Nujiang (Salween River) travel guide

From the first to the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the Lisu hold the grand Zaotang Festival (Bathing Festival). It is the community's major gathering, which also features the exchange of goods and related celebrations, such as “bathing,” “swinging on swings,” and, in the evening, performances of “climbing knife ladders and walking on fire.”

1. Locals enjoy drinking. If you stay with a local family, it is best to make your drinking capacity clear in advance.

2. A local water liquor called chujiu (pestle wine) is available, at around 18% ABV. It tastes good but can easily make you tipsy.

3. Xiala and Gongla are two local signature dishes. In the Nu language, “la” means alcohol, so these are essentially “meat stir-fried with alcohol” and “egg stir-fried with alcohol.” They are spicy and can heat you up, so eat them in moderation.

4. Shiban baba (stone-slab flatbread) is another Nu specialty, and you can find it in Bingzhongluo.

1. You no longer need a border permit to travel to Liuku. You only need to show your ID card at the border checkpoint.

2. Border guards hand out leaflets with information on local travel agencies, guesthouses, reception points, and suggested routes. These are useful if it is your first trip to the Nujiang.

3. You must hire a car to explore the Nujiang Gorge, or your movements will be very restricted.

4. The Lisu Zaotang Festival is held in Dengen, 12 km from Liuku.

5. The Lisu no longer allow people to point cameras at them, and signs reading “No close-up photography” have been posted as a warning.

6. Tourism in the Nujiang is open-access, so there are no entrance tickets.

7. The morning mist is the most beautiful sight in the Nujiang Gorge and not to be missed, so be sure to get up early.

8. Admire the locals' cable crossings (sliding ropes) from a distance and do not try them yourself. They require skill, and a mistake could cost you your life in the river.

Climb Gongdang Sacred Mountain before 14:00. The best time to view the First Bend of the Nujiang is before the mountain's shadow falls over the river. Qiunatong is a small village surrounded by snow-capped peaks. The road has now been completed, and there is a reception point there. You can visit as a day trip or stay overnight in Qiunatong.

The Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas lie in the longitudinal valleys of the Hengduan Mountains, the southern extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in northwest Yunnan. The area includes the Nujiang and Diqing prefectures, parts of Lijiang and Dali, and borders Myanmar to the west and Sichuan and Tibet to the north.

The site includes three scenic areas along the Nujiang, Lancang (Mekong), and Jinsha rivers, eight core scenic zones, and more than 60 scenic spots, covering over 3,500 square km. The three great rivers run in parallel for hundreds of kilometres through the longitudinal valleys of the northwest Yunnan Hengduan Mountains. At their closest point, the three rivers are just 66.3 km apart in a straight line. The Nujiang and Lancang are separated at their nearest point by only the 18.6 km-wide Nushan Mountains.

Highlights include the Three Parallel Rivers themselves, snow-capped peaks, canyons and rapids, forest and snowfield landscapes, glacial lakes, alpine meadows, rare plants and animals, the spectacular Baishuitai (White Water Terraces), and unique ethnic cultures.

Mandarin is widely spoken, so you will have no communication problems.

The Nujiang lies in a gorge, so its temperatures are higher than those of other areas at the same latitude, and winters are mild rather than severely cold. However, avoid the Nujiang during the rainy season from July to September. Road conditions are poor, and landslides and other accidents are common, which can disrupt your itinerary.