Qikou Section of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Yellow River Grand Canyon
Stretching northward from the ancient trade route at Zhangjiashan in Qikou to Kehu Town, this section extends more than 70 kilometres. It is currently the largest and longest Yellow River tourism corridor in China, boasting extremely high ornamental and scientific research value.
The canyon is filled with natural wonders, mainly featuring natural rock paintings, stone carvings, sand beaches, gravel shoals, ancient ferries and wharves.
The scenic spots in visiting order:
- The ancient trade route at Zhangjiashan and exotic rock formations along the Yellow River.
- Datong Shoal with raging waves and Qilin Beach.
- The natural stone wharf and sand beach at Gaojiata.
- The Golden Palace in Zhaishang Village, Congluoyu Town.
- Flower Stone Cliff in Zhaigou Village.
- The "Till Death Do Us Part" rock formation, sand beach, compound of 99 and a half cave dwellings, and jujube orchard in Baidaoyu Village.
- The ancient ferry terminal, the sculpture of Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl, and ancient murals in Yanyao Village.
- Kaiyang Sand Beach (the largest riverside beach along the Yellow River in Lin County) and jujube orchard.
- Rock paintings, water erosion sculptures and fantastic canyon landscapes in Kaiyang Village, where rock paintings, water sculptures and wind erosion carvings are the most representative highlights.
- Grottoes, stone shrines and ancient villages along the Yellow River at Xinglinzhuang Village.
Qilin Colourful Stone Beach
Here you can find relics, primitive rock paintings and water-carved stone landscapes.
11. Drive 5 kilometres north across the Jia-Lin Yellow River Bridge from Kehu Town, and you will reach Baiyun Guan (White Cloud Taoist Temple), one of China’s seven major Taoist sacred sites, "City in the Sky" Jialu Town, and Incense Burner Temple.
Key scenic spots are introduced as follows:
Qilin Beach
Lying at the foot of Lijiashan Village, the beach gets its name from the ancient legend of "Kylin Delivering a Baby".
Washed repeatedly by river currents, the sand here is pure, fine, soft and smooth. When you walk barefoot, every step leaves a deep footprint.
In scorching summer, crowds of visitors lie on the beach enjoying sand baths. After soaking in the delicate sand for 10 to 20 minutes, they jump into the warm Yellow River water, and all tiredness vanishes in an instant.
People blend perfectly with nature, with body and soul fully cleansed. The beach has become a top-quality natural bathing ground.
Besides fine sand, there is an extensive stretch of colourful river stones. You can see the legendary Qianlong Stone and Hunchback Stone, and pick up famous Yellow River rainbow stones. Many stones naturally form patterns of characters and human figures. These translucent, brightly coloured pebbles make ideal tourist souvenirs.
Till Death Do Us Part (Hai Ku Shi Lan)
Located around Baidaoyu Village in Quyu Town, it is a rocky hill composed of grotesque stones, locally known as Flower Stone Mountain or Hundred-Stone Garden.
Geologists confirm that this area was once an ocean hundreds of millions of years ago. Geological movements dried up the seawater, turning the seabed into a massive rocky mountain. Over long ages, the rock mass gradually split into scattered stone clusters blooming like stone flowers, hence the poetic name "Till Death Do Us Part".
The stones take vivid lifelike shapes such as "Crocodile Patrolling the River", "Drawing Legs on a Snake" and "Heavenly Painting Studio".
Today it has become a favourite place for lovers to take marriage oaths, vowing that their love will last even when the seas dry up and rocks crumble.
Yellow River Water-Eroded Relief Gallery
Twenty kilometres upstream along the Yellow River from Qikou, precipices on both banks bear spectacular wind and water erosion carvings shaped by nature over hundreds of millions of years, stretching for a hundred li.
Viewed from a boat on the river, the continuous cliff carvings form a long scroll of ink-wash paintings and abstract reliefs, sometimes grand and imposing, sometimes elegant and subtle.
Up close, you can appreciate relief carving, openwork carving, line engraving and round carving with rich varied shapes and vivid images.
This hundred-li gallery integrates painting, architecture, sculpture and calligraphy from ancient and modern China and overseas, unmatched across the country in scale and fantastic imagery.
This natural cliff relief gallery took shape roughly 20,000 years ago amid geological activities. Groundwater dissolution, long-term river scouring and wind abrasion carved uneven textures across the cliff face and linked them into one continuous stretch.
The finest section of the water-eroded carvings concentrates around Kaiyang Village and Xinglinzhuang Village.
Jujube Forest
Every spring, tens of thousands of mu of jujube trees in the Qikou Scenic Area sprout new green leaves. Rolling hills stretch endlessly covered in deep green foliage.
Walking through the woods, you are greeted by sweet jujube blossoms. Tourists can experience traditional farming with ox-drawn ploughs and watch bees hovering among the flowers.
In autumn, thick clusters of crimson jujubes hang heavy on every branch, like agates and pearls. Ripe fruits drop gently onto visitors’ heads and shoulders with the slightest touch.
Loess Plateau Landform
As one of China’s four major plateaus and the world’s largest loess landform, the Loess Plateau was counted among the three great discoveries of master painter Wu Guanzhong, who regarded it as a boundless golden treasure land.
Standing atop the canyon mountains and looking down, you see undulating ridges and crisscross gullies. Rolling loess hills surge like ocean waves, evoking a sense of vastness, desolation and grandeur.
Seen from the valley floor, many cliff faces are chiselled sharply by running water, rising sheer for thousands of feet with an unyielding, tough bearing.
Scattered across hilltops and slopes are cave dwellings warm in winter and cool in summer. Shepherds stroll slowly along the ridges with flocks wandering loosely to graze. The broad loess land fills people with free and unrestrained peace of mind.
Highly recommended viewing sites:
Yuanshanping Village in Linjiaping Town, Majiashan Village in Qikou Town, Zhengjue Temple in Quyu Town, and Baozhu Mountain in Kehu Town.
Baiyun Guan (White Cloud Taoist Temple)
One of China’s seven sacred Taoist sites, it stands on Baiyun Mountain in Jia County, Shaanxi Province.
It got its name because white clouds often lingered around the mountain peak when the temple was first built.
Founded in 1606 at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the complex covers a construction area of more than 81,000 square metres, making it the largest architectural cluster dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties in Northwest China.
Built along the mountain slope beside the Yellow River with the Hall of Emperor Zhenwu at its centre, the compound includes halls, pavilions, terraces and towers.
The temple preserves numerous precious cultural relics, including over 1,900 colour murals as well as a great many stone carvings and calligraphy works from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Jialu Town
The seat of Jia County, first built in the Western Han Dynasty, perches on a mountain top on the west bank of the Yellow River. With steep natural barriers, it was easy to defend and hard to attack, historically known as "Iron Ji Prefecture".
Seen from the valley below, the town seems suspended in mid-air, earning it the laudatory title "City in the Sky".
Incense Burner Temple
This Taoist temple juts abruptly out of a sheer riverside cliff in Jia County, Shaanxi Province, with three sides hanging over empty space.
Most strikingly, one pavilion stands solely on a single isolated stone pillar, facing the surging Yellow River directly.
Leaning on the balustrade and gazing down at the river, visitors will be stunned by the breathtaking precipice.
Travel Tips
The Qikou section of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Yellow River Grand Canyon was opened up thanks to the construction of the riverside highway in Lin County.
Since the highway was still under construction at that time, many scenic spots remained difficult to reach.
It was expected that once the whole riverside highway was fully open to traffic in 2006, tourists would be able to travel freely and enjoy all the wonderful canyon scenery
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