Luoyang Departure: Red Flag Canal and Taihang Grand Canyon, 4 Days 3 Nights in Autumn

We leave Luoyang at half past seven and take the expressways north, reaching Linzhou around midday. Lunch is a local big-pot stew, noodles and tofu and meatballs simmered together, with a bowl of millet porridge on the side. In the afternoon we go to the Red Flag Canal memorial hall at Fenshuiyuan, where the sand table, the photo wall and the tools of the period walk you through the ten years it took to build. Afterwards we stand at the head gate for a while; the water comes out of the sluice with more sound than you expect.

Attraction introduction: Linzhou sits in the far northwest of Henan on the eastern slope of the Taihang range, where Shanxi, Hebei and Henan meet; it was called Linxian until 1994. The land is steep and the soil thin, and drought was a fact of life for generations. The Red Flag Canal brings water from Pingshun in Shanxi, threading along the mountainside to reach the county, turning an impossibility into a line on the map.

Tips: The hall is well air-conditioned while the mountain wind outside is sharp, so a light down jacket earns its weight. Guests generally find that seeing the exhibition before seeing the channel changes how the channel feels. In practice we keep day one flat on purpose, saving your legs for the two days that follow.

In the morning we enter the Taihang Grand Canyon. The path through Taohua Valley follows the stream with little climbing, pool after pool, and the water in Huanglong Pool is a deep malachite green. The Jiu Lian waterfall section drops in steps, loud enough to drown out conversation. The valley runs three or four degrees cooler than outside and the rock walls stay wet all year. Lunch is back in Shibanyan town: wild chives with eggs, free-range chicken stewed in a clay pot. In the afternoon a shuttle takes us up the Taihang Sky Road, thirty kilometres pinned to the cliff, and we stop at three viewpoints.

Attraction introduction: The Grand Canyon at Shibanyan is the deepest cut of the southern Taihang, red sandstone cliffs stacked in layer upon layer, the floor below eight hundred metres and the rim above seventeen hundred. Taohua Valley runs east to west; its stream comes down from Shanxi and never dries, carving a chain of pools and drops into the valley floor.

Tips: The boardwalk in the valley is wet, so wear soles with tread rather than flat leather. Guests generally find the Sky Road viewpoints windy enough to take hats and scarves with them. In practice the shuttle thins out after four, so we aim to be on the last stretch before half past three.

Today is for climbing. The first half is stone steps under thick trees, pine needles underfoot; the second half is pinned to the cliff, steel ladders alternating with walkways, and the steepest pitch needs both hands, pack swung forward so it clears the rock. At the top a platform opens out over the whole valley and the far wall, with wind pouring up the gorge. Anyone who would rather not climb stays in town, where there are benches along the Cangxi river and stalls selling dried persimmon and Sichuan pepper.

Attraction introduction: The name Wangxiangyan comes from a legend that King Wu Ding of Shang and his minister Fu Yue once lived here, and carved inscriptions from later dynasties still mark the rock, darkened by rain. The mountain is a single block of red sandstone split vertically by water, and the walkway runs inside that split: a strip of sky overhead, several hundred metres of air below.

Tips: This route is hard on the knees, and a brace or a stick is worth more than a camera. Guests generally find the descent more draining than the climb because the eyes never leave the steps. In practice we schedule it for day three, once the legs are warm, and nobody is pushed to go up.

In the morning we walk twenty minutes along the channel to Qingnian Cave. The path is narrow, water on one side and rock on the other, and two people have to turn sideways to pass. The approach to the mouth is the tightest part, hands brushing the chisel marks. There is lighting inside and a boat service for anyone who wants it. Afterwards we drive to Linzhou city, have lunch, and take the expressway back, reaching Luoyang before six in the evening.

Attraction introduction: Qingnian Cave is the longest tunnel on the main channel of the Red Flag Canal, over six hundred metres, driven by a team of three hundred young workers who took more than a year to break through. Once it opened, the water passed straight through the mountain and the channel finally became one continuous line, which is where the name comes from.

Tips: Inside the cave it is five or six degrees cooler, so put your jacket on before the entrance rather than at it. Guests generally find that stepping back out and looking at the channel explains why it had to hug the cliff. In practice the drive home is four hours, so we leave at half past one to miss the lorry traffic north of Anyang.