Magical Eastern Grand Canyon: Tiger Leaping Gorge

Author: Yang Fupu / Country:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: From "Upper Tiger Leap" to "Lower Tiger Leap" On a chilly autumn day in 1993, I stood atop the "Eastern Gorge" at the Tiger Leaping Gorge, embarking on another leg of the journey for the joint Sino-US cooperative survey team to study the human geography of Yulong Village. Accompanied by me were Professor E. Fossett, head of the Department of Geography at the University of California, Davis, and chair of the International Mountain Society, along with two of his doctoral students, as well as several colleagues from the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences and Lijiang. In the Hengduan Mountains, where towering peaks and mighty rivers stretch endlessly, the Tiger Leaping Gorge is a riddle shrouded in mystery. It lies between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain, spanning 100°4’ to 100°13’ east longitude and 27°10’ to 27°19’ north latitude, extending southwest to northeast. The southeastern bank is Lijiang County (renamed Lijiang City in 2003), while the northwestern bank is Zhongdian County (now officially renamed Shangri-La County since 2002). The Jinsha River flows eastward through the gorge. The canyon is approximately 18 kilometers long, with a water drop of up to 196 meters, and the peaks on both banks rise more than 3,000 meters above the river. The highest peaks on both banks exceed 5,300 meters in elevation, while the river surface is only around 1,800 meters, creating a vertical difference of over 3,300 meters (the difference in elevation between the canyon floor and the main peak of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to the southeast is about 3,790 to 3,990 meters, while the difference with the main peak of Haba Snow Mountain to the northwest is about 3,590 to 3,790 meters). The 18-kilometer-long Tiger Leaping Gorge is divided into three sections: upper, middle, and lower. The narrowest point of the river is only 15 to 20 meters wide, forming the narrowest section of the Yangtze River. The two towering snow-capped mountains of Yunnan—Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain, the two brothers in local legends—stand fiercely facing each other on both sides of the gorge. The southeastern bank's Jade Dragon Snow Mountain brother has a highest peak of 5,596 meters, while the northwestern bank's Haba Snow Mountain brother has a highest peak of 5,396 meters. The cliffs on both banks soar into the sky, with sheer cliffs piercing the clouds, and the sky appears as a thin line. Their sister, the Jinsha River, begins to transform from her usually gentle and virtuous nature here, embarking on an extraordinary and fierce journey through the gorge. Before reaching the gorge mouth, the emerald-green Jinsha River flows so gently and smoothly. She had just completed a remarkable feat not far from here at the bustling "Tea Horse Road" town of Shigu, where she separated from her two sisters, the Lancang River and Nujiang River, who had flowed shoulder to shoulder for 447 kilometers within Yunnan, and turned northward, starting her long journey to become the mother river of China. The turn here forms the renowned "Yangtze River Bay." Not far beyond, she encounters the local legends of the two brothers, Yulong and Haba, who were said to have been ordered by their parents to block her marriage to the prince she deeply loved. Thus, the gentle and devoted Jinsha River girl becomes furious. The gorge begins with the "Upper Tiger Leap," where the river width suddenly contracts from 100 to 150 meters to 60 to 80 meters. The vast Jinsha River is squeezed into this extremely narrow gorge, and she roars like thunder, rushing forward with the speed of an arrow. Water splashes violently, with towering white waves, as the fierce waves crash against the steep rocks at the base of the mountains. The legendary Tiger Leaping Stone trembles in the roaring torrent like a furious dragon. A vast mist rises from the depths of the gorge, and as it descends to a point not yet close to the Tiger Leaping Stone, the mist falls like fine rain on my face. From a distance, the Jinsha River appears as a long snake with a faint green glow, winding into the immeasurably deep gorge, leaving one to wonder how many more dangers and mysteries lie ahead. P3-5