Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the world's deepest canyons, located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, in Yunnan province in the southwest of China. For 15 km the Yangtze, known as Golden Sands River (Jinsha Jiang) in this particular area, squeezes itself between the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the Haba Mountain massifs, both well over 5000 m high. Cliffs rise up over 2000 m. The popular hiking trail, or "high road", along the length of the gorge is marked and in use locally for every day purposes. It is normally a 2-day hike, with an overnight stay in one of the local guesthouses along the trail. There used to be a second option: the "low road" closer to the river bank. But this is now a regular road with busy traffic...