In the shadow of the terror-stricken mudslides in China and Nepal, another landslide occurred in the Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan. This marks the third landslide in the region in just over a month, raising concerns about potential casualties.
On September 1st, several Chinese netizens posted videos of the landslide in Tiger Leaping Gorge, showing rocks tumbling down the mountain slopes in a perilous manner. The footage captured the danger as tourists in the vicinity scrambled for safety since the incident happened near the scenic area.
According to a netizen identified as a tour guide named Xiao Qu who shared the video, the landslide took place around 2:30 pm and lasted for about 4 minutes. Fortunately, there have been no reports of casualties so far.
Xiao Qu revealed that two previous rockfalls occurred on July 30 and mid-August, making this the third incident in the same location.
In the afternoon of the 1st, staff at the Tiger Leaping Gorge scenic area confirmed the landslide but assured that it did not affect the operations within the area, which remains open to visitors.
Local officials in Tiger Leaping Gorge analyzed that recent frequent rainfall in the area caused the mountain soil to become loose, leading to the landslides.
Many netizens expressed their concerns about the frequent landslides in the area, with comments like “So scary,” “With landslides happening so close, aren’t they worried?” “It’s too dangerous,” and “Such frequent landslides lately on 7.30, 8.11, and 9.1!”
Tiger Leaping Gorge is situated at the juncture of Lijiang City and Shangri-La City in Yunnan Province, nestled between the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. The gorge boasts a drop of over 3,000 meters from the valley bottom to the mountain top, with a narrowest point of 30 meters, making it one of the world’s deepest and most treacherous gorges.
Previously, on July 18, heavy rainfall caused flooding in the Tiger Leaping Gorge scenic area, resulting in collapsed houses, submerged pathways, and some visitors briefly trapped in a tunnel for nearly 2 hours.
In addition, the major mudslide disaster on the China-Nepal border on August 26 has led to over 1,000 fatalities and more than 4,500 missing persons. Experts criticized the Chinese government’s dam constructions, roads, and tunnels in Tibet for disrupting local ecology and geological stability. Combined with accelerated glacier melting, infiltrated water loosens mountain terrains, multiplying the scale and destructiveness of mudslides during heavy rains.
It’s notable that the Chinese authorities have planned or are constructing multiple large hydroelectric power stations in Tiger Leaping Gorge. Among them, the Xulong Hydroelectric Station located upstream of the gorge at the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan is currently under construction. Official reports in August 2025 identified it as having the steepest ongoing water diversion tunnel domestically, with its first ventilation shaft fully excavated and the main structure transitioning into the concrete casting phase.
Among the operational hydroelectric stations is the Liyuan Hydroelectric Station in the middle reaches of the Jinsha River below the mouth of Tiger Leaping Gorge.