10 Days in Zhangjiakou

The 1644 gate, the 1429 merchant castle and the city museum; climb the wall on either side of the gate for the rooftops and the pass beyond.

1. zhangjiakou dajingmen
2. zhangjiakou bao

Half an hour southeast, the 1482 Qingyuan bell tower, the Zhenshuo drum tower and the mosque quarter make a slow day among Ming rooftops.

1. zhangjiakou xuanhua old city

Honest note — Huailai County, about an hour by road; the Yuan-founded, Ming-walled station is counted China's best-preserved, and the strange twin-horned Jiming Mountain rises just beside it.

1. zhangjiakou jimingyi

Base at Taizicheng by the HSR station; Genting's 2022 freestyle and snowboard runs fill the winter, with the season roughly late November into March.

1. zhangjiakou chongli genting

Wanlong's longer runs in the morning and the jade-ruyi ski jump in the afternoon; green months swap powder for meadow ridges at 1,600-2,100 m.

1. zhangjiakou chongli wanlong
2. zhangjiakou snow ruyi

Honest note — about 133 km of ridge road above 1,300 m, best from late May to early October; set out early and let the wind-farm lookouts pace the day.

1. zhangjiakou grassland sky road

The open steppe at over 1,400 m holds herder camps into September; ride horses or just take the big sky before a slow return over the plateau road.

1. zhangjiakou zhangbei grassland

Honest note — a 2.5-hour drive southwest to Yuxian; the Ming-Qing lanes around the Yuhuang Pavilion and working paper-cut workshops fill the afternoon, with a night in Nuanquan.

1. zhangjiakou yuxian old town

The 500-year-old Tiehua show (weekends and holidays in season) throws iron above 1,600°C; on the way back east, the Nihewan museum in Yangyuan County displays finds from a site dated to roughly 2 million years.

1. zhangjiakou nuanquan town
2. zhangjiakou nihewan museum

Honest note — Beijing is a separate city; the HSR from Zhangjiakou Station runs about an hour and drops you into the capital for the onward leg of any trip.

1. beijing