gorge and the place that the bus will take your luggage to.
This is incorrect, and I’m sure the guesthouse is tired of trekkers like me showing up and asking about their luggage. They’ll have to put up with it for a while, as the new Lonely Planet published in 2025 still says this.
When I arrived at Tina’s, I just wanted to confirm my luggage was there before anything else. When I asked about it, the staff member just pointed outside and told me to get it there. I had no idea what this meant or where he was pointing at. He used grunts instead of words.
I had to really press him (and another staff member) to get a better explanation (and I can speak Mandarin…) I finally understood that my luggage was not here. It was actually at a totally different building at the bottom of their driveway and across the street – we’ll get there at the end of the article.
However, I still had two other reasons to stop at Tina’s. First, I needed to buy a bus ticket to Shangri-La (you can also buy a ticket to Lijiang if you’re going back there).
The staff member told me there were buses to Shangri-La at 1:40, 3:30, 4:30m and 9 PM. The time was now 12:00 PM, so I bought a ticket for 3:30 PM (RMB 55), giving me plenty of time for lunch and the side hike to Tiger Leaping Stone.
When I tried to ask the staff members (four of them in total!) how long the hike should take, they had no idea. Considering this is a very popular hike, to a stone that the whole gorge is named after, and it starts near their hotel, I was shocked that the staff could be this uninformed.
I gave up on asking and ordered a lunch of egg drop soup and more eggs fried with tomatoes.
Overall, my impression of Tina’s Guesthouse is that their staff has no idea what’s going on or how to answer extremely basic questions from visitors – questions that they probably get asked every day. The restaurant also lacks a view.
If you’re considering staying here, thing twice about it. I’ll recommend a better hotel below (the one where your luggage will be!)
Update: one commenter on this article mentions that the staff at Tina’s were friendly and helpful, so maybe I just got them on a bad day!
Side Hike to Tiger Leaping Stone
Update: According to one reader (see comments at the end), this hike is now totally closed and they’ve even removed some of the ladders. I’ll still leave this section up in case it reopens again. If you try and find anything has changed, please let me know in the comments!
As I mentioned earlier in the article, there are two claimed spots in Tiger Leaping Gorge where, legend has it, a tiger leaped across the gorge via a huge boulder in the middle of the river.
The second Tiger Leaping Stone (虎跳石) is here, at the bottom of the cliffs upon which Jiantang Village rests.
It seems rather convenient that the gorge has two possible “Tiger Leaping Stones”. The first one in the upper gorge is accessible by car, so it’s there for all the tour bus groups.
The second one, in Middle Gorge, requires a very steep descent (and then return ascent), so it’s for the hikers.
Update: According to one reader comment (dated early November 2025, see end of article), this trail seems to be closed recently. But it’s possible to hike down to the river from another spot further east around Walnut Grove.
Even though the trailhead to Tiger Leaping Stone is only about 15 minutes’ walk from Tina’s, it took me a while to actually find it. There are no signs pointing to it, and of course the staff at Tina’s couldn’t tell me.
I walked along the highway to find the trailhead right about here. Some locals at the gate charged me RMB 15 to enter, because the trail goes through private land.
From the gate the trail descends extremely steeply down into the gorge. The trail was so steep in parts that I had to use my hands or ropes and ladders that were in place. I dreaded coming back up.
As I descended, I got breathtaking views of the rushing river and Tiger Leaping Stone below. There were also several small stalls selling drinks.
Reaching the bottom, I found that there were not one but several boulders in the river. A couple of them were free to visit, with a small bridge connecting them.
Several hikers were standing out on the rocks, with the rushing river beside them. The raw power of the river at this extremely narrow section was truly awesome.
But the boulder which I believe is “The One”, of course had another entrance fee (RMB 10). I really wanted to walk onto it, just so I could say I had, so I coughed up the money this time.
A rickety bridge led out to the stone, from which I enjoyed an amazing view looking up and down the river. Maybe I even stepped on the same spot that the legendary tiger had!
The return journey up the cliffs was just as brutal as I had imagined. Worth the effort – yes – but that didn’t make it any easier to get back up to the top.
Note: If you plan to hike to Walnut Grove, there’s a trail that follows river downstream to it. That may be tough to imagine looking at the above photo, but I saw the trail carved into the cliffs.
There’s an additional fee if you go that way, since it crosses into someone else’s private land. This was explained to me by the woman who had collected my fee to hike down to Tiger Leaping Stone.
Collecting My Luggage and Bus to Shangri-La
Back near Tina’s, I entered the new building where supposedly my luggage should be. The building is pretty unmissable – its exterior is designed to look like jagged cliffs.
It houses several businesses, including a small convenience store, café, and cool-looking hotel called Moye Snow Mountain Cliff Hotel (墨野·雪山悬崖酒店, here, see on Trip / Booking / Agoda). Choose here if you have to spend the night in this town!
When I entered the building’s open air courtyard and asked random people about luggage, someone pointed me to a side room, where I found racks filled with suitacses and backpacks, including my own.
Surprisingly, there was no door to the room, nor was there anyone watching it. Literally anyone could walk in and grab any bag. But this is also a testament to just how safe China is. Just don’t leave any valuables in your luggage, just in case.
I had a little extra time to kill. I went up to the café on the second floor, which was actually surprisingly cool.
Called 棲崖咖啡廳 (or “Cliff Café”), it looked like something out of Shanghai, with super high ceilings, minimalist design, hipster coffee drinks, plus amazing gorge views out the huge windows.
When the time came, my bus to Shangri-La stopped right in the parking lot of the hotel. The bus to Shangri-La took 2 hours and 20 minutes.
I got off at the second last stop, the East Gate of Dukezong (the Tibetan heart of the city, where I would be staying), rather the final stop, the bus station, which is in the north of the city. To continue along my journey, see my guides to Shangri-La and Yubeng!
Thanks for detailed description of the route with so many gorgeous photos packed with useful information. It is really a painstaking job to piece up the info in a logical sequence. Thanks once again.
This is extremely useful – I’m hiking this next week! Appreciate it!
Thanks for this, i will do the hiking tomorrow, a lit bit scaried about the luggage stuff, but i appreciate your tips
Hello Nick,
Thank you for the detailed information.
May I know did you have to book your accommodation in advance or you just walk-in?
I’m not a very spontaneous traveler – I travel for work (writing these articles), so my trips tend to be packed and I plan out everything weeks or months in advance, with specific hotels I very much want to stay at. So I’m sorry I can’t say whether it would be possible to just show up and get a room. It will likely depend on what day/season you go, too. Many of the guests are locals, so it will be more likely to sell out on weekends and holidays. Good luck with your trip!
I just finished Tiger Leaping Gorge. I want to tank you for the info on this post, it helped me a lot to get there and plan my trekking. I’d like to point out, though, that the luggage store place doesn’t belong to Moye Hotel, but actually is shared betwen Moye and Tina’s – and pehaps all the accomodations nearby. It turns out that Moye is closer to the lugagge store, but that’s it. So, technically, it’s correct saying the lugagge will be dropped off either in Moye or Tina’s. Once again, thank you for all the info provided. Cheers!
Thank for you for mentioning this. I’ve made a small edit to clarify it!
This is very detailed and helpful, thank you.
We are considering TLG next year with our 4 year old. She’s hiked her whole life, so very capable for her age, but wondering about the steep drop off – how much of the track is narrow and has an exposed edge? Too risky for a kid?
There are definitely some sections where the path is quite narrow and has a steep drop-off on the side, not to mention you sometimes have to pass horses/donkeys (always stay on the inside when you do, and they will pass on the drop-off side). However, I never felt unsafe. With a four-year-old, I think the hike would definitely take a little longer than the times I’ve listed here, so you’d need to account for that. And for those narrower sections with drop off (which are only a very small percentage of the total hike), you’d want to watch her carefully or walk hand in hand. If she has enough experience to handle the hike, I think it would be fine.
My friend and I just completed this hike a few days ago and found your post very useful so thank you! The new hotel was under renovation so we had lunch at Tina’s and found the lady there to be very polite and smiley. She booked the bus back for us and chatted when she could.
Glad you found my post useful, and also that the staff at Tina’s were friendly/helpful!
Thanks a lot Nick for all the details that eased our hike A LOT !!
We stayed at the Tea Horse GH that we preferred compared to Half Way that s becoming something a bit too big for our taste.
Also, on the way back, the traditional path to see the river was closed !!!! Don t know why….
Anyway to go by the river side we went down, walking along the highway for about 30 min. When you reach Château of Woody guest house (on your right), turn right, there s a sign ! You walk 5 min on a paved road and then it s a path. Carefully it s super stiff ! But we reached the river and we were alone !!!! A hard way back up awaits you afterwards !
(We had lunch at Tina, it s was below average….)
Thank you for sharing your experience and the info about the side trail to the river. I’ve added a note to the article about it!
Thanks a lot for taking the time to write the detailed trekking info. It is really helpful. I am planning to hike in early Feb ’26. Is there any other article or help regarding hiking til Walnut Grove!! Also, is there a reason why you didn’t go that far!! Thank you again.
Sorry, I don’t have any info or link for that part since I didn’t do it. To me, it just seemed like most people finish their hike at Jiantang Village (Tina’s Guesthouse). That’s where you can get your luggage forwarded to and catch the bus onward to Shangri-La, which is what I wanted to do. To proceed to Walnut Grove, all I know is that you’ll have to start by hiking the extremely steep trail down to the river, and then there’s a path from there. Also, you’ll have to pay a fee to take that trail down, and then another one to head to Walnut Grove, as the trails pass through private lands. I think it’s also possible (and easier) if you just walk along the highway past Tina’s for 30 minutes, and you’ll reach another road or trail to access Walnut Grove – that way may be easier. The second last (2022 I think) China Lonely Planet has a little info about the Walnut Grove extension. Good luck with your planning!
Hello and thank you for your detailed explanation. I would like to add, that the lower part as of now (Nov 2025 is completly closed) – I tried to hike there anyway, but some ladders have been removed so no chance.
Generally there is a lot of “development” going on in the area, so I expect that the way will be opened at some point, but in the chinese, paved, very safe style.
That’s really too bad, but thanks for letting me know. I’ve added a update to the article about it.
Just want to update on the hike that I did a few days ago. Boarded the bus at Lijiang and while in transit the driver yells out apparently asking everyone where they are getting off. I obviously couldn’t understand anything but the kind students in front of me spoke a little English and translated. Luckily they were doing the hike too from the same place.
At the drop off point everyone is getting off and I was trying to explain about forwarding my luggage. I was pretty anxious about where my luggage was going to go.
I called my brother who speaks Chinese and he had a 10 minute conversation with the driver and other bus passengers explaining what I wanted to do lol. Although it seems like the luggage forwarding and holding is pretty common so hopefully if you just use a translation app it will be understood eventually. Paid for the entry ticket, got the drivers wechat and paid for the next bus ticket to shangri la. He sent me a message with the licence plate of the bus I should catch tomorrow.
Then me and the students get into a small van which goes up to Naxi guesthouse which is where I wanted to start from. That cost 25rmb.
Starting from there in my opinion is ideal, unless you have a lot of time and want to burn calories I can’t see any good reason to walk up the road to Naxi.
From Naxi the hike is tough with the uphill and shortness of breath from the altitude. I stayed at comeinn which was nice enough. I didn’t eat anything until the next day I went to halfway for some photos in the morning. Then onto middle gorge. Went to that rock cafe and had a 58rmb coffee. For sure nobody is checking and you can just wall in there and take photos.
Tried to walk to your pin on the map to get down to the gorge, some other tourists were walking back and said there’s nothing there. Saw another apparent entrance to go down but the local said it’s closed because its dangerous. Maybe the time of year? Gutted, didn’t get down to the river at all on this trip.
Had lunch at tinas which was yum, and my bag like you said was in the big storage room by the bus station. Took the bus to shangri la which stopped near the ancient city, I wanted to go further into town but the driver seemed to tell everyone to get off and I took a didi to my hotel.
Thanks for the blog post it really helped.
Thank you so much for sharing your detailed trip report. That’s interesting you were able to buy the onward ticket to Shangri-La from the first bus driver. Unfortunately the side hike from Middle Gorge down to the river seems closed right now, and I’ve recently updater my article to mention this.
Thanks for the detailed description in this article. We just returned from Tiger Leap Gorge, and we were not able to descent to the river level at all. According to our bus driver, all paths to the river are closed.
Thanks for the update!
Great job writing this up Nick ! Helps Me while i plan a trip.