Longmen Grottoes in China's Henan Province is a spectacular sight, with more than 100,000 statues of Buddha and his disciples carved into a hillside facing the Yi River. Located about nine miles south of Luoyang, Longmen Grottoes is one of the three most famous grottoes in China. The other two are Yungang Caves near Datong in Shanxi Province and Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in western...
Shaolin Temple, in the region of Song Mountain, Dengfeng City, Henan Province, is reputed to be 'The Number One Temple under Heaven'. Included on UNESCO's World Cultural & Natural Heritage List in 2010, the temple is the cradle of the Chinese Zen Buddhism and the Shaolin Martial Arts, such as Shaolin Cudgel. One can see wild flowers and pines on the mountain. Singing birds and a...
The peony of Luoyang is "the most beautiful under heaven", as the saying goes. The peony, the emblem flower of Luoyang, is lauded as "queen of flowers with ethereal color and celestial fragrance." Since the Tang Dynasty, no Chinese city has been able to rival Luoyang in growing peonies. Growing the peony and marveling at it has, in fact, long been a local obsession. The first Luoyang...