Tiger Leaping Gorge
The Hike
one of the cool views of TGL
Ok I might have gotten myself in a little too deep. I have been in China for about a week and a half and I have died from hiking the Great Wall, and now this? If this is what the entire trip is gonna be like, I’m going to die. Our hike began in Lijiang, a city at around 8,000 feet in elevation. It might not sound like it, but that is high. I was struggling to climb a flight of stairs without getting out of breath, much less climb a mountain. At that altitude, your body only takes in 3/4 of the oxygen that it normally would. The hike began with a jog up the side of the mountain. 10/10 would not recommend. Our guide, Lily must be superhuman because she didn’t even break a sweat. We had to stop every 10-15 minutes because people were suffering. However, this was just the beginning. This fast-paced trek was the “easy” part of the trail, according to Lily. Seriously, what do they eat here? These people are invincible. Anyway, after hiking for several hours, we finally made it to a lunch stop. The cafe has an adorable courtyard complete with kittens, beautiful flowers, and huge portions.
After lunch, we were to climb the famous “28 bends”, a series of 28 switchbacks, ascending ~1312 feet in elevation.
The 1st Ever Women’s Summit
The Women’s Summit. This is it team. This is comedic gold. The cement girls, Molly and Claire hosted the ground-breaking event on our second day in Tiger Leaping Gorge and, let me tell you, it was a hit. Here’s the low down on how it works, Claire and Molly (the hosts) announce their topic, the next speaker and their topic. You do not know your topic or where you stand in the lineup until you are next. When it is the speaker’s turn, they go to the front “podium” (sit on an elevated surface of some sort) and begin. The summit is entirely for comedic fun for the group, and completely improvised, so it is hysterical. I am not a naturally funny person, and even so, you didn’t need to be because the topics themselves provided comedy and a platform for improv. Some topics included “farting in bed: trust or disrespect?”, “showy or intimate?: judging a man based on his promposal”, and my personal favorite “avoiding commitment left and right with Tim Satterthwaite”. I’m not lying when I say multiple people peed their pants from laughing so hard (myself included). If you need to get to know a group of people quickly, host a summit. Actually, only host a summit if Molly and Claire are planning it.
