Up on the high shelf of the Taihang, above the cliffs that make the area famous, sits Guoliang, a village of stone houses built from the same reddish sandstone that forms the walls around it. For centuries the only practical link to the valley below was a stairway cut into the cliff, and the village lived the way remote mountain places do: terraced plots, a few animals, water carried by hand. Today it is part of the Wanxianshan scenic area, and on a summer weekend there are more visitors than residents, but walk a few lanes back from the main square and you still find low doorways, stone roofs and persimmon trees.
The village has a second life as a studio. Chinese film crews have used it as a ready-made set for rural dramas, and art students come by the busload to sit on folding stools and paint the cliffs, so you will often see rows of easels along the edge of the plateau. That gives Guoliang an odd, cheerful feel: part farming village, part guesthouse quarter, part outdoor classroom. The guesthouses are mostly family-run and simple, and staying a night is the best way to see the place without the day crowds.
The landscape is the real draw. The plateau ends in sheer walls of layered sandstone that drop hundreds of metres into the gorges, banded in red, orange and grey, and in the evening the low sun sets the whole face glowing. Streams cut narrow canyons with small waterfalls and pools, and paths lead along the rim and down into them. In autumn the trees along the edge turn yellow and red, and that, along with late spring, is the best time to ride here; midsummer is hot and hazy, and winter can bring ice on the shaded bends.
For riders, the plateau roads are short and slow, a stop rather than a stretch of riding. Expect scenic-area ticket gates, shuttle buses and walkers in the road, and park sensibly. Fuel is a matter for Huixian down on the plain, and Hebi to the north-east is the nearest large city in the other direction, so arrive with enough in the tank for the descent and the ride out. Food in the village is homestyle Henan cooking, simple and good, often served in the courtyard of whoever runs the guesthouse.