Zhuque National Forest Park

This guide to Zhuque National Forest Park outside Xi'an follows the descent from Ice Crystal Peak into the farmhouse trailhead below, where hungry hikers point at a live chicken instead of a menu and foragers sort out which wild greens are safe to eat. It traces the mountain's name to Zhuque, the mythical Vermilion Bird guarding the south, and to the geopark's stone sea, shaped by tens of thousands of years of freeze and thaw. Order the jiangshui yuyu, the cold sour noodles every farmhouse table serves, and see if it wakes your legs the way the locals promise.