Many Rivers to Cross – Yangtze

Gleaming snowy peaks and deep river gorges, including the tremendous Tiger Leaping Gorge are the hallmarks of the Upper Yangtze River in the province of Yunnan which in turn is located in the far southwest of China, bordering Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Tibet.

Northern Yunnan is a great place to experience Tibetan people and culture without having to endure the gruelling hardships and expense of a tour to Tibet itself and there are several Yellow Hat Tibetan monasteries located in remote villages where traditional craft manufacturing is still carried out.

Lijiang, in the shadow of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, is the home of the Naxi people and its Old Town - a wonderful maze of cobblestone lanes, courtyard houses and rushing canals - has been named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. Visiting the town allows you to explore the food market and local restaurants as well as paying a visit to the beautiful Jade Spring Park, with its splendid view of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

But the real reason for visiting this area is the river, and once you pass the sweeping First Bend of the Yangtze River, you reach the tremendous and highly picturesque Tiger Leaping Gorge, where the river forces its way between the granite masses of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. Once you’ve spent time on the river, and photographing this amazing gorge, it’s a good idea to visit the nearby Songzanlin Monastery, one of the largest and oldest in continuous existence, where the daily life of the monks has not altered for centuries. For a really exceptional visit, try to be in the province on July 22, 2009. Why? Because a total solar eclipse will trace its path downriver from the mountains to the sea, providing an unusually long period of nearly six minutes of totality as it darkens the region around Shanghai, if you can be there, you will see the event of a lifetime!

Upper Yangtze photograph by livepine, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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