Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge

Lijiang by night
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Took a bus for the four hour journey north to Lijiang and found the MCA Hostel where we'd reserved a room.  Took a stroll to try and find some lunch but got totally lost - Fiona was directing!  Back on track and managed to find our way to the old town. A lot of the city was damaged in an earthquake in the 1990s and has been carefully rebuilt- the entire old town is now UNESCO heritage listed. Unfortunately the rebuild means the majority of the area is for tourists rather than locals but it's been done so well that's forgiveable.

Pretty back streets
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The town is a collection of narrow winding lanes, many with water flowing down the sides in small channels - a bit like an Asian Brugge or Venice - and absolutely stunning. Found some lunch and great chocolate cake so all was well with the world!  Later that day before dinner we had to rescue someone who fell into one of the deepest streams, she made a hell of a splash and we didn't laugh at all!!

Gorges and back streets

Waterways
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Next day travelled to the beautiful Tiger Leaping Gorge - one of the deepest gorges in the world.  We'd decided against a longer trek along the gorge as the temperatures, particularly at night, are low and we didn't have the right clothes for such a trip.  We were on a flying visit but it did include a descent to the middle stone.

The trip down was very steep and required some pretty careful footwork.  The views were unbelievable though, with the sides of the gorge incredibly steep.  Our group comprised two Chinese couples who struggled with the walk a lot more than we did despite being much younger and leaner, which was gratifying.  The climb back up was much harder than the descent, not helped by the ladders!  The first was a good 20 metres and totally vertical.  No harness or anything to break your fall, except your neck!  Took almost twice as long to reach the top as it did the other way round but a very worthwhile trip.  The scenery was amazing and the walk, although tough, was a nice acomplishment.

This is one of the most used China scenes and just outside Lijiang
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Back to Lijiang and spent the evening wandering the windy streets and looking at some of the shops lining the streets.  Found a great restaurant for dinner where we had sizzling yak - beautiful!

Next day we wandered around the park and lake.  At GBP3 p.p. quite expensive although very pretty and synonymous with many other Chinese attractions charging high entry prices.  More pootling around the Lijiang backstreets and people watching, although no life saving opportunities sadly. Dinner at a Tibetan restaurant with more yak and some yak cheese too!

They like their lights
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We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our friends Hanif, Katherine and Tristram for recommending this trip and giving us so many ideas for things to do along the way.  Given that we had never planned on visiting China as part of this trip, the country ranks in the top three of the trip so far and at least two of the days are in our top 10!  We'd definitely recommend anyone to visit this area for its great villages and superb food, not to mention Tiger Leaping Gorge!