Stephanie writes:
This morning we left the hotel at 9:00 and took a bus to Tiger Leaping Gorge. I was feeling carsick so I slept most of the two hour ride to the gorge. At one point I woke up to find an amazing view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range. Some of the peaks were so high that they disappeared into the clouds.

When we arrived, we decided to eat lunch before we hiked the gorge, at the small restaurant at the beginning of the trail overlooking the Yangtze River. Afterwards we hiked along a path that was carved out of the side of the mountain. On the left of the path was the Yangtze River and on the right was the rock wall of the mountain. Sometimes the path became a tunnel that went right through the mountain. There were guards along the path that called out through megaphones for people to stay close to the wall in case a rock fell down from above. At the end of the path there was a spot where, according to myth, a tiger leaped from one side of the river to other to escape a hunter by jumping to a boulder in the middle of the river. There was a statue of the tiger on the cliff above the boulder. The water in the river was splashing so violently through the narrow gorge that I could feel the spray. After we had taken some pictures and bought ice cream at a little shop, we walked back to the bus.

After dinner we were given some free time to walk around in old town. Ms. Skawski-Pride and I bought tickets to hear an orchestra perform ancient Naxi music. The concert was from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The musicians played ancient traditional Naxi instruments that had been rescued from being destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The musicians were all wearing traditional costumes and most were at least 80 years old. The concert was amazing! We sat right in the back so we could take photos during the concert. There were individual solos given by several performers on their instruments as well as pieces played by the whole orchestra.

My favorite instrument of the performance was the Chinese flute. My second favorite was a very large-stringed instrument sounding equivalent to a Chinese bass. Halfway through the concert the director, Xuan Xe, came out and talked about the orchestra. Everything he said in Chinese he translated into perfect English for the audience and even made a few jokes. At the end of the concert I went up to the stage and got my picture taken with Xuan Xe. I also bought a CD of ancient Naxi music. I loved the sound of the Chinese flute so much I bought one on the way back to the hotel. Fortunately I had taken a photo of the flute I wanted during the concert and all I had to do was show the salesman the picture and ask, “Ni you zhe shi di zim ma?” which means “Do you have this flute?” He pointed to the back where he had a whole shelf of them. The concert by far was one of my favorite parts of the trip.


The flea market at the first bend of the Yangtze always has lots of interesting finds.

The group with our guides Li Peng and Audrey at the entrance to Tiger Leaping Gorge.

This spot was called the mouth of the tiger; notice the teeth?

The scenery from the bus during the bus ride to the gorge area was of cultivated farmland and soaring mountains as a backdrop.

Stephanie attended an ancient Naxi music performance with Ms. Skawski-Pride.

Stephanie with Mr. Xuan Ke, the Music Director of the concert.