YANG SHUO
Deservedly famous among backpackers. I was there in mid to late june and the weather was terrible, with rain almost every day. but the place was still lots of fun. and the group tour hordes don't seem to be as annoying here.

TIGER LEAPING GORGE
A beautiful place rapidly being over-developed to accommodate the impending massive influx of chinese group tours. the high road hike was beautiful, but i think that the gorge has already lost some of it's character due to the road and the new ugly, concrete-box hotels going up everywhere. i would knock it down a notch from 4 stars

GONG TAN
I loved it. it was the china I was looking for and beginning to doubt that it existed. Hiking around gong tan was ok, but the old town, the ride in on the boat and especially the people were what really made the place great.

I stayed in the tian si guest house. The couple that owns it were incredibly friendly and helpful!

Due to dam construction there is no longer boat service between gong tan and peng shui. I came from the yan he side. it is an all-day bus ride from gui yang to yan he. buses cost 101rmb and leave the gui yang long distance bus station at 7.30am, 9am and sometimes 10am. the boat left yan he the next day at 9am and arrived in gongtan at about 12pm. the boat ride is great and really shouldn't be missed. upstream from gongtan I was told (confirmed by many others) that the boat stops at hong duo, which is only about 30min past gongtan. from there you could take a small boat a little further upstream, but eventually would have to get the bus.

A wonderful place, but the locals say next year they will all be moved out due to the dam.

JIU LONG
I did the Yanlong river gorge/Maidi gongga shan trek. To add a little information about the trek:

Jeeps leave from juilong's main square (in front of the long hai hotel) daily for sanyanlong. they show up at the square at about 7.30am and seem to leave when they get full (6-10 passengers per jeep). I was told it costs 50rmb, but was only charged 40rmb (the locals pay the same price). coming back from sanyanlong jeeps also come down the main street at about 7.30am and leave when full. you should be able to get one just by hanging out on the main street at 7.30 and watching for them

I hired a guide, but not a horse (according to the people I talked to, you don't really ride the horse, you just sit on it while the guide walks, leading the horse). the guide cost me 100rmb/day. he said walking was also faster than horses. we hiked from sanyanlong to mengdong in about 5 gruelling hours. it could easily be slowed down obviously. the food we got in mengdong was excellent - the best bowl of noodles I've ever had, but came with a price: I paid 40rmb for room and board for the night. the next day we walked for a couple hours to some herdsmen's summer houses not far from changhaizi. 3rd day visited changhaizi and then back down to sanyanlong.

The scenery is awesome! changhaizi is the first body of water i've seen in china with water clean enough to drink. except for the farms and villages we passed through, we met only one other person on the trail in 3 days. the people are very friendly and hospitable, although outside of sanyanlong there isn't much mandarin (I was happy my guide could interpret)

As with everywhere in china, the situation is changing quickly. maidi gongga shan has recieved publicity and last may a group of 200 chinese tourists descended on the area. i think this has increased prices of everything in the area. supposedly the road will be improved in 2 years time, paving the way for those damn tour buses. yanlong river is also in the process of being damned (as with every other river in china). for now this is an amazing place. i recommend you go soon, before the character is lost!

props to michael woodhead for discovering it!

Again, thanks for the great website

cheers!
Jeremy "