Sean is the first person to open shop in the Gorge, first Guesthouse in the Gorge, first English-speaking person in the Gorge, first person to marry a beautiful foreigner, first person to do business with foreigners, coupled with a special philosophical ability to communicate with people from all walks of life.

Sean may be disabled but is a strong and reliable mountain guide. Sean is one of the few residents who really takes heart in protecting the Tiger Leaping Gorge and is continually rallying support for the poor!

   Recommended by cctv3 in 2004 and cctv2 in 2006　

Getting Started

     Pick up our GPS Scale map of the trail at the cafes in Lijiang, Qiaotou or by giving us a call (0887 820 2222) for the latest trekking conditions . Up date 2008/08/20

WHERE TO START FROM? DAJU or QIAOTOU?

STARTING FROM QIAOTOU : You could take the bus from Kunming or Dali (towards Shangri-La), and get off at Qiaotou (Tiger Leaping Gorge Town). From Kunming, just opposite Camellia Hotel, there is a  Yunnan express bus service that leaves for Lijiang at 8am , 10am and 12pm daily. The other bus station is Nanyao and Xiyuan  and there is also a sleeper bus to Shangri-La.

For the high trail map, you can link from Google map

Main bus station - about 10 minutes away from the Old Town -- is the one with buses at 8:30am and 1:30pm to Qiaotou... then on to another bus to Walnut Garden/Tiger Leaping Gorge..... - if you miss the buses and you want to get there ASAP -- your call Sean to get you a taxi -- to pick up you. for a 2 hour ride..... thru countryside, villages, strawberry fields and one of the tributaries of the Yangtze......

It costs us RMB7 to get to the Bus Station from Lijiang Ancient City, RMB24 (per pax) for the bus fare to go from Lijiang to Qiaotou station and then RMB80 per car (transfer from Sean's Guesthouse) from Qiaotou to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Entrance Fee is RMB50 per pax. On the way back, we paid another RMB80 per car from Sean's Huesthouse to Qiaotou and RMB25 (per pax) from Qiaotou back Lijiang. Another RMB7 from bus station to Lijiang Ancient City. A few things for you to take note: 1) There is no such thing as "No smoking" bus!!!!! I was almost suffocated to death during the 3 hours journey back from Qiaotou to Lijiang 2) There is no Qiaotou "station"... it is just an open area with no ticketing counter for you to buy bus tickets. Ask the locals to help look out for the buses coming down from Zhongdian 3) You can only buy single way tickets... seem that bus schedules are only confirmed the day before, in the afternoon. 4) You can buy tickets at both Yu He Bus Station and Lijiang Bus Station but... you can only board the bus at Lijiang Bus Station 5) If you travelling in a group of 4 or 5, you can consider booking one of those cars in photo 3... I think it costs about RMB180 per car

From Lijiang we have a 7-seater car that leaves between 8am-9am, so when you are in Lijiang, you just need to give us call: 0887-820 2222 and we can arrange a pick-up service to take you directly to Sean's Spring Guest house. By The moment cost from Lijiang to Qiaotou is 25RMB per/pax, so if you have 7 people's group is 175RMB per/bread van, if less 7 people you have to pay contract price 160RMB per/van. from Qiaotou to Sean's 80RMB per/car. do the cheaper way, to beat the 50 RMB payment to the devils building the dam you better enter gorge in the evening, other way's you have to stay over one night in Qiaotou ,( This service Only work for who really want to visit and support Sean's Guesthouse with honest happy travelers), cheating people don't interrupt our time.

 From our place you can relax and have a few trips around the Middle Gorge and Haba Mountain and start your walk back towards Qiaotou. This would be a much easier trek route and catch a connecting bus to other places (eg. Shangri-La). The 9am bus also goes pass by our Guesthouse (not in raining season) right up to Baishuitai (White Water Terrace). 

The 100 kilometers journey takes two hours on a sealed road. On a clear day there are dramatic views of the Jade Dragon Snow Mts as the bus climbs out of Lijiang. After the bus descends a long series of turns you will catch your first sight of the Yangtze flowing placidly before it narrows to roar through the Gorge at Qiaotou. There is an entrance gate at the beginning of the gorge trail. The ticket price is currently 50RMB.  If you contact us for pick up you in the evening, we will take you pass through the gate after 6pm  you can keep your 50RMB to drink beer. If you stay at Qiaotou, you could leave Qiaotou early morning in before 6am-7am,  the gorge gate office work, and you can get in without the 50RMB fee - which is less one rock pile up for their horrible plans to construct the ugly Gorge Dam (Damn) Wall!

Our place is also a great activity spot. From here, you can stay for one week or more and go climb the Haba Mountain. There is an option of staying two nights on the mountain too! You could do a one-day trip to the big waterfall or the Middle Gorge. For rock-climbing enthusiasts, you can rock-climb behind Sean's! We can also organise a private car to take you on a Shangri-La sightseeing roundtrip. we also Organize  horse back ride trip around this area !

STARTING FROM DAJU

Buses leave for Daju at 8.30am and 1.30pm from Lijiang. At the moment, Lijiang to Daju or Daju to Lijiang both way, when you pass the Lijiang tourist sightseeing spot, you have to pay the entrance fee of 120RMB and "protect the old town" fee of 80RMB. When you enter into the gorge, you have to pay another gorge entrance fee of 50RMB. The 3 hour ride costs 30RMB. Therefore, most travellers opt for the Lijiang-Qiaotou route and hike up to Walnut Garden and then continue their trip to Dali or Shangri-La.

There are two guesthouses in Daju if you want to stay the night: Tiger Leaping Gorge Hotel and Snowflake Guesthouse. The walk to the old ferry is very picturesque and should not be missed. The ferry is more reliable and the climb up the opposite bank less steep and much safer. After crossing the river from the old ferry, the path continues through the fields and houses of the local Naxi people before joining up to the road to Walnut Garden. There is the map you can copy too. There is a ticket office just before the Walnut Garden. Two minutes walk beyond Ticket office is Sean's Spring Guesthouse. It is a 20 minute walk from Walnut Garden to the start of the high trail. Bicycles can be hired at Sean's if you want to cycle to Qiaotou. If you need help just call: 0887 8202 222 ,we do pick-up service to Sean's!

If you find this website information or the trail is satisfy, give Sean some help!