Legendary Journey - 2021 Henan Autumn Travelogue (Including 6 5A-Level Scenic Spots, 2 People 2100 Yuan for Food, Accommodation, and Fun)
Legendary Journey - 2021 Henan Autumn Travelogue (Including 6 5A-Level Scenic Spots, 2 People 2100 Yuan for Food, Accommodation, and Fun, Excellent Value for Money, Lucky and Happy)
Today (2021-12-21), when I was about to supplement the travelogue and photos, I suddenly found that the latter part of the text and pictures were missing, which scared me!
I decided to write a few extra chapters to share with you some of the most impressive scenic spots.
2021-12-14: Uploaded a few compressed photos. First, check out Laojun Mountain.
2021-12-1: Newly added "Henan Food Chapter"
During this eight-day trip in Henan, we had about a dozen proper meals plus daily breakfast. The best impression was the various soups for breakfast.
During the trip, especially when staying at Laojun Mountain, self-heating rice and self-heating hot pot came in handy.
Let's talk about soup dishes. Whether it's the beef soup on the streets of Luoyang or the flat vermicelli soup on the roadside of Anyang, they are all delicious.
But when we went to the famous "Luoyang Water Banquet" in a restaurant, it didn't feel particularly outstanding after eating. My wife especially didn't like it.
It is said that a Luoyang person's breakfast must start with a bowl of soup.
Beef soup - beef offal soup - milky white sweet lamb soup - tofu soup, meatball soup... there are many choices.
Luoyang people have their own persistence when it comes to food.
As the saying goes: "The morning is the key to the day," so Luoyang people never settle for breakfast!
"In Luoyang, 100 breakfasts have 100 ways to wake you up with cravings" - this is not false.
Luoyang's old city feels like a fourth-tier old county town, with historical沉淀, very rustic, and the food is delicious and cheap. This is definitely a compliment; I really like this feeling for travel. It's much better than man-made "historical sites," authentic and original.
A bowl of rich soup paired with golden crispy meatballs is the meatball soup that Luoyang people long for.
My wife's favorite crispy meatballs are said to be made from fried vermicelli. (Some say it's tofu.)
In Luoyang, we specially went to an old street shop for the "Luoyang Water Banquet" and used a group-buying package from a review website.
Borrowing a professional introduction from the internet:
The Luoyang Water Banquet is a名片 of Luoyang. Over 100 years ago, it was enjoyed by nobles in the court, but now it has become a common meal for ordinary people.
How much does a Luoyang Water Banquet cost? Do you go for expensive or cheap? Do you have a big table or just a few dishes from the banquet? If you want expensive, the century-old famous shop Luoyang Water Banquet is a signboard, a famous Chinese feast, and a time-honored brand. If you want to taste all the dishes of the Water Banquet, generally, there are 8 cold dishes first, then 16 main dishes, and 8 desserts. The 16 main dishes are: Peony Swallow Dish, Luoyang Stewed Goods, Luoyang Meat Slices, Braised Pork Belly, Spicy Fish Slices, Milk Soup Stewed Offal, Braised Four Pieces, Luoyang Crispy Meat, Chicken Wings with Ingredients, Sour Soup Fried Crispy Meatballs, Water-Filled Meatballs, Luoyang Sea Cucumber, Oil-Fried Eight Treasure Rice, Honey Ginseng Fruit, Rice Wine Man Jiang Hong, Perfect Wishful Soup. Plus 8 cold dishes and 8 desserts, a table costs at least 500 yuan.
There are many medium and small restaurants in Luoyang that serve Water Banquet, such as Yan Tian Xia, Luoyang Noodle House, Luoyang Restaurant, etc.; there are also many small restaurants like Yao Yao Water Banquet and Xing Hua Cun on West Street in the old city; on Xian Guo Shi Street behind the old market, there is a Guan Ji Water Banquet with great popularity, and you often have to queue for it. This shop has small portions, so you can taste the essence of Luoyang Water Banquet with 8 to 10 dishes, but it costs no more than 200 yuan.
Luoyang folk Water Banquet still retains its traditional flavor, and the ones in the old city are more authentic.
This time, we went to a Water Banquet shop on the old street near Lijing Gate, but it was closed. We found a nearby shop called "Xin Xin Water Banquet" to eat.
We went at 5 PM, and there were no customers. The boss told us that the only staple food left today was one steamed bun, indicating that business was very good during the day. So we sat down.
After we sat down, 5-6 groups of customers came one after another, filling the small shop. Finally, an elderly couple who arrived earlier had to share a table with other customers. Everyone ordered similar dishes, and several groups used the same group-buying coupons. Later, the boss lady went out to buy two bags of steamed buns, which were quickly consumed.
We ordered a couple's set meal online, which was really cheap: 4 dishes for 57 yuan, including the famous Peony Swallow Dish, Boiled Meat Slices, Sour Soup Fried Crispy Meatballs, and Hawthorn Soup (I had a sip in the shop, it was warm and sour-sweet; we packed it to take back to the hotel for a midnight snack, but ended up throwing it away the next morning). The only regret was too much pepper, and the soups were all sour, making several dishes taste similar. My wife only liked the fried crispy meatballs, especially in their original state before being soaked in soup. Later, I asked the boss lady and found out they were made from vermicelli.
After the Water Banquet, our stomachs were full but not feeling full. We took the packed hawthorn soup back to the hotel (only a 5-minute walk) and then went to the snack street for a while. I ate half a portion of potstickers, and my wife had a skewer of tripe. It felt no different from other snack streets, except there were a huge number of stalls (probably hundreds), and the prices were relatively cheap.
I have been a member of Ctrip for 21 years, and I haven't written a travelogue for over 6 years. I've become lazy. Most of the 42 travelogues I still have on Ctrip can no longer show pictures, losing a lot of charm. The hundreds of thousands of views and hundreds of comments are all beautiful memories.
This October, I took a spontaneous trip. Looking back now, it was an extremely lucky trip—good fun, low cost, and most importantly, perfectly avoiding the pandemic.
The trip was from October 16 to 24, 2021. During this time, a new wave of COVID-19 outbreaks occurred in Inner Mongolia and other places, which later spread to Henan and Shanxi. After returning to Dalian, a wave of COVID-19 broke out on November 4 and hasn't passed yet. Thinking about it now, this trip was incredibly lucky.
Because of this special luck, I decided to pick up the pen again. First, I'll write an outline and a流水账. If anyone is interested, I'll slowly share the experiences and photos.
This nine-day trip passed through Henan, Shanxi, and Shandong provinces, driving 2,100 kilometers. Two people spent a total of 6,347 yuan. Excluding transportation costs, food, accommodation, and fun cost 2,086 yuan. Details are explained later.
This trip visited 9 scenic spots, including 6 5A-level scenic spots.
Besides sightseeing, I also visited 4 clients and 2 relatives along the way.
Time and itinerary are as follows:
10-16: 7:50 AM flight, Dalian-Zhengzhou
Luoyang Lijing Gate
10-17: Longtan Grand Canyon
Separate post, welcome to browse:
Extra Chapter: Touring Longtan Grand Canyon
https://you.ctrip.com/travels/luoyang198/4045435.html
10-18: Laojun Mountain
Extra Chapter: Food, Clothing, Shelter, and Travel at Laojun Mountain
The biggest highlight of this Henan trip was undoubtedly Laojun Mountain.
https://you.ctrip.com/travels/2098808/4045020.html
Extra Chapter: Food, Clothing, Shelter, and Travel at Laojun Mountain
10-19: Longmen Grottoes
10-20: Red Flag Canal
Already organized an extra chapter:
The Amazement and Emotion of the Red Flag Canal
https://you.ctrip.com/travels/linzhou1890/4046110.html?isAuthor=true
10-21: Yinxu Museum
Chinese Character Museum
10-24: Fly back to Dalian
Round-trip airfare: 1,220 yuan
Car rental, fuel, parking: 3,041 yuan
Accommodation: 911 yuan
Tickets, cable cars, electric carts, coat rental: 600 yuan
(Only spent 140 yuan on Shaolin Temple tickets; all others were free.)
Food and shopping: 575 yuan
This trip was possible thanks to the "Meet Autumn in Henan, Visit Hometown" tourism campaign from October 10 to November 10, 2021. This free ticket campaign inspired my wife and me to travel to Henan.
During this campaign, 432 A-level scenic spots in Henan actively responded, offering free tickets to tourists nationwide. Free ticket scenic spots accounted for 74.48% of the province's A-level scenic spots.
Among the 19 5A-level scenic spots in the province, 16 participated in the free ticket campaign, including Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Longtan Grand Canyon, Baiyun Mountain, Laojun Mountain-Jiguandong Scenic Area; Yaoshan Scenic Area in Pingdingshan; Yinxu in Anyang, Red Flag Canal, Taihang Grand Canyon Scenic Area; Yuntai Mountain in Jiaozuo, Qingtian River, Shennong Mountain Scenic Area; Baligou Scenic Area in Xinxiang; Dinosaur Relics Park in Nanyang, Laojieling Scenic Area; Mangdang Mountain Tourist Area in Shangqiu; and Chaya Mountain Scenic Area in Zhumadian.
From the idea of traveling to Henan to the actual trip, it was only a week. My boss was a bit confused when I asked for leave from work: why the sudden rush to take annual leave? On October 12, I booked flights on Ctrip: the outbound flight was a 2.9% discount economy class; the return flight was a 2.5% discount economy class. Round-trip airfare cost only 610 yuan per person, which was really cheap.
After booking the flights, I started researching the itinerary and scenic spots. For the first time, I arrogantly set the tone of only visiting 5A-level scenic spots. Later, I found that Henan's tourism resources are so abundant that I couldn't see all the 5A-level scenic spots in this short time!
A little anecdote: To my shame, a week before departure, I, who pride myself as a travel expert, had never heard of Laojun Mountain. It wasn't until I did my homework before the trip that I saw videos online of Laojun Mountain's fairyland-like beauty, especially the aerial shots of the golden summit and sea of clouds, which immediately stunned me. "The unparalleled sacred realm under heaven, the world's number one immortal mountain." I immediately decided to stay one night on Laojun Mountain to watch the sunrise and sea of clouds in the morning.
Finally, after reading the introductions and tourist reviews of each scenic spot on Ctrip, I initially selected five 5A scenic spots participating in the free ticket campaign, plus Shaolin Temple, which was not free but long admired.
After deciding the scenic spots to visit, I planned the route and decided to rent a car at Zhengzhou Airport for self-driving. I only booked the first night's accommodation in Luoyang, planning to stay wherever we visited. Since it wasn't the peak season, accommodation wouldn't be a problem, especially since we had a car. I paid special attention to the accommodation on Laojun Mountain. From introductions, it seemed that rooms were hard to find in peak season. I communicated with the owner of a mountain villa via WeChat in advance and verbally booked a cabin for one night.
Since free tickets for each scenic spot could only be reserved three days in advance, and we needed to download the "Henan Culture and Tourism Pass" mini-program on our phones, I decided to leave this task to my wife. It turned out to be a very correct decision. She completed the task perfectly, reserving all the tickets we planned and some unplanned ones in time. Kudos!
I only bought the tickets for our first stop, Shaolin Temple, on Ctrip. 70 yuan per ticket wasn't expensive, but I was a bit surprised that Ctrip and online tourists generally had low ratings for this scenic spot, so I adjusted my expectations accordingly.
During the week between deciding to go to Henan and the actual trip, I would read Ctrip's introductions and tourist reviews of each scenic spot as soon as I got home. Later, I found that Baidu videos could search for introductions and various "live" videos of each scenic spot. The images of each scenic spot quickly became three-dimensional, and my heart grew more and more restless. It turned out that Henan was so beautiful, with such deep history and so much delicious food.
Full of anticipation, on the morning of October 16, we began this particularly value-for-money journey to meet autumn in Henan.
D1: Shaolin Temple + Luoyang Lijing Gate + Luoyi Ancient City
The first day of a trip is often when you are in the best physical condition and most eager to play. However, with all the preparations before this trip, my expectations for the first day were not very high. The higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment; lowering expectations is often a good thing.
At 9:40 AM, we arrived at Xinzheng Airport. With no checked luggage, we went directly to the parking lot to pick up the car—a white sedan rented at a basic daily rate of 58 yuan. After adding insurance and other fees, the total rental cost for 9 days was 1,780 yuan, and we drove 2,100 kilometers. It was worth it.
After picking up the car, we headed straight to Dengfeng Shaolin Temple—a childhood dream destination and the setting of many film and television works.
Introduction to Shaolin Temple: In 495 AD, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang. To accommodate the eminent monk Buddhabhadra who accompanied him, he chose a site to build a temple. Because the temple faced Mount Shaoshi, backed by Wuru Peak, and was located deep in the forest at the foot of the mountain, it was named Shaolin Temple. Entering from the mountain gate of Shaolin Temple, climbing the steps, passing through the gate hall, and along the central axis, you will encounter the Heavenly King Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the Sutra Library (Dharma Hall), the Abbot's Courtyard, the Snow-Clad Pavilion, and the Thousand Buddha Hall (Western Saint Hall), a total of seven courtyards. Shaolin Temple has suffered several disasters in history. The most recent one was in 1928, during the warlord chaos, when warlord Shi Yousan set fire to Shaolin Temple, destroying the Heavenly King Hall, Mahavira Hall, Sutra Library, and other main buildings. Many precious scriptures, temple chronicles, and boxing manuals were burned to ashes. Existing buildings include the mountain gate, the Snow-Clad Pavilion, and the Thousand Buddha Hall. Other buildings were reconstructed later. Shi Yousan got his comeuppance; for his many evil deeds, he was buried alive.
As we approached Shaolin Temple, it was noon, time to eat. I had been longing for Henan's braised noodles, especially mutton braised noodles. In recent business trips to Henan, I hadn't had authentic braised noodles—big bowls, fragrant soup, mutton hidden at the bottom, mixed with daylily, wood ear, bean sprouts, vermicelli... Just thinking about it made my mouth water.
Based on experience, restaurants near tourist attractions are often expensive and not tasty. So I decided to turn off at a densely populated area about 7-8 kilometers before Shaolin Temple's gate to find a local, authentic braised noodle shop for a hearty meal to recharge for the afternoon's sightseeing. After leaving the main road, I searched for local food on my phone and found that either nearby fast food or takeout was available, or they were too far. So I had to find a convenient place to park and then look for a restaurant. Eventually, I found a small shop on the street corner called "Jinjiang Restaurant." The shop had six or seven small tables, offering various noodle dishes as well as stir-fries and rice (locals call rice "dami," which I hadn't noticed before). When we entered, there were no customers. However, the waitresses looked honest and over 50. Mutton braised noodles were 10 yuan a bowl, which was cheap, so we decided to eat there.
I ordered a bowl of braised noodles for 10 yuan, my wife ordered braised beef noodles for 16 yuan, and I also ordered scrambled eggs with acacia flowers for 19 yuan from the menu. A hearty lunch cost only 45 yuan. The braised noodle soup was delicious, but the vegetables lacked the daylily and wood ear I remembered, and the mutton was scarce, but at 10 yuan a bowl, what more could you expect! My wife was a bit dissatisfied with the braised beef noodles—there was no beef visible on top. I said the meat was hidden under the noodles. She followed my advice and indeed found a few tiny beef cubes at the bottom—I guess beef was very expensive this year. The scrambled eggs with acacia flowers were very generous, with at least four eggs. As soon as it arrived, I had an urge to pack it to go. My wife complained I ordered too much. I said "not much, not much" but ate until I was stuffed. Later, almost every group that entered ordered braised noodles, proving my choice was very wise.
After eating, we bought drinks and water from a nearby shop. With a full stomach, I felt energized and ready to fully enjoy Shaolin Temple in the afternoon.
If it weren't on the way, to be honest, I wouldn't have made a special trip to Shaolin Temple. I didn't want to ruin the lofty image I had of this sanctuary. Even from a distance, I could feel the Shaolin atmosphere. There were several Shaolin martial arts schools near where we had lunch. As we got closer to Shaolin Temple, various signs on both sides of the road enhanced the strong vibe.
The parking lot at the entrance was huge, with at least hundreds of cars parked. It seemed that even without free tickets, the crowds were still bustling. There were electric carts at the gate for rides. Having done my homework, I knew the walk wasn't that long, so I didn't take an electric cart on entry, planning to take one on the way back if tired. But when we returned, we had to stop for the martial arts performance halfway, so we didn't take the return electric cart either.
Several archways and the mountain gate of Shaolin Temple made good photo spots. The stone tablets and ancient cypresses inside the temple were also nice. Except for the Thousand Buddha Hall, which survived the warlord's fire, all other buildings were recently rebuilt, indistinguishable from others. However, the enshrined Buddha at the entrance left a deep impression on me—the expression was truly remarkable.
Inside the Thousand Buddha Hall, the footprints left by monks practicing martial arts were clearly visible. Additionally, there were finger holes in some cypress trees, all marks of Shaolin martial arts.
Another highlight was finding the characters "世民" (Shimin) personally written by Emperor Taizong of Tang on a stone tablet.
The secularization of the temple wasn't as much as complained about online. There were a few places asking for donations for temple maintenance, but it wasn't annoying. The most baffling part was the Pagoda Forest, the resting place of past abbots, where some pagodas had reliefs of airplanes, high-speed trains, and laptops—so keeping up with the times?
After two hours of visiting Shaolin Temple, there was nothing left to see. The promised on-the-hour Shaolin martial arts performance was inexplicably reduced in frequency, and there was no notice or staff explanation at the martial arts hall door, which made tourists uncomfortable. Although it was a free performance, we had paid for the entrance ticket. Fortunately, before coming, I had read some guides mentioning that there was also a calligraphy and painting auction before each performance, which I didn't like anyway. So not watching was fine; we could return to Luoyang city early to rest and check out the night view of Luoyi Ancient City!
Two things worth praising about Shaolin Temple: first, there was no disorderly expansion of the premises; second, there was no annoying loop of "Shaolin, Shaolin" or "Shepherd's Song" music disturbing the Buddha's tranquility.
We left Shaolin Temple at only 3:30 PM. I had a sudden idea to ask my wife to search for other free scenic spots nearby to visit. But we couldn't find suitable ones, so I decided to return to Luoyang first, rest a bit, and then go out again.
Having done my homework, the parking lot of our accommodation was right next to the Lijing Gate scenic area. Navigation said it would take about an hour and a half, which made sense for the return time.
Tonight's accommodation in Luoyang—Luohua Xianshe (the name is very artistic, I love it)—was in an excellent location, on the old city pedestrian street next to Lijing Gate. Looking at photos on Ctrip, each room had different decor. I chose a romantic love-themed double room. The original price was 214 yuan, but after various discounts, it was only 118 yuan:
1 room x 1 night ¥214.00
Room fee and other fees ¥214.00
Exclusive member discount: -¥33.00
Air ticket user discount: -¥45.00
Grand subsidy: -¥13.00
Promo coupon: -¥5.00
Total payable: ¥117.95
We only booked this first night's accommodation in advance, planning to see the actual room before deciding whether to stay another night.
The room facilities were on par with average three-star hotels. The bathroom had separate wet and dry areas. The shampoo and body wash were large bottles of good quality. The decor was artistic and cozy. This was the cleanest B&B I've ever stayed in. The second-floor room had a small balcony, which felt like a private living room. I bought breakfast and ate it in our room, which was especially pleasant. My wife could take her time getting ready while I went out to buy breakfast. Very nice.
The owner recommended nearby peony cakes and a soup called "Bufen Tang," both delicious.
The shops on the pedestrian street were very unique. I especially took a picture of this interesting sign.
Photos of the first night's food, Lijing Gate, and Luoyi Ancient City night view will be edited and uploaded later.
I was particularly glad we chose this accommodation. It was very close to small eateries, specialty shops, and attractions—very convenient!
For the second day's breakfast, I woke up early and walked 20 minutes to find a place called "Old Sun Family Beef Soup." The taste was excellent. Let me share a few pictures for you to feel it:
Updated 2021-12-26: Link to Laojun Mountain extra chapter. To be continued...
Updated 2021-12-31: Added Red Flag Canal photos
Updated 2022-1-1: Added videos of Laojun Mountain and Longtan Grand Canyon (unfortunately, the 30M limit allows only very short videos)
