Luoyang Departure Yuntai Mountain, Qingtianhe and Shennong 4 Days

Leave Luoyang at half past seven and reach the Anshang service village of Yuntai Mountain in about two and a half hours. Put the bags in the guesthouse and switch to the park shuttle, since private cars stop at the gate. Red Stone Gorge takes the first afternoon. It is a one way route of roughly one and a half kilometres: once inside there is no turning back, just a walkway pinned to walls of red sandstone with green water below and a strip of sky above. Two hours covers it comfortably. Back in Anshang by dusk, where the single street is all farmhouse kitchens, donkey meat in broth and yam stewed with chicken, and the river path is quiet because night comes early in the mountains.

Attraction introduction: Yuntai Mountain lies in Xiuwu county of Jiaozuo, on the southern flank of the Taihang range, and is known for tilted block mountains and red rock gorges; it is a world geological park. The walls of Red Stone Gorge are purple red quartz sandstone cut into a deep channel by water, ten metres wide in places and narrow enough for two people in others. The park shuttle costs sixty yuan and holds for three days, linking the gorges.

Tips: Red Stone Gorge fills up sharply after one in the afternoon, and a one way gorge offers no way around the crowd, so go early or go late. Guests generally find the floor slippery and shallow treaded shoes treacherous. In practice the gorge is entered before four on the first afternoon, finishing at dusk, with the peak left for the second morning.

Up Zhuyu peak in the morning. The shuttle runs to the lower cable station, and stairs continue above the top station. At 1,308 metres the peak is the highest point of Yuntai Mountain, the ground Wang Wei had in mind when he wrote his poem about the ninth day of the ninth month. Wind on the summit is strong enough to lean on, and the ranges toward Shanxi line up beyond. The afternoon goes to Tanpu gorge, also called Xiaozhaigou, where springs and falls alternate every few dozen steps and the valley ends at the Yuntai falls, a drop of more than three hundred metres whose roar arrives before the water does. Back in Anshang at dusk with legs that have done their work.

Attraction introduction: Zhuyu peak is the main summit of Yuntai Mountain at 1,308 metres, with a temple to the Zhenwu emperor on top; the old custom of climbing with a spray of dogwood on the ninth of the ninth month survives in this area. Tanpu gorge runs about two kilometres through Ordovician limestone, water cutting along the bedding into a chain of pools and cascades. The Yuntai fall at its head drops 314 metres.

Tips: The peak cable is charged separately at sixty five yuan one way, and strong walkers can take the stairs in about two hours. Guests generally find the summit five or six degrees colder than the valley and the wind hard to stand in. In practice the cable is included in the price, nobody is rushed at the top, and the gorge waits until three in the afternoon when the crowd thins.

Head toward Boai on the third morning, about an hour by road. Qingtianhe is called the Three Gorges of the north: you enter by boat, a round trip of some fifty minutes across the Daquan lake, cliffs rising straight from the water on both sides and the surface still enough to hold a complete reflection. Land midway for the Guanyin gorge walkway, where the stream threads between boulders and, in autumn, the smoke trees along both banks turn red and make the best stretch of the whole route. A cableway runs up the slope for eighty yuan return and gives a view over the whole bay. Sleep in Boai county town to shorten the next morning.

Attraction introduction: Qingtianhe sits in Boai county of Jiaozuo, in the Dan river gorge, turned into a deep lake by a dam built last century; the water runs about seven kilometres and reaches tens of metres in depth. The site divides into the Daquan lake, the Guanyin gorge and the Jinjia ridge, the last holding ten thousand mu of planted pine and a smoke tree said to be a thousand years old. Entry is sixty yuan, the boat ninety return, the cable eighty return, and entry is free above sixty.

Tips: Boats leave on a timetable and a missed sailing means an hour of waiting, so arriving before nine is safest. Guests generally find the gorge walkway worth more than the lake itself, especially in the red leaf weeks. In practice the first sailing is booked for the morning, the walkway follows lunch, and the cable is optional so anyone who prefers can sit by the water.

Shennong Mountain on the last day, forty minutes from Boai. The mountain is modest, Zijin summit at 1,028 metres, but the dragon ridge is the reason to come: eleven and a half kilometres of natural stone backbone, less than a metre wide at its narrowest, air on both sides, and hands that reach for something to hold without being asked. Macaques work the path, so keep bags closed and food out of sight. The cable is seventy five yuan return, and from the top the Yellow River shows in the distance. Lunch in Qinyang on donkey meat in broth, then the road home from three, in Luoyang by six.

Attraction introduction: Shennong Mountain lies north of Qinyang in Jiaozuo and is traditionally where the Yan emperor tested herbs; the main summit is 1,028 metres. The ridge is Cambrian limestone left standing after weathering and collapse, shaped like a dragon back, and runs 11.5 kilometres. Groves of lacebark pine, many of them centuries old, are a special feature of the slopes.

Tips: The ridge closes in rain because the rock turns slick, so check the forecast before leaving. Guests generally find the macaques go straight for plastic bags and any food in hand. In practice the ridge is walked in the quiet morning, with the cable both ways and the legs saved for the narrow section.