Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, Henan
Luoyang (洛阳), a city in Henan Province, 4 hours away from Mountain Hua, a very important city in central China, and it was capital for many dynasties in the past. Now it's famous for the world cultural legacy, Longmen Grottoes, it is one of the 4 famous grottoes in China, the span of construction of the Longmen Grottoes lasted for over 400 years through a couple of dynasties. It reflects art, religion, culture, politics, economy from that period of time in China's history. The grottoes are scattered on the mountains along both sides of a river for about 1 kilometer, and it's open to tourists, very easy to tour the park on one's own, no guide needed, but if you want to hear more stories about the grottoes, hiring a guide wouldn't be a bad idea.
There are over 2000 shrines in the park with more than 100, 000 figures in different sizes.
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Some of them are big, some of them are small, Some even got buried under dirt over the years, also some of the heads were ruined during cultural revolution.
What impressed me the most was the biggest figure in the park, which lies in the middle of all the other grottoes. other than a few damages on the sides, the main figure is pretty well-reserved. It often let tourists wonder how it was built and carved with so many delicate details by the people from a time when there was no machines and such.
It's possible to access the other side of the river through a bridge.
The first famous Chinese backpacker in recorded Chinese history, 唐三藏. He is also one of the main characters from the novel "Journey to the West".
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The temple on the mountains was also worth visiting, not big, but kind of a refresher after seeing all the figures in the grottoes, after all, they made me feel a bit dizzy.
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The city walls in Luoyang have long been ruined, leaving some city gates that are still being used by locals, wondering on the streets downtown was pleasant.
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The night market was vibrant with great food.
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