5 Days in Tianshui

The full day for the 142-metre hill — 221 caves, more than 10,000 clay sculptures from around 384-417 onward, walkways spiralling the rock and the 15-metre eastern Buddha. Timed entry, book ahead; the shuttle from the gate saves the walk.

1. tianshui maijishan grottoes

About 15 kilometres back toward town, the Xianren cliffs stack temples and shrines into ledges and natural bridging rock; the Jingtu temple's grounds sit in the same Maiji hills. Quieter than day one, and greener.

1. tianshui xianren ya
2. tianshui jingtu temple

Morning in the Fuxi Temple of 1483-1484 — the courtyard cypresses, the rite hall where the 22 June ceremony gathers — with the city museum galleries alongside. Afternoon in the Hu family compounds of the late 1500s, the south house kept as a folk museum.

1. Fuxing Temple (Fuxi Temple)
2. tianshui hushi residences

The 13th-century Taoist guan on the north slope in the morning, Nanguo temple's hill — Du Fu's 759 poems, the 2,500-year cypress — in the afternoon, and the West Gate lanes at dusk for guagua and vinegar noodles.

1. tianshui yuquan guan
2. tianshui nanguo temple
3. tianshui xiguan old town

Honestly labelled county day — Gangu lies west under the same prefecture, about half an hour by rail. The Daxiang mountain cliff Buddha, a Tang figure about 23 metres tall, sits halfway up the slope with the old temple terraces below. Evening train back for departure.

1. tianshui daxiang mountain