【Journey】Luoyang Through the Eyes of a Beijing Boy

Continuing from the previous post 【Journey】Yinchuan Through the Eyes of a Beijing Boy, here's the update!

Departure date: April 2018

Mode of transport: Train

To continue with the previous 【Journey】 to Tai'an, actually this travel note should be earlier than Tai'an. I checked the time order on my hard drive; I went to Luoyang first, then Tai'an. So this trip started in April 2018.

Day 1: The transportation for this trip was by plane, flying from Beijing to Luoyang. It seemed quite cheap, about 400+ RMB, as I booked early and got a special fare. After landing, I took a taxi to the hotel.

My habit is that whenever I go to a new city, I first go to the hotel to drop off my luggage before heading out to visit attractions. No exception this time. But once, when I got off the train very early, around 7:00 AM, the hotel room wasn't ready yet, so I had to have breakfast first, visit a sight, and then come back to check in...

I arrived at the hotel around 2:00 PM, I think. Then my first stop was the Luoyang Museum.

The museum is a bit far from the city center. I remember exchanging a ticket with my ID card. There wasn't much inside, but there were some interesting things to see. I spent about an hour there before leaving. Since I had lunch on the plane, you can imagine it was just so-so, so I got hungry early and decided to get something to eat. Usually, every city has a "tourist-friendly" specialty food street. I went to Luoyang Old Street. It was still early, so I took the bus. Luckily, I hit the evening rush hour; there were quite a lot of people, and it was raining, a bit cold...

Since I had done some homework, I wanted to try the Luoyang Water Feast (Luoyang Shuixi) when I arrived at the Old Street. I thought it was a way of dining, but it turned out... the Water Feast includes many dishes, all served one after another. But since I was alone, I couldn't eat that much. I ordered one staple and one dish—or rather, a soup...

The ban mian (flat noodles) were really delicious. The dish had some pepper, egg dumpling shreds, cilantro, cabbage, and meat. Overall, it was okay. The restaurant staff told me it's not cost-effective for one person; it's better to come with several people so you can taste many different dishes and enjoy all the flavors. So when you come, it's best to bring friends.

After eating, I walked around a bit and then returned to the hotel. If the weather hadn't been rainy, I would have liked to stroll more. But it's okay, I still have tomorrow!

Day 2: The next morning, I had breakfast. There were quite a lot of people... but I didn't think it was good—really not good. I won't post a picture, haha.

Then I went to the most important attraction of this trip to Luoyang—Longmen Grottoes. Longmen Grottoes: It is the largest and most extensive collection of stone carvings in the world, praised by UNESCO as "the peak of Chinese stone carving art," ranking first among all major grottoes in China. The statues of Longmen Grottoes were mostly built by royal nobility, making it a unique royal grotto in the world. It is now a World Cultural Heritage site, a national key cultural relic protection unit, and a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction.

You can buy tickets at the entrance via WeChat or Ctrip. I recall Ctrip offered a discount of about 5 RMB. There were many people when I went in; we queued to enter. There was a walk of about 500-600 meters, then on the right side appeared various statues and Buddha figures of Longmen Grottoes. The giant Buddha was quite impressive, worth seeing. The whole tour took about 1.5 hours.

You may notice: why are there so many people? I happened to go during the Luoyang Peony Festival, so there were lots of visitors. You can avoid this period—I'll mention it in the summary later.

After leaving Longmen Grottoes, I went to Wangcheng Park. The park was very popular, right during the Luoyang Peony Festival. There were many beautiful flowers and local special activities, so everyone was there. I'll post a few pictures for you to see.

There was actually a lot to do in the park. After about 2 hours, I headed straight to the snack street I didn't fully enjoy the night before due to the rain!

Today it didn't rain, so I wandered for over an hour. Traveling alone, you can't try many types of food, but just looking at everything was eye-opening, haha.

Day 3: Today I went to Luoyang's second most famous attraction—White Horse Temple. White Horse Temple (Baima Temple), located 12 kilometers east of the old city of Luoyang, in Baima Temple Town, Luolong District, is a national 4A-level tourist attraction. It is the first ancient temple in China, a world-renowned temple, and the first official temple built after Buddhism was introduced to China. It is known as the "ancestral court" and "source of Buddhism" in China.

Part of the visitors were tourists like me, and part were devout Buddhists. Locally, the incense is extremely flourishing!

I spent about an hour there and left, because I had to return to Beijing in the afternoon. So I ended early and headed to the next attraction. This one was a bit far, but I really liked it. It's called the Luoyang Ancient Art Museum, a museum dedicated to ancient tombs, and the first museum of its kind in the world. I checked and it is currently closed to the public. But it's really worth seeing. Those who have read my travel notes know that ancient tombs are my favorite. I'll post a few pictures for you; some pictures are not suitable to show, so you'd better go and experience it yourself.

I seriously spent 2 hours there, just loving the atmosphere, imagining how people lived back then, the structure, etc.

Around 4:00 PM, I went to the train station. I think I took the high-speed rail back to Beijing. The enjoyable trip to the ancient capital Luoyang ended~

1. The ancient capital Luoyang's Longmen Grottoes and White Horse Temple are worth visiting. If you are Buddhist, you must come.

2. It's best to travel in groups of 3-5 people, otherwise you won't be able to try many dishes at the Water Feast!

3. Luoyang holds the Peony Festival from April to May each year. Hotel and flight prices will be high, especially hotel rates can double or triple. You must book in advance. There will be many tourists then. If you like lively crowds, come during this time.

Luoyang is the 18th city I've visited on my 【Journey】. Come to the ancient capital Luoyang and see the Longmen Grottoes~

Since there are many 【Journey】 travel notes, I won't post them one by one. Please visit my homepage to enjoy them.

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