In 2015, Will Stauffer-Norris kayaked about 65 miles of the Ji Qu, the largest tributary to the main fork of the Mekong on the Tibetan Plateau (the Za Qu).

This section is downstream of the rapid at the end of the 2011 expedition (http://www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com/1stdes/mekong/jiqu2011.html). At the put-in (Lat 32.29 N, Lon 95.58 N, eleveation 4014 meters), the river flow was about 15,000 cfs on June 7, declining to about 5,000 cfs on June 14 at the take-out (Lat 31.90 N, Lon 96.14 E, elevation 3764 meters), with an average gradient of less than 13 ft/mi.

There was one portage and at least one Class 3 rapid, otherwise river was a very busy Class 2. The meander stretch at the end of this stretch is a great repeat run. The meander section in the Goggle Earth image (shown below, covered with ice) is comparable to the Goosenecks of the San Juan in southern Utah and hopefully will become part a Chinese national park, in part due to the efforts of Last Descents River Expeditions, which helped Stauffer-Norris with logistics for this trip.