The Tiger Leaping Gorge, which is comparable with the American Grand Canyon, is another often visited site in Yunnan. The start of this spectacular gorge is easily reached from Yunnan within 2,5 hours drive and several treks can be done through the gorge, following the Yangtse river. We chose to do a two day trek to fully enjoy the beauty of the gorge, but there are also one-day treks or hikes that take up to a week.
During this trek (which wasn't that hard to do) we mostly enjoyed the views, which were absolutely stunning, but I also got time to look at some birds. Some of the species I observed during these two days included Plumbeous Water-redstart, Pacific Swift, Short-billed Minivet, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, Asian House Martin, Brown Prinia, Crested Finchbill, Black-headed Greenfinch and Godlewski's Bunting.
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| Brown Prinia (Prinia polychroa) |
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| A singing Crested Finchbill (Spizixos canifrons) |
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| Godlewski's Bunting (Emberiza godlewskii) |
I would not recommend this trek to birders, as there is barely any forest left and although we saw some birds here, I was a bit disappointing. On the other hand the views and the landscape are some of the very best China has to offer, so I would recommend it to any non-birder or a birder with some spare time. Especially since this area is planned to be dammed, so the whole gorge might soon vanish under water... This post and other posts concerning my 2010 China trip can be downloaded as PDF
here.
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| The Tiger Leaping Gorge and the Yangtse River |
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