Day 1 Zhengzhou → Shibanyan
All day
Meeting point (refer to the map for recommended boarding points):
15:00 Zijingshan Subway Station Exit C 丨 15:30 Liuzhuang Subway Station Exit D2
1. Please join the WeChat travel group on the afternoon of the day before your trip (for group entry, please see the "Travel QR Code" in the app's travel notification)
2. Please arrive at the boarding point 5 minutes before the designated time. If you are late, please take a taxi to the last stop (no waiting will be made for latecomers)
If you think Taihang is only majestic and magnificent
Let's slow down.
Two days
Counting the time in the slate alley
Listen to the wind in the secluded environment of Tianyi Valley - This trip is not about checking in or rushing
Only a leisurely reunion with the mountains and rivers remains
18:00 Arrive at Shibanyan
The dusk has given the red rock mountains a soft golden edge.
Carrying light luggage, I walked into the stone slab B&B built on the mountain. The wild grass growing out of the cracks in the stone walls brought the scent of the mountains, and the wooden lattice windows framed the distant peaks into a natural painting.
After checking in, you can completely unload the fatigue of the journey and start your free time as you please.
If you want to feel the pulse of the town's art scene, the Taihang Xinyu Art Museum is a good place to go. At this hour, the museum has just faded from the hustle and bustle of the day, and the warm yellow light filtering through the glass curtain walls contrasts beautifully with the stone pavement outside.
The museum displays paintings inspired by the Taihang Mountains. From the ink painting style of Jing Hao to the abstract expression of contemporary artists, every stroke contains the soul of slate rock.
When you are tired of walking around, sit in the rest area inside the museum. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows are the scattered stone roofs. Watching the afterglow of the setting sun spread over the roofs, it seems as if you can hear the dialogue between the paintbrush and the rocks.
Strolling along the stone steps next to the art gallery, you can enter the world of distinctive slate houses - Gaojiatai.
These stone houses are built into the mountainside, with walls made of red sandstone and tiles made of thin stone slabs. Even the chicken coops on the courtyard wall and the stone mill in the corner are ingenious.
From the depths of the alley, the occasional laughter of children chasing each other interweaves with the chirping of insects in the cracks of the rocks, creating the most vivid glimpse of human life.
When you feel hungry after shopping, follow the aroma in the air and go to the snack stalls at the end of the alley.
The slate-rock stew is a must-try signature dish. The iron pot simmers pork belly, fried tofu, vermicelli noodles and local wild vegetables. The soup is thick and has the aroma of wood fire.
The freshly baked slate pancakes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Dip them in the garlic chili sauce and you’ll be filled with the aroma of wheat and the smell of local food.
If you want to try something refreshing, cold wild wood ear mushrooms and hawthorn juice are a perfect match. The crispness of the wood ear mushrooms and the sourness and sweetness of the hawthorn are just the right way to relieve the fatigue of the journey.
Sitting at the open-air slate table, watching the boss stir-frying ingredients in a slate wok, listening to the diners at the next table chatting about stories from the mountains, the evening breeze with the coolness of the Dew River blows by, and even time becomes slow and leisurely.
As the night deepens, you can take a walk along the banks of the Dew River, watching the shadow of the stone arch bridge reflected in the water, the street lights on the shore like a string of stars, and the shadows of the mountains in the distance silent as a mystery.
When I was tired, I went back to the B&B, lay on the bed covered with coarse sheets, listened to the sound of the wind blowing through the slate tiles outside the window, and had a good night's sleep.
Day 2 Shibanyan → Tianyi Valley → Taihang Pinghu Observation Deck → Shuihe → Zhengzhou
All day
Get up at 7:00 am
When you open the curtains, you will see the red rock mountains immersed in mist, like a freshly painted ink painting.
When I went downstairs for breakfast, millet porridge, firewood eggs and freshly steamed wild vegetable buns were already placed on the stone table of the B&B. Mixed with the aroma of firewood wafting from the stove, it was the simple warmth of the Taihang morning.
7:30 Set off for Tianyi Valley in the morning light
The scenery outside the car window keeps receding
The red sandstone cliffs are gradually covered by dense greenery
The mountains in the distance were outlined clearly in the morning light.
8:30 Officially embark on the hiking trail
Beside me are trees of various shapes, some with branches stretching vigorously towards the sky, while others provide shade by the roadside. The sunlight shines through the gaps between the branches and leaves, casting mottled shadows on the stone steps.
From time to time you can see exposed red sandstone along the way. The layers of rock are like a thick history book, recording billions of years of geological changes. Occasionally you can find small stones embedded in the rocks, like treasures accidentally left behind by time.
In the grass by the roadside, there might be a few grasshoppers jumping around to avoid your steps. The air is filled with the fragrance of grass and trees. Take a deep breath and you will be filled with the purity of the mountains.
12:00 Arrive at Taihang Pinghu Observation Deck
My steps were just stopped by the magnificent sight before my eyes - the long and narrow lake was like a green silk ribbon spread between the mountains, the cliffs in the distance were reflected in the water, and the lines of the rock formations were clearly visible. A few wild ducks were flying across the water, leaving ripples.
Looking down at Taihang Pinghu, it looks like a huge blue-green emerald, winding its way into the rugged folds of the Taihang Grand Canyon, interpreting the magnificent artistic conception of "a flat lake emerging from a high gorge".
Looking over the profound Taihang Canyon landscape, the geological profile of rock layers from the Cambrian Period to the Cenozoic Era, spanning billions of years, is exposed in the sun, as colorful as the earth's palette.
The viewing platform faces the most precipitous "Z"-shaped turning point of the canyon. The thousand-foot-high cliffs are like those split by a giant axe, and the rock folds are like solidified waves. It is a geological textbook-level structural wonder.
Arrive at the pick-up point on time at 16:30
At this moment, the setting sun is giving the red rocks of Slate Rock a final layer of warm color.
As the car slowly drove away, looking back, the ripples of Taihang Lake, the greenery of Tianyi Valley and the stone houses on Slate Rock gradually shrank into a painting, embedded in my memory.
20:30 Arrive in Zhengzhou
When the city lights come on, the aroma of Taihang grass and trees still lingers on my nose. The scenery and time of this day have quietly brewed a sweet aftertaste in my heart.
During these two days, there is no tight schedule, only the freedom to go with the flow - sitting with time on the slate rock, whispering with the mountains and rivers in Pinghu, and reuniting with myself in Tianyi Valley.
