Our tour guide will sign your name and meet you at your hotel lobby at 09:00am then transfer to Tiger Leaping Gorge and need 1.5-2hrs driving, 100KM. Note: We can meet you at the Lijiang train station/airport and the departure time also is flexible.

Today, we will visit the first section of the Gorge which is nearby Lijiang area. The Tiger Leaping Gorge, with its glorious view of the rapids, torrential current of the Jinsha River, was created through constant erosion by the waters between the Jade Dragon Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. About 16 kilometres long, the gorge drops is around 300 metres in a series of 18 rapids. The water surface is about 1,800 metres above sea level and the Snow Mountains on both sides soar as high as 5,600 metres.

Next, go to Shaxi directly, 2hrs driving, 120KM. Our guide will show you to your hotel to check in first then we will visit the old town.We can walk around the Shaxi Old Town, Shaxi River, Xinjiao Temple, stage in the quare and some ancient coutyards with local people. Shaxi once played an important role as a bustling trade station on the Tea and Horse Caravan Road, an important branch of the Silk Road. Just over one thousand years ago, this ancient trade route connected Tibet with Eastern China. In exchange for teas from Yunnan, Tibetans traded their famous breed of horse to Song Dynasty officials in eastern China, who were busy defending their territory from invaders from the north. Thus the Tea and Horse Caravan was born. Shaxi became the main trade station along this route. Though today Tibet and China don’t trade along this route, Shaxi still has that border-town feel. Old cobble-stoned alleyways still look like they did a thousand years ago. And different minorities, including the Yi and Bai, still clash every Friday during the Sideng Market when mountain villagers come down from the hills to trade their goods.