10 Days in Baoji

The 1963 He zun with its 122-character inscription, the Stone Drum park, and saozi noodles around the old-town markets.

1. baoji bronze ware museum
2. baoji shigu park
3. baoji city markets

East to Fufeng — the palace sealed in 874 and cleared in 1987, the 148 m stupa of 2009, and the Zhouyuan fields protected since 1982.

1. baoji famen temple
2. baoji zhouyuan site

The cypress groves of Qishan and the plain where Zhuge Liang's northern push stopped in 234 AD; saozi noodles for lunch.

1. baoji zhougong temple
2. baoji wuzhangyuan

Cable cars and meadows below the 3,771 m crown of the Qinling; relic glaciers and stone seas near the top. Overnight on the mountain side or in Baoji.

1. baoji taibai mountain

Streams, pools and boardwalks in Taibai county's forested valleys; a quiet second Qinling day.

1. baoji huangbaiyuan

Longxian's meadows around 2,200 m — horse trails and herder camps, with a cool grassland night. Overnight in Longxian county town.

1. baoji guanshan grassland

The cliff-hung Daoist complex above Longxian in the morning, then the road back across the plateau to Baoji for a market-street dinner.

1. baoji longmen cave

North to Linyou county, where a Sui-built summer palace was renamed Jiuchenggong under the Tang; the famous Liquan stele by Wei Zheng is dated 632, and the well shaft still sits in the old grounds.

1. baoji jiucheng palace site

Southwest of town — the memorial to the legendary Yan Emperor, the old Dasan Pass of Lu You's Southern Song verse, and the valley where the Jialing River starts its run south.

1. baoji yandi mausoleum
2. baoji dasan pass
3. baoji jialing river source

West over the border into Gansu — Tianshui is about 40 minutes by HSR, and the Maiji mountain of grottoes, begun in the late fourth century, holds more than 200 carved niches. Return to Baoji South for the evening train.

1. tianshui maiji mountain