14 Days in Xingtai

Settle in and climb the Ming-era Qingfeng Tower, symbol of a city with some 3,500 years of walls, then the Tang Kaiyuan Temple next door; the evening market off Zhongxing Street feeds well.

1. xingtai qingfeng tower
2. xingtai kaiyuan temple

The memorial in Daihuo Spring Park explains how Guo Shoujing, born here, fixed the year at 365.2425 days in his 1281 calendar — three centuries before Europe adopted the figure; the park itself makes an easy stroll.

1. xingtai guoshoujing memorial

About 60 km west into the Taihang, the red-quartzite gorge and its stair paths fill a day; entry runs around ¥50 and the last stretch of mountain road is narrow — take it slowly.

1. xingtai grand canyon

About 70 km west on the Shanxi line, Tianhe carries the Cowherd-and-Weaver-Girl legend — stream crossings, a hanging bridge and pine shade make it the summer pick of the western valleys.

1. xingtai tianhe mountain

A full slow morning at the gullies where Guo Shoujing studied in the 1250s under Liu Bingzhong; the ridge paths stay quiet, and the late light on the red cliffs is the reason to linger.

1. xingtai zijin mountain

The westernmost full-day trip, about 80 km out — a chain of pools and falls down a forested valley that earns its "little Jiuzhaigou of the north" nickname; go on a weekday if you can.

1. xingtai yunmeng mountain

Both sit west around Jiangshui town, about 75 km out — nine cascades at Jiulong Gorge, then the model ecological village of Qiannanyu, whose Kangda exhibition hall records the military school's 1940-1943 years here.

1. xingtai jiulong gorge
2. xingtai qiannanyu

North to Lincheng, about 80 km — five chambers at a steady 17°C in Kongshan Baiyun Cave and a lakeside lunch at Qishan; sleep in the county town to break the distance.

1. xingtai kongshan cave
2. xingtai qishan lake

An hour north, the Bianque Temple complex honors the Warring States physician at the foot of Que Mountain in Neiqiao; back in the city by late afternoon for the old-street food lanes.

1. xingtai bianque temple

Thirty minutes north by HSR, the Hebei Museum in Shijiazhuang keeps the jade burial suit and the Changxin Palace Lamp from the Han tombs at Mancheng — a two-hour visit minimum, then a city evening.

1. hebei museum

Zhengding pairs Longxing Temple, founded in 586 with its 21-m bronze Guanyin cast in 971, and the 1986 Dream of the Red Chamber set; evening train back to Xingtai.

1. longxing temple
2. zhengding old town

Twenty minutes south by HSR, Handan, capital of the Zhao state — Congtai Park's terrace is over 2,000 years old, and Guangfu's moat-ringed walls are the home of Yang- and Wu-style tai chi. Overnight in Handan.

1. congtai park
2. guangfu ancient city

Southwest of Handan, the Xiangtang caves were cut under the Northern Qi dynasty, 550-577, with carvings ringing the rock like halls; afternoon HSR back to Xingtai for a farewell dinner.

1. xiangtang grottoes

A soft last day — the reservoir and gorge country around Qinwang Lake, about 50 km west in Shahe, keeps an easy trail along the shore; return for the HSR from Xingtai East, just over two hours from Beijing.

1. xingtai qinwang lake