9-Day Self-Drive Tour from Shanghai to Kaifeng, Luoyang, and Dengfeng (White Horse Temple, Longmen Grottoes, Guanlin, Shaolin Temple, Songyang Academy, Songyue Pagoda)

From January 8 to 16, 2017. Due to license plate bidding, car replacement, and other reasons, our 2016 cross-province self-drive trips were not far, only reaching the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. This time, taking advantage of my wife's annual leave, we drove to Henan to visit historical sites in Kaifeng, Luoyang, and Dengfeng. Henan is the second largest province in terms of cultural relics after Shanxi. Among the existing 4,296 national key cultural relics protection units, Shanxi and Henan have 452 and 358 respectively. The total distance of this trip was 2,649.7 kilometers, surpassing the 2,424 kilometers of the 2012 Yantai self-drive tour and second only to the 2,945 kilometers of the 2014 Tianjin self-drive tour, making it the second highest mileage record in our seven years of cross-province self-drive tours. On the last day, we drove 909.5 kilometers from Kaifeng, Henan back to Pudong, Shanghai in 12 hours, breaking the single-day driving distance record of 796 kilometers set when returning from Nanchang to Shanghai in 2012. The highways from Shanghai to Henan via Yancheng, Huai'an, and Xuzhou are almost all with a speed limit of 120 km/h. However, there was severe congestion before the two provincial toll stations of the Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway at the Jiangsu-Anhui and Anhui-Henan borders, with traffic jams of about 2 kilometers each but taking over 4 hours combined. Upon arriving in Henan, we encountered heavy smog, with an air quality index exceeding 200.

January 8, 2017 (Suqian weather: cloudy, 0 to 8 degrees Celsius)

Departed from home in Pudong, Shanghai at 11:48.

Arrived at Shanghai Ring Expressway Hujia Toll Station at 12:32, cumulative mileage 41.0 km.

Arrived at Shenyang-Haikou Expressway Zhuqiao Toll Station at 12:42, cumulative mileage 51.9 km, highway toll 10 yuan.

Arrived at Shenyang-Haikou Expressway Taicang Main Toll Station at 12:50, cumulative mileage 63.2 km.

Arrived at Shenyang-Haikou Expressway Shaxi Service Area for a break at 13:01, cumulative mileage 79.0 km.

Arrived at Shenyang-Haikou Expressway Sutong Bridge South Toll Station at 13:19, cumulative mileage 96.7 km.

Arrived at Shenyang-Haikou Expressway Dongtai Service Area for a break at 14:36, cumulative mileage 224.0 km.

Arrived at Suqian-Huai'an-Yancheng Expressway Chuzhou Cheqiao Service Area for a break at 16:19, cumulative mileage 387.2 km.

Arrived at Nanjing-Suqian-Xuzhou Expressway Suqian Toll Station at 17:41, cumulative mileage 510.7 km, highway toll 235 yuan.

Checked into Jinjiang Inn Suqian Xiangwang Guli Xingfu South Road, standard room A (1.35m wide bed + 1.1m wide bed), 119 yuan. This hotel is located in the Xiangwang Guli imitation ancient building complex, not facing any street, providing a quiet accommodation environment with large rooms. Xiangwang Guli has a huge underground parking lot with free parking. Overall, Xiangwang Guli is not very lively, with many shops unopened, and the underground parking lot is unmanaged, allowing vehicles to enter and exit freely.

As of that night, cumulative mileage was 520 km, average fuel consumption 6.7 L/100 km.

Driving route map for the day.

January 9, 2017 (Kaifeng weather: cloudy, 0 to 5 degrees Celsius)

Jinjiang Inn Suqian Xiangwang Guli Xingfu South Road.

Xiangwang Guli imitation ancient architecture.

Arrived at Nanjing-Suqian-Xuzhou Expressway Suqian Toll Station at 10:40, cumulative mileage 533.9 km.

Arrived at Huai'an-Xuzhou Expressway Gaozuo Service Area for a break at 11:00, cumulative mileage 562.2 km.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Bizhuang Parking Area at 11:52, cumulative mileage 645.4 km. This is the last refueling point on the Jiangsu section of the Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway. Henan province uses ethanol gasoline, so I planned to fill up with unleaded gasoline here. Unexpectedly, there was no 95-octane gasoline available. The staff suggested driving 6 km ahead and exiting the highway to a Sinopec gas station for 95-octane gasoline. It is worth mentioning that in five northern Jiangsu cities (Xuzhou, Lianyungang, Yancheng, Suqian, Huai'an), 92-octane gasoline is ethanol-based, while 95-octane gasoline is unleaded.

Ahead, we could see the highway exit sign, but we were stuck in traffic for nearly an hour, and we did not illegally use the emergency lane.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Xuzhou South Toll Station at 12:51, cumulative mileage 651.5 km, highway toll 55 yuan.

Arrived at Sinopec Xuzhou Beijing South Road Gas Station at 12:58, cumulative mileage 653.1 km, refueled with 95-octane gasoline for 305 yuan, 6.88 yuan per liter.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Xuzhou South Toll Station at 13:05, cumulative mileage 654.5 km.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Jiangsu-Anhui Toll Station at 13:33, cumulative mileage 661 km, highway toll 5 yuan.

Encountered another traffic jam 2 km from the Anhui-Henan Toll Station, taking nearly 2 hours to move slowly.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Anhui-Henan Toll Station at 15:35, cumulative mileage 714.6 km, highway toll 25 yuan.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Anhui-Henan Border Service Area for a break at 15:37, cumulative mileage 716.2 km.

Heavy fog in Henan with extremely poor air quality. According to media reports, several highways in Henan were closed due to heavy fog that day.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Ningling Service Area for a break at 17:02, cumulative mileage 845 km.

Arrived at Zhengzhou-Min County Expressway Kaifeng Nanyuan Toll Station at 18:09, cumulative mileage 936.7 km, highway toll 105 yuan.

Kaifeng, Zhengzhou, and Luoyang all have autonomous regions under them, with many Hui Muslims and abundant halal food. There are many shops selling beef on the streets of Kaifeng, with low prices and good taste. After a long journey, we bought some beef to reward ourselves.

Checked into Hanting Hotel Kaifeng Baogong Lake, family room, 102 yuan (including single breakfast). This hotel is located in the old city of Kaifeng, with many restaurants nearby. The family room does not face the street and has a large area. Both the front parking area and underground garage are available.

As of that night, cumulative mileage was 946.9 km, average fuel consumption 6.7 L/100 km.

Driving route map for the day.

January 10, 2017 (Kaifeng weather: overcast, 0 to 5 degrees Celsius)

Photo taken from the hotel room window, showing heavy smog.

Hanting Hotel Kaifeng Baogong Lake.

The main street in front of the hotel.

Kaifeng City Wall, fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council on November 20, 1996, category of ancient architecture, dating from the Qing dynasty. The Kaifeng City Wall is 14.4 km long, the second largest ancient city wall in China after the Nanjing City Wall. After wars and floods of the Yellow River, five layers of ancient city walls are stacked beneath the current wall. Although repaired through many dynasties, its scale, layout, and even important coordinates have remained unchanged. The local government began renovations in 1994, restoring three city gates: West Gate (Daliang Gate), North Gate (Anyuan Gate), and Small South Gate (Xinmen).

Small South Gate (Xinmen).

Xiangguo Temple, seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council on March 5, 2013, category of ancient architecture, dating from the Qing dynasty. Ticket price 40 yuan. Grand Xiangguo Temple was first built in the sixth year of Tianbao of Northern Qi (555 AD). During the first year of Yanyuan of Tang Dynasty (712 AD), Emperor Ruizong named it Grand Xiangguo Temple to commemorate his ascension from Prince of Xiang to emperor. During the Northern Song dynasty, the temple was highly favored by the imperial family and expanded multiple times, becoming the largest temple in the capital and the national center of Buddhist activities.

Songdu Imperial Street, an imitation Song dynasty commercial street built in 1988.

Youguo Temple Pagoda (Iron Pagoda), first batch of national key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council on March 4, 1961, category of ancient architecture and historical memorial buildings, dating from the Northern Song dynasty. This pagoda is the tallest glazed brick pagoda in China, built in the first year of Huangyou of Northern Song (1049 AD). Because it was built inside Kaibao Temple, it was called Kaibao Temple Pagoda. In the Ming dynasty, the temple was renamed Youguo Temple, so the pagoda was also called Youguo Temple Pagoda. Due to its brown glazed brick exterior resembling iron, it is commonly called the Iron Pagoda. Ticket price 40 yuan.

Perhaps due to the heavy smog in Henan, vehicles on the streets were generally dirty, with some license plates almost completely covered by dust.

Not far from the Iron Pagoda Park is Anyuan Gate.

Lunch at a restaurant near the hotel.

Inexpensive, a large plate of sauerkraut fish cost only over 40 yuan.

Baogong Temple, ticket price 25 yuan. Baogong Temple was rebuilt in memory of Bao Zheng, a famous upright official and political reformer in ancient China.

Baogong Temple is located on the west bank of Baogong Lake.

Kaifeng Prefecture, ticket price 60 yuan. This is an imitation ancient architectural complex replicating the administrative and judicial offices of the Northern Song capital.

Kaifeng Prefecture covers an area of over 60 mu, complementing Baogong Temple on Baogong West Lake.

Kaifeng Drum Tower, first built in the 12th year of Hongwu of Ming (1379 AD), underwent five renovations during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is the commercial and cultural center of Kaifeng. On October 16, 2013, the reconstruction of Kaifeng Drum Tower was completed.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Kaifeng Toll Station at 16:10, cumulative mileage 985.5 km.

Kaifeng is only about 500 km from Xi'an, another self-drive destination we look forward to.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Zhongmou Service Area for a break at 16:23, cumulative mileage 1013.2 km.

Arrived at Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway Gongyi Service Area for a break at 17:30, cumulative mileage 1104.7 km.

Arrived at Erguang Expressway Guanlin Toll Station at 18:24, cumulative mileage 1164.5 km, highway toll 80 yuan.

Checked into Jinjiang Inn Fashion Luoyang Longmen Guanlin Railway Station Hotel, business standard room A (two 1.35m wide beds), 100 yuan. The biggest advantage of off-season travel is the very cheap room rates. Jinjiang Inn Fashion is slightly higher in grade than Jinjiang Inn, and this room's regular member price is 179 yuan. The hotel is in a relatively remote location, but convenient for self-drive access to and from the highway and for visiting Guanlin, Longmen Grottoes, etc. There is ample parking in front of the hotel, and it is quiet at night.

As of that night, cumulative mileage was 1178.0 km, average fuel consumption 6.7 L/100 km.

Driving route map for the day.

January 11, 2017 (Luoyang weather: cloudy, -2 to 7 degrees Celsius)

In the past 24 hours, Henan was the region with the heaviest smog in the country. Fortunately, air quality improved starting on the 11th.

Arrived at Erguang Expressway Guanlin Toll Station at 10:47, cumulative mileage 1182.2 km.

Encountered another traffic jam near the White Horse Temple Toll Station. There was no traffic accident, and traffic flow was not heavy, but the toll station had low efficiency.

Arrived at Erguang Expressway White Horse Temple Toll Station at 11:17, cumulative mileage 1192.3 km, highway toll 5 yuan.

G310 National Highway leading to White Horse Temple.

White Horse Temple, first batch of national key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council on March 4, 1961, category of ancient architecture and historical memorial buildings, dating from Jin to Qing. It is a key national Buddhist temple in Han areas. White Horse Temple was founded in the 11th year of Yongping of Eastern Han (68 AD), the first officially built temple after Buddhism was introduced to China. Ticket price 35 yuan. The existing ruins and relics date from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

The newly built International Buddhist Hall within White Horse Temple mainly features architectural styles from Thailand, Myanmar, and India.

Tomb of Di Renjie, located within the White Horse Temple scenic area.

There is also Qiyun Pagoda within the White Horse Temple scenic area, first built during the Yongping period of Eastern Han, rebuilt in the Jin dynasty, and is the earliest surviving ancient building in the Luoyang area.

Guanlin, sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council on May 25, 2006, category of ancient architecture, dating from Ming to Qing. Guanlin is the burial site of the head of Guan Yu, a general of Shu in the Three Kingdoms period. The front part is a temple, and the rear part is a tomb mound. Guanlin is one of the three major Guan temples in the world, uniquely called 'Lin' among thousands of Guan temples, and is the only ancient classic architecture in China that combines tomb, temple, and forest in one sacrificial site. Ticket price 40 yuan.