A bit of calm before the storm

Just before the Chinese New Year, a large part of China’s population throughout the entire country is usually on the way to their hometowns so they can spend the two most important weeks of the year with their families. At that time, when I was traveling through Yunnan, a province in southwest China, I wanted to avoid this mass migration as much as possible. So, four days before the day of the new moon at the end of January, when the Year of the Horse was to begin, I decided to go hiking in the remote Tiger Leaping Gorge. I happily avoided the usual Chinese tour groups when my trekking tour started, on the other hand it was almost too lonely for me during the four days hike. However, the wonderful gorge surrounded by breathtaking five-thousand-meter high peaks almost everywhere helped me to overcome my loneliness. It was peaceful though, and I could build up endureance for the following two weeks of the total hustle and bustle to come.

Tiger Leaping Gorge (China), January 2014