Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge (Feb.12-16)

Ian, Thomas, Luis, Markus, Daniel and the dog resting at Mama Naxi's Youth Hostel.Lijiang old town has a history going back more than 800 years and was once a confluence for trade along the old tea horse road. The Lijiang old town is famous for its orderly system of waterways and bridges.


Women wearing traditional Naxi dresses. In the background you can see Jade Dragon Snow Mountains which are more than 5500 meters high. In this area the Naxi women are the boss in the family and the men have to quiet down! Naxi are matrilineal, insofar as property is traditionally inherited down the female line, and men move into their wife's family home after marriage.
The Black Dragon Pool with the Jade Dragon Snow Mountains in the background.

The snow mountains at a higher eye level.

Dongba Culture is the soul of Lijiang ancient town. Dongba culture is an integral part of Naxi culture, referred to as the ancient culture of the ethnic Naxi. It is called so because it is mostly found in the Dongba religion, which is believed to be one thousand years old. It chiefly consists of scriptures, paintings, music, dances, ritual implements and religious services.
Dongba script, a kind of pictograph, possessing more than 1,400 characters, is believed to be the only well preserved living pictographic language in the world.
Nicely piled and safely secured.

Finally we started the desired hike through the Tiger Leaping Gorge. Legend says that in order to escape from a hunter, a tiger jumped across the river at the narrowest point (still 25 metres wide), hence the name.If you are in this area it is definetely a must-see! Tiger Leaping Gorge is a contender for the world's deepest river canyon, depending on the exact definition used. The inhabitants of the gorge are primarily the indigenous Naxi people.

Dan dan and jing jing better known as jia meng.

The first day. Terraces along our hike-path.

And all kinds of animals.
The hike stretched roughly 15km along the river up on the high-pass on day one.

Day two. It was an extremely cold night up in the Halfway Hostel.

Jing jing and the waterfall.

Dan dan and the waterfall.

Dear Mom, I have safely arrived back in Beijing....no worries. Yet the decent was pretty much the craziest thing that I have ever done in my life. No rails, rocky and step pathes downwards to the wild rapids yeah.

Of course, we chose the left option.

Oh oh, for a second I saw myself in the water...
..but I trusted the friction coefficient of my shoes and...
..yep stood there proudly. Ha, mastered it. But how to return?

Tons of water crashing in every second!

Chinese formula one. Schumacher can be glad that he did not participate with his monster-dragster-buggy-mobil

Mama Naxi who hosted us unbelievably well. Here starring with jing jing.
Baba, Mama he mama de nü har gen women.