Luoyang to Yuntai Mountain, Fenglin Gorge and Chenjiagou, 5 days

Leave Luoyang at half past seven, take the Lianhuo then the Zhengyun expressway, and reach Xiuwu in a little over two hours. Park at the Anshang service area and drop the bags before entering, because you do not want to haul a suitcase onto a shuttle. The afternoon goes to Tanpu Gorge, also called Xiaozhaigou, where the path follows water and rock without much climbing, and you walk back the way you came. Dinner in Anshang village, which is quiet at night. Sleep early.

Attraction introduction: Tanpu Gorge lies in the north of the Yuntai scenic area, a valley built around pools and falls, with water running all year and purple-red Taihang rock on both banks. It is short enough for half a day and the least strenuous of the main valleys, which makes it a good fit for the leftover hours of a travel day.

Tips: Do not overfill the first day, since half a day in a bus leaves the legs stiff. Guests generally find the guesthouses at Anshang cheaper than staying inside the scenic area, with the shuttle stop ten minutes away on foot. In practice, pack light, because every shuttle change means lifting the bag.

Out of the door at twenty to eight to reach Red Stone Gorge before the coaches do. There is one walkway at the bottom and it runs one way, so a crowd ahead means a slow shuffle. Water runs at your feet in a dark green, and the rock above is purple-red, pressed in layer after layer. The gorge ends at Zifang Lake, where a shuttle takes you back to Anshang for lunch and an hour of rest. In the afternoon, drive up Zhuyu Peak; the bus stops halfway and the remaining steps are yours, with handrails on the steep parts.

Attraction introduction: Red Stone Gorge runs about 1.5 km, a dozen metres wide in places and barely two people across at its narrowest. The walls are marine sandstone laid down more than a billion years ago and later cut open by water. Zhuyu Peak is the highest point of Yuntai at 1308 m, and on a clear day the Yellow River shows on the horizon. The temple to Zhenwu at the summit has kept its incense burning.

Tips: The gorge floor is cool, several degrees below the outside in November, so bring a jacket. Guests generally find that entering before eight means an open path, while after half past nine the queue reaches the gate. In practice, keep the climb for the afternoon and decide at the mid-station whether the summit is worth it.

Leave Anshang in the morning and reach the Fenglin Gorge visitor centre in about forty minutes. The shuttle here is not optional: six kilometres of switchbacks separate the foot of the mountain from the top, with no walking route. At the summit, step onto the Sky Love platform, a glass deck cantilevered over the cliff with the whole lake below. Then take the cable car or the cliff walkway down to the pier and board a boat for forty minutes across Emerald Lake, with a short stop beside a small island for photographs.

Attraction introduction: Fenglin Gorge was once called Qunying Lake, formed in the 1970s when the Qunying reservoir was dammed. The dam stands 100.5 m high and is the tallest masonry arch dam in Asia. Depth and minerals give the water an emerald tone, and the Taihang peaks close in on both sides, which is why people call it the Yuntai sky lake. It shares a visitor centre with Qinglong Gorge.

Tips: Last entry is at four in the afternoon, and the boats and cable car stop at the same hour, so do not arrive late. Guests generally find the lake calmest between nine and ten, when the wind drops and the reflection holds. In practice, go up first and come down second, because the whole route then runs downhill.

An hour and a half by road to Wenxian. Chenjiagou is a working village rather than a walled attraction: entering costs nothing, and only the ancestral hall, the museum and the Yang Luchan study house charge admission. Start at the ancestral hall of taiji, then the museum, which follows the art from Chen Wangting in the late Ming through to the UNESCO listing. The afternoon is for walking: the old street is short, lined with martial arts schools and shops selling huai yam, and on a good day a class drills together on the square.

Attraction introduction: Chenjiagou sits five kilometres east of Wenxian county town and was once called Changyang village. Chen Wangting, ninth generation of the Chen family, is credited with shaping taiji here in the late Ming and early Qing. More than eight in ten villagers practise, and taiji joined the UNESCO representative list of intangible cultural heritage in 2020.

Tips: A Yuntai Mountain ticket earns half price at Chenjiagou within seven days, so keep the stub, public holidays excepted. Guests generally find the square busiest at dawn and dusk and empty at midday. In practice, take the museum in the morning when it is quiet and leave the courtyards for the afternoon light.

No alarm. Breakfast at a street stall in the county town, a bowl of peppery hu la tang with fried dough sticks straight from the wok. Leave at half past nine and take the Jiaowen road to the Lianhuo expressway, reaching Luoyang in an hour and a half. The route passes Mengzhou, where the Yellow River bridge gives a view of banks exposed by the low autumn water. With time to spare, stop in Jiaozuo for a couple of kilos of iron-bar yam, which is at its best in November.

Attraction introduction: Wenxian lies north of the Yellow River and is the home of the four huai medicines: iron-bar yam, rehmannia, achyranthes and chrysanthemum, all sent to the court in the Ming and Qing. The sandy soil drains well, and the yams come out long and thin with a pale skin and few root hairs.

Tips: Keep the last day free of sights, since an extra hour on the road is common. Guests generally find the Lianhuo expressway slow through Zhengzhou on weekend afternoons. In practice, leave in the morning and clear Zhengzhou before noon if you can.