The Gaoligong Mountains are approximately 500-kilometres long and run north to south near the Yunnan-Myanmar border. Collectively they form the western wall of the Nu River Valley.

Established in 1983 The Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve is home to an array of diverse plants and animals. It holds a prime spot connecting the north-south biological corridor of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Indosinian Peninsula. It is a wild animal and plants germplasm gene bank in sub-tropical, temperate and cold-temperate zones, also the famous seed plant base. The reserve also makes part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, established in 2003, which enjoys UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Numerous trails cross the range, one of which is the famous South Silk road that connects Baoshan with Tengchong. It is fast becoming a trail on the radar of many Chinese hikers.

Our 10-day trail to Gaoligong Mountain, not only takes you on a hiking journey of the “life corridor”, but also affords you the chance to explore the hidden minority villages found deep in the mountains. Generation by generation, these villages have lived away from the hustle and bustle and most of them still practice many original traditions, like donning a tattoo on the face…