7 Days in Jiaozuo

About 30 km from the city, the red sandstone gorge runs cool and narrow all year; stay in the village inside the gate to catch the early quiet. Yuntai entered the first batch of UNESCO Global Geoparks in 2004.

1. jiaozuo hongshixia

The cascade drops 314 meters in the wet season; the spring terraces and pool stairways below fill the rest of the day at walking pace.

1. jiaozuo yuntaishan

The cableway climbs toward the 1,297.6-meter summit tied to Wang Wei's festival poem; the glass walkway on the shoulder adds vertigo to the view. Down the mountain and back into Jiaozuo by evening.

1. jiaozuo zhuyufeng

A quieter arm of the Yuntai geopark, all stairways beside a green river; macaques in the trees, and cooler air than the main valley in summer.

1. jiaozuo qinglongxia

Fenglin's high meadows and stone arches sit on the geopark's northern side; pair the afternoon with the long green lake at Qingtianhe in Boai, nicknamed the Three Gorges of the North.

1. jiaozuo fenglinxia
2. jiaozuo qingtianhe

In Qinyang, the Dragon-Spine ridge of white cliffs climbs toward the Zijin summit at 1,028 meters; macaques work the paths, so keep snacks packed away.

1. jiaozuo shennong mountain

The temple complex at Wuzhi, ordered built in 1723 to oversee the Yellow River works, stands first; then the Wenxian village where the 17th-century Chen Wangting systematized tai chi — UNESCO inscribed the art in December 2020. Return via the Zhengzhou intercity line.

1. jiaozuo jiayingguan
2. jiaozuo chenjiagou