Luoyang Travel Guide - Brief Information on Luoyang

Luoyang, located in central China, was one of the cradles of Chinese civilization and one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. The name ‘Luoyang’ comes from the city's location to the north of the Luo River: The river flows from west to east and the sun tends to shine on the north side of the river. This way of naming things is a very old one in China.

Luoyang has had different names in the past but Luoyang has been its primary name: It has been called ‘Luoyi’ in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty ’Dongdu’ in the Tang Dynasty, ’and Xijing’ in the Song Dynasty.

Luoyang has a reputation as a peony city, but it is also famous for the Water Banquet (Shui Xi), which consists of 8 cold and 16 warm dishes cooked in various broths, gravies or juices.

Every year, Luoyang attracts thousands of tourists eager to visit the ancient sites around the city. The Longmen Grottoes, probably Luoyang’s most famous site, was voted a UNESCO World Heritage Site in November 2000, but there is also White Horse Temple, situated about 12km east of the modern town, and, near the grottoes to the south of the city, Guanlin a series of temples built to remember a hero of the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu. China's only tomb museum, the Luoyang Ancient Tomb Museum, is situated north of the city. The local Luoyang Museum was founded in 1958 and its exhibits include artifacts from the period between the Xia Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty, totaling around 1700 items.

Luoyang may be reached by three main means of transportation: By air, Luoyang Airport offers connections to a handful of major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu; By train, which is the most popular way to reach the city. Direct trains are available from Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Beijing and other cities. From the city center, the railway station can be reached in about 10 minutes by taxi; or finally by bus. The main bus station is located directly opposite the railway station and has many buses to tourist attractions and other destinations in the province. The express bus can reach Zhengzhou in 2 hours and Kaifeng in 3 hours. Buses depart from Zhengzhou every 20 minutes.