Tiger Leaping Gorge

Tiger Leaping Gorge
"Tiger Leaping Gorge" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	虎跳峡
Traditional Chinese	虎跳峽
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hǔ tiào xiá Wade–Giles IPA [xù tʰjâu ɕjǎ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Fú tiu haahp Jyutping Fu2 tiu3 haap6 Southern Min Tâi-lô Hóo thiàu kiap

Tiger Leaping Gorge (Chinese: 虎跳峡; pinyin: Hǔ tiào xiá) is a scenic canyon on the Jinsha River, a primary tributary of the upper Yangtze River. It is located 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Lijiang City, Yunnan in southwestern China. It is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas World Heritage Site.

At a maximum depth of approximately 3,790 meters (12,434 feet) from river to mountain peak, Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the deepest and most spectacular river canyons in the world. The inhabitants of the gorge are primarily the indigenous Naxi people, who live in a handful of small hamlets. Their primary subsistence comes from grain production and hikers, foreign as well as Chinese.

Around 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) in length, the gorge is located where the river passes between the 5,596 metres (18,360 ft) Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the 5,396 metres (17,703 ft) Haba Snow Mountain in a series of rapids under steep 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) cliffs. Legend says that in order to escape from a hunter, a tiger jumped across the river at the narrowest point (still 25 metres (82 ft) wide), hence the name.

Administratively, the river in this area forms the border between Yulong Naxi Autonomous County of Lijiang City (right bank) and Shangri-La County of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (left bank).