I spent 6 days in the Lijiang / Shangri-la area with Rosey as my guide. I have lived in China for just over 7 years and, as an amateur photographer and nature lover, I wanted to see part of Yunnan before going back to the USA this next week. Tiger Leaping Gorge hike and Shangri-la were my primary goals.

The weather was mixed with it raining some of almost every day. Tiger-Leaping Gorge is not a hike for the timid nor the over confident person. You need to be an experienced hiker who respects the challenges.

The first hour I was gasping for breath in the thinner air as we climbed. Later my body adjusted.

If you enjoy hiking, you should consider a hiking vacation in Yunnan. It will be more difficult but rewarding. Even in rainy weather, the views can be stunning.

If you want to visit and want a local guide, I recommend Rosey -a native of Tiger-Leaping Gorge who now operates from Lijiang. Read less

I actually got Rosey as my tour guide through another tour company I contacted, who subcontracted me to her for my long weekend trip to the Yunnan province (Lijiang, Shaxi, Tiger Leaping Gorge, etc) . It was only after Rosey and I started touring together did I learn she had her own company. I am so lucky to have met her! And I regret not just starting with Rosey for the entire planning/execution of my trip. She's a bit modest in the description of her services above, as she is super organized and very very knowledgeable and well versed in the history of this region. She is flexible and quite patient, and her prices are very reasonable as well. She is a better high altitude hiker than me! Her English is super strong, and she literally has grown up in the hospitality industry. I had a great time with her visiting the old villages of the Bai, Lejiang, and Shuhe. We also saw several beautiful Buddhist temples, one even had monkeys.

The main attraction of my visit was hiking in Tiger Leaping Gorge. We started from Qiaotou village to Naxi Family Guest House (that was the killer day of hiking surprisingly), then from Naxi to Halfway Guest House the 2nd day, counting all 28 of the famous turns on that day of hiking. It was incredible. Snow Mountain and Jade Dragon Mountain and the gorge below are stunning. I am so glad I found this little slice of heaven in China. That's all I had time to do so I plan to go back and complete the remainder of the hike with Rosey next time I am in China. (I go for work so that's not an impossible task.)

I didn't receive much information from the company I paid to help me prepare and pack properly for this trip. Rosey, I now know, is right there, local, and would have been more accessible for questions and would have given me a detailed itinerary beforehand as well. All worked out very well for my long weekend getaway to the Tiger Leaping Gorge area, but I owe that to Rosey who is such an expert tour guide in this region. I can't recommend her enough! Definitely contact Rosey for your trip to this region!

I paid attention to the ranking on this site and in my Google search to chose my tour company. Let this be good the proof that the best person for the job is not necessarily the top person on the list. Rosey works hard for her clients, but it seems challenging to move up in the rankings of these tour company reviews. More people who have toured with Rosey need to speak up here. Read less