吕梁市

Why this place

Lüliang is the mountain region west of Taiyuan, on the edge of the Loess Plateau. It is poor, dramatic country — loess terraces, deep gorges, and villages cut into the hillside — and the Yellow River runs along its western edge.

What to see

• Qikou ancient town — a Ming–Qing river port on the Yellow River, with cave dwellings stacked up the slope
• The Yellow River's Hukou area and the loess landscape of the plateau
• Beiwudang Mountain, a Taoist mountain with temples on the ridges

What to eat

• Loess-plateau food: millet, potatoes, buckwheat and mutton
• Red dates from the Yellow River counties

Best time

May–October