Luoyang to Yuntai Mountain, Hongshi Gorge and Chenjiagou 5 Days

An eight o clock start, the Jiaotong and Changji expressways, and Xiuwu two hours later. Lunch at the foot of the mountain, bags into the hotel, then into the scenic area. The gate ticket is 120 yuan and the shuttle pass 60 yuan, both good for three days, and the first ride goes to Tanpu Gorge. Also called Xiaozhaigou, the gorge is short, a chain of small falls and shallow pools, two hours for the round trip.

Attraction introduction: Tanpu Gorge sits inside the Yuntai scenic area and takes its name from the number of pools and drops along its bed. The walls are red rock, water steps down over the layers, and the path is mostly boardwalk and stone stair. The macaque valley at the mouth can be walked on the same visit.

Tips: Day one carries nothing strenuous. Guests generally find the shuttle interchanges poorly signed and a wrong turn costs a full loop, so follow the station names on each bus. In practice Tanpu is finished before three, with dinner at the foot of the mountain and an early night.

Into the park at ten to eight, shuttle to the north mouth of Hongshi Gorge. The route is one way, about 1.5 kilometres, entering north and leaving south, with no turning back once inside. Both walls are dark red rock, the water bends below, and the boardwalk is pinned to the cliff, low enough in places that you duck. Ninety minutes to two hours covers it, and the exit opens onto Zifang Lake, wide and calm, worth sitting beside.

Attraction introduction: Hongshi Gorge is the narrowest of the Yuntai gorges, its walls a purple red cut by long erosion. The water at the bottom runs green and drops into small falls where the bed steps down. Zifang Lake is the reservoir inside the park, named for the Han strategist Zhang Liang, whose courtesy name was Zifang.

Tips: No direct sun reaches the gorge floor and it runs cooler than outside. Guests generally find the queue forming after nine, and with a narrow boardwalk one hold up blocks everyone behind. In practice we enter before eight and come out against the first wave, moving in the opposite direction.

The hard day. The shuttle climbs the mountain road and threads the tunnel section, where the bus turns inside the rock and comes out on a different face each time. From the trailhead the climb starts, 1,308 metres and more than a thousand stone steps, an hour and a half with rests. Wind on top, and the Yellow River plain shows in the distance. The descent uses the same path, and anyone with sore knees should edge down sideways.

Attraction introduction: Zhuyu Peak is the highest point of Yuntai Mountain at 1,308 metres, named for the dogwood that once grew on its slopes. The road up passes a set of spiral tunnels known locally as Diecai, and a small shrine to the Dark Warrior stands on the summit, with the southern escarpment of the Taihang range falling away on both sides.

Tips: The stairs never let up, so knee supports and a walking stick earn their place. Guests generally find cloud building on the summit after two in the afternoon and the view gone in minutes. In practice the group tops out before ten, eats a packed lunch up there, and starts down at one.

South after breakfast, a little over an hour to Chenjiagou in Zhaobao township of Wenxian county. The tai chi ancestral hall comes first, then the courtyard where Yang Luchan learned the art, an old compound with the training gear still in place. The tai chi museum in the same village lays out manuals, weapons and photographs by period. Lunch in town, an easy afternoon, and the night in Wenxian.

Attraction introduction: Chenjiagou is the birthplace of Chen style tai chi, created here by Chen Wangting in the late Ming and passed through Chen Changxing to Yang Luchan, from whom the Yang style descends. The ancestral hall holds a statue of Chen Wangting, the Yang Luchan study courtyard is an old residential compound, and the museum traces the lineage of the art.

Tips: The lanes are narrow and coaches stop on the outer road, ten minutes on foot from the hall. Guests generally find a teacher leading practice outside the ancestral hall around ten in the morning, more engaging than any display board. In practice the hall is timed for half past nine to catch that session.

No early alarm, away at half past eight. The expressway runs through Gongyi and into Luoyang in ninety minutes, with a pause at the service area, arriving before lunch. Bags were packed the night before, so the morning only needs breakfast.

Attraction introduction: Wenxian lies in southern Jiaozuo with the Yellow River just beyond its border, and the county is the recognised home of the four famous Huai medicines, including the iron yam. The road back to Luoyang uses the Lianhuo expressway across the low hills of Gongyi.

Tips: The last day holds only the drive, leaving half a day free for each guest. Guests generally find the expressway ramp at Wenxian queues during the morning rush. In practice departure sits at half past eight, clear of the seven to eight commuter surge.