14 Days in Chifeng

The museum sets out the Hongshan culture of some 5,000-6,000 years ago, named for this city's own hill; Erdaojingzi's 4,000-year-old mud-brick town, excavated in 2009-2010, sits under a protective hall south of town.

1. chifeng museum
2. chifeng hongshan site
3. chifeng erdaojingzi site

Dunes and water about 100 km north, named for the C-shaped jade dragon unearthed here in 1971 — 26 cm of dark green jade now in Beijing's National Museum; sleep in Udan town to shorten tomorrow's run west.

1. chifeng yulong sand lake

The Re-A road starts at the springs of Reshui and climbs to Huanggangliang, 2,029 m and the high point of the Greater Khingan; forest slopes all afternoon, and a night near the stone forest.

1. chifeng rea scenic road
2. chifeng huanggangliang

Granite pinnacles at about 1,700 m, part of the geopark UNESCO listed in 2005 — boardwalk loops of two to three hours through pillars the wind has undercut, with long views over the plateau.

1. chifeng asihatu stone forest

South of the stone forest, the Qingshan granite dome carries hundreds of round mortars worn into the rock by ice-age water and grit; an easy boardwalk climb, then a restful evening in Jingpeng.

1. chifeng qingshan mortars

Some 90 km of grassland road to Dali Nur, a lake of roughly 230 square kilometres with swans in migration; stay lakeside and watch the light change over the water.

1. chifeng dada scenic road
2. chifeng gongger grassland
3. chifeng dali lake

The earth walls on the south shore mark a Yuan-era town founded in the 1200s where the last Yuan court retreated in 1369; the afternoon belongs to the shallows where the fish runs gather, then back to Jingpeng.

1. chifeng yingchanglu ruins
2. chifeng dali lake

Rolling steppe brings the Hexigten grasslands of Ulan Butong, a film location ringed by birch and larch; sunset at the General's Pond wetland is the classic first stop.

1. chifeng wulanbutong

Princess Lake's reed shallows in the morning, open ridges and birch glades through the day; sleep locally to keep the pace easy.

1. chifeng wulanbutong

The honest cross-league day — Duolun belongs to Xilingol, an hour-plus west; its reservoir lake rings with forested shores, and the lakeside evening is the calmest of the trip.

1. chifeng duolun lake

The Huiyong Temple complex rose after the 1691 assembly the Kangxi emperor convened at Duolun; then the road runs south over the ridge into Hebei, about three hours to Chengde.

1. chifeng huiyong temple
2. chifeng chengde summer resort

A morning inside the walled summer resort built between 1703 and 1792, then the drive north through Karachin banner, where the Qing-era prince's mansion begun in 1679 sits almost exactly on the way.

1. chifeng chengde summer resort
2. chifeng kalaqin princes mansion

A two-hour run southeast to Ningcheng County, where the Central Capital of the Liao was founded in 1007; the Daming Pagoda still stands about 80 m above the earth walls, one of the tallest ancient brick towers in the northeast.

1. chifeng liaozhongjing site

A last breakfast of milk tea and fried millet, a slow walk through the morning markets, then the train — Beijing under three hours by the rail link.

1. chifeng city markets