10 Days in Anyang

A full day for the UNESCO site — palace and temple foundations, Fu Hao's tomb and the new museum across the Huan River. Evening in Cangxiang Street.

1. anyang yinxu

The national museum of Chinese characters takes a slow morning; Yuan Shikai's tomb, part imperial and part Western, fills the afternoon.

1. anyang chinese writing museum
2. anyang yuanlin

Climb the umbrella-shaped Five-Dynasties pagoda, then graze through the old-town lanes and night market.

1. anyang wenfeng pagoda
2. anyang cangxiang street

West of town — the Three Kingdoms tomb confirmed in 2009, now a site museum, paired with the Qing-era manor called the first official residence of the Central Plains.

1. anyang caocao mausoleum
2. anyang mashi manor

An hour northwest for the 1960s canal carved along Taihang cliffs. Memorial hall at the canal head, then the Youth Cave section. Overnight in Linzhou.

1. anyang red flag canal

Peach Blossom Valley's streams and stairways in the morning, the cliff walkways of Wangxiang Rock after lunch. A second Linzhou night if skies are clear.

1. anyang taihang grand canyon

From Linzhou it is a short hop across the border into Shexian, Handan (neighboring Hebei) for the temple buildings pinned to a cliff face honoring Nüwa; return to Anyang by evening.

1. handan wahuang palace

A short ride south to Tangyin, where King Wen worked out the 64 hexagrams in captivity and where Yue Fei was born; his Ming-era temple holds steles of Man Jiang Hong.

1. anyang youli city
2. anyang yuefei temple

Xunxian belongs to neighboring Hebi, an hour southeast — a walled county town with the early giant stone Buddha on Dapi Mountain and renowned temple fairs.

1. hebi xunxian ancient city
2. hebi dapi mountain

A market breakfast, a slow walk along the river that runs past Yinxu, then the HSR from Anyang East for the onward leg.

1. anyang huan riverfront
2. anyang city markets