2020 National Day 6-Day 5-Night Independent Trip to Henan

This trip to Henan mainly covered Kaifeng and Luoyang. I didn't prepare a detailed itinerary, just searched for a list of 5A scenic spots in Henan and picked out the most highly rated, scenic, nearby, and representative ones. I chose Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden, Longmen Grottoes, Laojun Mountain, and Longtan Grand Canyon. Actually, Songshan Shaolin Temple is also nearby, but I didn't choose it. If others like Shaolin culture, they can go there. Here is the overall itinerary and costs:

Day 1: Train to Kaifeng, arrived in the evening, stayed near Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden in Kaifeng, room cost 150 yuan.

Day 2: Visited Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden, independent trip, ticket 120 yuan, evening train to Luoyang, stayed near Luoyang Railway Station, room cost 117 yuan.

Day 3: Visited Longtan Grand Canyon, booked a one-day group tour online for 110 yuan (including guide fee, transportation, ticket), stayed near Luoyang Railway Station, room cost 150 yuan.

Day 4: Visited Longmen Grottoes, independent trip, ticket 90 yuan, stayed near Luoyang Railway Station, room cost 144 yuan.

Day 5: Visited Laojun Mountain, booked a one-day group tour online for 256 yuan (including guide fee, transportation, ticket, round-trip large cable car), stayed near Luoyang Longmen Station, room cost 146 yuan.

Day 6: Return by train.

Overall, all the above scenic spots are good, especially Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden, which I think is very fun, suitable for all ages, and not too tiring. It is worth recommending. Next is Longmen Grottoes, which is also impressive and not tiring. The other two spots are more strenuous. For the one-day tours, you need to gather at a designated location early in the morning and then be dropped off at the same location in the evening.

1. Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden

Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden has many performances. The recommended ones are "The Great Song Defense Battle" and "Yue Fei Fights Xiao Liangwang," both with grand scenes. There are also many other performances. Their locations and times are marked on the scenic area's WeChat account or map. Try to watch as many as possible by planning the showtimes and positions.

2. Longtan Grand Canyon

The drive to Longtan Grand Canyon takes about 1.5 hours. Assembly is at 7:00 AM, with 2-3 meeting points. The scenic area gathers at 4:00 PM for the return trip. Overall, the scenery of the grand canyon is decent but not stunning—maybe because I've seen too many. The canyon trail is one-way: you walk to the end and then take a car back. Since I was in good shape and had plenty of time, I walked back on the mountain road to the starting point. Though it was a walk, it was relatively fast because it was downhill and I didn't need to stop and look much. I returned to the scenic area parking lot before 3:00 PM, so time was abundant. For the elderly and children, it is recommended to take the car back.

The two children in the photos are strangers; I just used them as models.

This was taken on the winding mountain road on the way back.

3. Longmen Grottoes

I had walked a lot at Longtan Grand Canyon the previous day, so today I took it easy and visited Longmen Grottoes in the city. The scenic spot is not far from Luoyang High-speed Rail Station. I took the bus there and bought tickets at the entrance; you can also buy them online. Initially, I didn't want to go to Longmen Grottoes and planned to visit the Luoyang Museum instead, because I had been to Yungang Grottoes and thought they were similar. But I still wanted to see the differences. After entering Longmen Grottoes, I found the scenery better than Yungang Grottoes because Longmen is located on both sides of the Yi River, which has good feng shui. The grottoes are mainly on the west bank; the east bank has very few grottoes, mainly a temple and a tomb. I didn't visit the temple or the tomb as I wasn't interested; I just looked at the grottoes.

The main sculpture seems to be named Lu, I can't remember the full name. It is said to be modeled after Empress Wu Zetian's face, and it looks fine.

The temple on the east bank of the Yi River

View of the west bank from the east bank

4. Laojun Mountain

Laojun Mountain is quite far from Luoyang city, about a 2-hour drive. It drizzled on the day I went, and the weather was not good. It was said that the number of visitors was less than the previous day, but it still felt crowded. The scenic area is very popular. There are two cable cars: the large cable car goes from the base to Zhongtian Gate (midway up the mountain), and the small cable car goes from Zhongtian Gate to Nantian Gate (the summit). However, even after reaching Nantian Gate, you still need to walk and climb, but it's much easier. I only bought a round-trip ticket for the large cable car and walked both ways on the small one. It was manageable. We were required to gather at 5:30 PM for the return trip, but I went back at 4:00 PM, so my stamina was good. The essence of Laojun Mountain is the "Ten-mile Painting Gallery" and the unique peak forest at the top. Unfortunately, it was raining that day, so I only saw the Ten-mile Painting Gallery, which was indeed nice. Then the fog came up and I couldn't see anything, so I just kept my head down and hurried along. It was very cold on the mountain, and snow fell. I wore a shirt and a thin jacket, plus a raincoat. Walking kept me warm, but occasional gusts of wind were cold. Overall, the scenery was good and worth recommending, much better than Mount Tai, which is only famous for its reputation.

5. Luoyang Night View

Finally, there is the night view of Sui-Tang Luoyang City. This scenic spot is not far from Luoyang Station, including the Tongtian Tower, the Sui-Tang Luoyang City ruins, and Yingtian Gate. They are adjacent and said to be where Empress Wu Zetian governed. The night view is very beautiful.

In fact, there are other nice places in Luoyang city, such as museums and the Zhou King City, but unfortunately I didn't explore much. I also saw the night view of the new district when passing by, and it was very nice. Additionally, April is the season for admiring peonies in Luoyang. There are many parks for flower viewing. You can come then. The peony is the city flower of Luoyang.