Chengguan is the old core of Huixian, a county-level city in the north of Henan that sits right where the North China Plain stops being flat. To the south and east the land runs out level, a grid of wheat and maize fields and straight poplar-lined roads; to the north-west, close enough to fill the skyline on a clear day, the Taihang Mountains rise in tiers of red and buff rock. For anyone riding to Guoliang, this is the last proper town before the climb, and it behaves like one: traffic, scooters, food stalls, shops, mechanics and filling stations, with the provincial city of Xinxiang about thirty kilometres away for anything bigger.
There is more history here than the concrete suggests. The plain at the foot of the Taihang has been farmed for thousands of years, and the hills just outside town hold Baiquan, the Hundred Springs, a lake and spring park at the foot of Sumen Mountain where scholars and officials built pavilions and retreats over many dynasties. It is a pleasant place to walk for an hour if you arrive too late to start into the mountains, and it shows the gentler side of a landscape that is about to turn very steep.
The riding out of Chengguan begins mildly. You head north-west through villages and orchards, the road gradually tilting upward, and then the limestone and sandstone walls close in and the real Taihang begins: deep gorges, cliff roads, switchbacks with long drops on the outside. Plan the day so that you leave Huixian in the morning. The mountain roads are narrow, tour buses and minibuses use them, and the dramatic part is not something to ride in the dark or in a rush.
Some practical honesty helps here. Foreign riders need the right paperwork to ride legally in China, which in practice means a Chinese licence and a properly registered machine, and rules for motorcycles vary from city to city, so check before you plan a self-guided trip. Fill the tank in town, eat while you can, and carry water, because the villages up top are small and the services are aimed at day visitors rather than at riders. Henan noodles, often hand-pulled and served in a big bowl of broth, are the cheap, filling lunch you will find on almost every street here.