Running between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain in the north-west of Yunnan Province, Tiger Leaping Gorge is among the world’s deepest canyons. Confined betwen the narrow cliff walls, the torrential Jinsha River roars and crashes spectacularly over grotesquely shaped rocks through the 18-kilometer gorge.
Flowing parallel with the Nujiang and Lancang rivers south for 170 kilometers, the Jinsha River almost reverses direction in a 135 degree turn at Shigu, forming what is known as “the first bend of the Yangtze River.” It then flows placidly for a further 30 kilometers fore plunging into Tiger Leaping Gorge, or Hutiaoxia, as it is called in Chinese.
According to local legend, the gorge is so named because, at its narrowest point, a tiger once leaped over the swirling waters.
The gorge has attracted a steadily increasing number of tourists in recent years with the improvement of access to this once remote region, but reports that the provincial government is planning to dam the gorge has attracted attention of a different kind.
The hydroelectric dam at Tiger Leaping Gorge is a joint project between the government of Yunnan province and Yunnan Lancangjiang Hydropower Development Corporation, a subsidiary of China Huaneng Group. Preparation work for the construction of the dam has already begun, an official from the Yunnan Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau confirmed to Beijing Today Wednesday.
