Steam rises from noodle shops before sunrise, as cooks stretch dough into hair-thin strands and drop them into clear beef broth for the first bowl of the day. By afternoon, sheepskin rafts drift down the brown Yellow River near the steel arches of Zhongshan Bridge. When the lights come on along the banks, Zhengning Road fills with smoke from mutton skewers.
Across the bridge, White Pagoda Mountain shows a long city squeezed between dry hills, and upstream the old wooden waterwheels still turn. The climate is semi-arid, with hot summers and cold, very dry winters. When your plans run out, a Local Friend can pick the next stop, maybe a favorite noodle counter or a quiet hilltop temple.
