Luoyang Departure: Chongdugou Bamboo Valley and Jiguan Cave, 4 Days 3 Nights

We leave Luoyang at eight and take the Luanchuan expressway, leaving it at the Chongdugou exit after two hours; the road into the gorge runs beside the stream the whole way. Lunch on Zhuxiang Water Street: rice steamed in bamboo, Luanchuan tofu, acorn jelly, all mountain cooking. In the afternoon a shuttle takes us to Jinji River and we walk the boardwalk upstream. Feihong Falls throws enough spray to soak one sleeve at ten paces, and Xiefen Cliff Falls drops straight down with a low, blunt sound. Back at the farmhouse for dinner, chicken stewed over a wood stove.

Attraction introduction: Chongdugou lies in Pantou township in the Xiong'er mountains, named for Emperor Guangwu of Han, who crossed the Yi River twice here while fleeing. Water runs all year, wild bamboo covers both banks, and locals call the place a little Jiangnan in the north. Jinji River is the southern gorge, three point eight kilometres of easy boardwalk with waterfalls one after another.

Tips: Spray is heavy beside the falls, so bag your camera rather than holding it out over the water. Guests generally find afternoon light gives rainbows in the spray while midday looks flat. In practice day one covers only Jinji River and saves your legs for tomorrow.

Morning on the Dicui River. The Shuilian Xiangong fall hangs across a cave mouth like a bead curtain, and you duck to get behind it; the Five-Colour Lotus Pools hold water in visible layers, stones clear in the shallows. Above that the bamboo corridor closes overhead, thick enough to hide the sky, the whole grove rustling at once when wind moves through, wet flagstones underfoot. Lunch back on the street. In the afternoon the farming village, where tofu is ground on a stone mill and cloth woven by hand, and children can push the mill round themselves.

Attraction introduction: Dicui River is the western gorge, three and a half kilometres, gentler than Jinji with more pools than falls. This valley sits on the transition between subtropical and warm temperate zones, so moisture from the south is trapped by the mountains and the sunny slopes stay warm enough for wild bamboo to spread into a sea. Farmhouse tourism began here in the 1990s and now more than nine in ten households depend on it.

Tips: Flagstones in the grove stay damp all year, so soles with tread matter more than style. Guests generally find the bamboo corridor more absorbing than the waterfalls and nobody hurries through it. In practice today is deliberately loose and we are back at the courtyard by four.

We leave Chongdugou in the morning and take the provincial road toward Luanchuan town, reaching Jiguan Cave in a little over an hour. The entrance sits halfway up the slope and a flight of steps drops you inside, where the temperature falls at once. Stalactites are lit warm yellow and cold blue, stalagmites rising from the floor almost meeting the tips above. The circuit takes about an hour, and outside the mouth you sit for a while letting your eyes readjust. In the afternoon we check in at the county town and eat acorn jelly and stewed chicken.

Attraction introduction: Jiguan Cave west of Luanchuan town is a limestone cave of a kind rarely found this far north, running eighteen hundred metres through several levels at a steady eighteen degrees. The formations are still growing, at a rate measured in centuries. The cave belongs to the Funiu Mountain karst, cut by water through soluble rock over a very long time.

Tips: Eighteen degrees inside against a few degrees outside in November means keep your jacket on rather than taking it off. Guests generally find the wet steps reward a slow pace with a better view. In practice the cave sits on day three because rain or snow never closes it.

No early start. We walk Zhuxiang Water Street, short and lined with guesthouses and food stalls, mostly selling dried bamboo shoots, wood ear and wild honey at prices below the valley entrance. Anyone who wants can walk half an hour back into the bamboo, where the leaves still hold water from the night. After lunch the coach takes the expressway home and we are in Luoyang around three.

Attraction introduction: Zhuxiang Water Street sits at the mouth of the gorge, guesthouses and restaurants and produce shops pressed together, with bonfires and folk performances on summer nights. The villagers built it themselves, starting from a handful of farm rooms and growing into a place that beds more than ten thousand people, which is why it is called the first farmhouse village in China.

Tips: Look at the colour of dried bamboo shoots before buying; bleached white usually means sulphur and the darker sun-dried ones are the safer buy. Guests generally find the gorge five or six degrees cooler than Luoyang in the morning. In practice the drive home is unhurried with one service-area stop.