China Yangtze River Kayak

Yunnan and Sichuan, China · China

Extreme7 daysAsia~£1,900 est.

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Overview

Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the deepest river canyons on Earth: the Jinsha — the upper Yangtze — squeezes between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (5,596 m) and Haba Snow Mountain (5,396 m), with nearly 3,800 metres of relief from river to summit. The rapids thundering through its core were first fully run only in 1986, at the cost of lives, and the biggest drops remain expedition-grade whitewater that most teams portage. Modern trips paddle sections of the Jinsha and its tributaries at Class III–V, scouting everything — in a gorge this steep, rescue and escape are serious undertakings in themselves. This is a guided-expedition river, not a turn-up-and-paddle destination: access permits, dam releases and roadworks change the runnable sections year to year, and outfitters in Lijiang or Shangri-La hold the current picture. The water is cold and silt-laden — drysuits even in autumn — and April–May and October–November dodge both the monsoon flood and winter's rocky low flows. Pair the paddling with the high trail through the gorge: a two-day trek past Naxi guesthouses with the river a vertical kilometre below, plus the First Bend at Shigu where the Yangtze swings north instead of following Asia's other great rivers south. Around £1,900 for a week with a professional outfitter, including permits and Lijiang transfers.