City Introduction

Luoyang is one of four holy cities in the world, and is also the capital city with the earliest capital building, most dynasties and longest history in China. More than 100 emperors ruled the country here. Yanshi City of the Shang Dynasty, Zhenxun Capital of the Xia Dynasty, Ancient City in the Han and Wei Dynasties, Luoyang City of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the capital city relics of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, lie from east to west along Luo River, forming the marvelous spectacles of “Five Capitals Run through Luoyang”, which tell the brilliance and splendor of Luoyang in the previous days wordlessly.

Not only Luoyang has rich natural and humanistic landscapes in the urban area, but also the subordinate Luanchuan, Mengjin, Yanshi and Yichuan Counties have their unique scenic spots.

In Luoyang City, Luo River runs through the city from southwest to northeast, and the historical and humanistic landscapes gather in the old downtown area on the east of Luo River North Railway Station; the ancient tomb preservation zone in the suburb is famous Mengshan Mountain, and some peony parks are here. Yi River runs north-south through Longmen Town on the south suburb, and famous Longmen Grottoes are distributed on the west and east banks of this River.

In the subordinate counties of Luoyang, Yanshi County has Erlitou Relics and Erlitou Culture, serving as the key relics for exploring the Xia culture and the demarcation of the Xia and Shang Dynasties. Xiaolangdi Reservoir in Mengjin and Xin’an was the largest reservoir on the Yellow River Basin. Yichuan County to the south of Luoyang City is famous for its celebrities, for example, Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao, Shao Yong, Zhuangzi, and Fan Zhongyan were buried here. Luanchuan County on the southwest is adjacent to Funiu Mountain, and is famous for beautiful and primeval natural landscapes, for example, Baodu Village, Chongdu Ditch and Jiguan Cave are famous and ideal summer resorts.

 

 

 

 

History and Culture

History

In 770 B.C., Luoyang became the capital of Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Since the old capital Haojing was extremely dilapidated, King Ping of Zhou decided to move the capital eastward to Luoyi. The Eastern Zhou Dynasty became the first dynasty establishing its capital in Luoyang. Afterwards in nine dynasties, such as Eastern Han Dynasty and the Cao-Wei Dynasty, Luoyang was chosen as the capital, so Luoyang got the name of “ancient capital of nine dynasties”. If those taking Luoyang as the provisional capital were considered, there were thirteen dynasties. Since the imperial capital was established here, the dynasties built many buildings and created huge rooms in Luoyang. The existing White Horse Temple, Longmen Grottoes and Guanlin Temple were constructed in the Eastern Han, Northern Wei and Cao-Wei Dynasties respectively.

The prime time of Luoyang was in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In 604 A.D., Yangdi Emperor of Sui Dynasty Yang Guang moved the capital to Luoyang, and dug North-South Canal, so that Luoyang became the national water/land transportation hub. In 690 A.D., Wu Zetian changed Tang Dynasty into Zhou Dynasty, and designated Luoyang as the capital of the Zhou Dynasty. This period was the prime time of Luoyang in the history, with grand and magnificent palace architecture, large official warehouses in the city undertook the tasks of storing or transferring the grains to the Capital. The handicraft industry achieved very great development, and the famous tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty was the typical works in this period.

Culture

Peony is the most important tourism card for Luoyang City. Luoyang peony started in the Sui Dynasty, flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and “became world No. 1” in the Song Dynasty. It has the history of more than 1,500 years. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Luoyang not only became the peony planting center in China, but also had many monographs on peony with significant academic value. In the First Year of Jingyou Period (1034 A.D.), Ouyang Xiu wrote “Account of Luoyang Peony”, which listed 24 peony species, summarized the experience of peony growing and seed cultivation, and narrated the custom of the Luoyang people in flower growing and admiring. This was the first monograph on peony with significant academic value in the world. From the Southern Song Dynasty, there were a large number of poems, odes, songs, novels, stories, paintings and embroidery with rich contents praising peony. Since the people love Luoyang peony very much, the fairy tales and anecdotes handing down for hundreds of years about Luoyang peony are known to every household. There are a great variety of the cosmetics, artworks, drink and articles with the characteristics of peony.

Grotto art is also an important cultural element in Luoyang. Longmen Grottoes, Mogao Caves in Dunhuang and Yungang Grottoes near Datong are called Three Greatest Grottoes in China. In November, 2000, it was included into “World Heritage List” by UNESCO. After the carving for over 400 years, there are more than 2,300 grotto niches, more than 100,000 statues, and the tablet inscriptions with more than 300,000 Chinese characters. In addition, the tablet inscriptions represented by “Longmen Twenty Calligraphy Gems” are the fine works in the calligraphy art, attracting innumerable calligraphy amateurs.

 

 

 

 

Natural Environment

Topography

Luoyang has the terrain being high in the west and low in the east, the mountains and rivers intersect with each other, and the terrains are complex and diverse. The mountainous area accounts for 45.51%, hilly area accounts for 40.73%, and the plain area accounts for 13.8%. There are many mountains, such as Yushan Mountain, Mangshan Mountain, Qingyao Mountain, Jinzi Mountain, Zhoushan Mountain, Yingshan Mountain, Longmen Mountain, Xiangshan Mountain, Wan’an Mountain, Shouyang Mountain, and Songshan Mountain; there are many rivers and channels, with the distribution of Yellow River, Huaihe River and Yangtze River, and more than 10 rivers flow here, such as Yellow River, Luo River, Yi River, Qinghe River, Cihe River, Tieluan River, Jianhe River, and Chanhe River.

Climate

Luoyang City is situated in the warm temperate climate zone, characterized by windy and dry weather in the spring, being hot and rainy in the summer, being fully sunny in the autumn and being cold and sparse with rain and snow in the winter. It has four distinct seasons. The distribution of heat and precipitation changes with the seasons. The sunshine duration in a year is 2,141.6 hours, not varying largely among the regions, most in the summer and least in the winter, and medium in the spring and autumn.

 

 

 

 

Climate

The spring and autumn are the bset time for travel in Luoyang. Luoyang has four distinct seasons, having sparse rain and snow in the winter, being dry and having frequent heavy wind in the spring, being hot and rainy in the summer, and being sunny and having long sunshine duration in the autumn. So the weather in the autumn is most proper.

April is the first choice because peony is in full blossom. During the Peony Fair, many people gather in Luoyang full of flowers.

 

 

 

 

Useful Information

Post Office

Luoyang Postcode is 471000, there are express delivery companies, such as China Post, SF and Yunda, providing high convenience for mailing the things. Consumption level

The consumption in Luoyang is at the medium level, generally with the lodging price about RMB 100-200, bus ticket price RMB 1-1.5, and the lunch of about RMB 30 will be quite good.

Banks

In Luoyang City, there are many banks and ATMs, and large supermarkets or shopping malls, and restaurants accept the card swiping. Number

Area Code of Luoyang 0379, with some tel. numbers convenient for the people given below,

Fire service: 119

Police Tel: 110

Emergency Center: 120

Traffic accident: 122

Weather forecast: 12121

Tourism consulting: 0379-12301

Tourist Complaint: 0379-46310882

Tourism Service Number

Luoyang City Tourism Bureau

No. 228, Kaiyuan Avenue, Luolong District, Luoyang City, China

Tourism Hotline: 0379—66612301

Official website: http://www.lyta.gov.cn/

Microblog: http://e.weibo.com/u/1936959151

 

 

 

 

Notes

Travel tips

1. Peony appreciation period: April is the peak season to admire peony in Luoyang, when there are many tourists. It is recommended to book the hotel in advance. In addition, it is required to admire peony in the best time because the peony blossoms in different time every year. It is recommended to inquire the information on internet before the travel, to confirm the flowering period, because you can only see the withered flowers and dead leaves if you miss two or three days.

The Flower of Luoyang City is peony. In addition to in the peony garden, peony can be seen in main avenues of Luoyang City. So it is not necessary to appreciate the flowers in the garden, instead of “fight in wisdom” with others. In addition, many paeonia lactiflora plants are planted in Luoyang City. If you miss the peony period, you may watch paeonia lactiflora, which is called as “Prime Minister of Flowers”. With flower shape similar to that of peony, paeonia lactiflora has the flowering period close to that of peony.

2. In the downtown area, it is better to prepare some cashes, because it is inconvenient to withdraw cash in the scenic spot, and it is required to queue for cash withdrawal. So it is very time-consuming.

3. In some scenic spots, the fake and shoddy products are often promoted, such as pearl, necklace, and tea. So it is not recommended to buy such products.

4. In every autumn and winter, out of the awareness of forest fire prevention, many forest parks will suspend the business operation and will be gradually open only after the winter. The related scenic spots include Longyu Bay Scenic Spot in Luanchuan County, Baiyun Mountain, Wolong Valley, Tianchi Mountain and Muzha Ridge Scenic Spots in Songxian County, Shenling Village Scenic Spot in Luoning County, and Huaguo Mountain Scenic Spot in Yiyang County.

Recommended readings: “The Monasteries of Luoyang”, by (Northern Wei Dynasty) Yang Xuanzhi. “The Monasteries of Luoyang” by Yang Xuanzhi was an important classics in Northern Wei Dynasty, mainly introducing the temples in Luoyang and taking this as the name of this book. It actually covered many records in politics, figures, customs, geography and anecdotes in that period. It has very important value in understanding the building system, temple architecture and historical sites in Luoyang as the capital city in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Brief narration and beautiful expression of Yang Xuanzhi made it become the excellent literature works.

 

 

 

 

Festivals(Important/Historical/Folks Ones)

Peony Fair

Time: Mid-April to the early May

Location： Wangcheng Park, Xiyuan Garden, Peony Park, etc.

Peony is the flower of Luoyang City. There is always the cutom of holding Peony Fair in Luoyang City. “Peony Fair” is held when peony is in full blossom from April 15 to May 8, fully making use of the unique flower resources here, not only enriching the life in the spare time, but also strengthening the economic, technical and cultural exchange with other regions at home and abroad.

Luoyang Folk Culture Temple Fair

Time: April

Location： Luoyang Folk Culture Museum

As one important cultural activity in Peony Fair, Luoyang Folk Culture Temple Fair is held in Luoyang Folk Culture Museum in mid-April, elaborately organizing the performance of Folk Art Community and Community Fire team from Luoyang City every year, with folk art programs, such as dragon lamp, lion dance, graduated set of drums, waist drum, Yangko folk dance and cockfighting.

Luoyang Peony Festival

Time: The end of April to the beginning of May

Location： Xitai Mountain

In April and May, Xitai Mountain is covered with red, yellow, purple and blue rhododendrons competing with each other, comparable to Peony Fair.

Xiaolangdi Waterfall-Watching Festival

Time: Mid-June -mid-July, every year

Location： Xiaolangdi Reservoir Dam

Yellow River Three Gorges have the cut cliffs on both banks, with the river water running in between, and the three gorges have their respective features: Gushan Gorge has thousands of plunging cliffs from the secret workings of the nature; Longfeng Gorge twists and turns like a snake; Dayu Gorge is broad and extensive, with various phenomena. There are multiple rich cultural relics, such as ancient plank road in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Chengeng-Xie Fuzhi Forces crossing Yellow River. These are rare mountain and water landscapes in the north of China, and can compete with the Yangtze River’s Three Gorges.

Luoyang Heluo International Culture Tourism Festival

Time: The end of September to the end of October

Location： Guanlin Temple and Longmen etc.

The contents include, Longmen International Calligraphy Festival of Wei Tablet Inscription, Guanlin International Pilgrimage Ceremony, Funiu Mountain Red Leaf Festival, Luoyang Gourmet Festival, Trade Fair of Local Specialty for Mountainous Area of West Hunan Province, Xin’an Mountain Climbing Competition in Longtan Valley of Great Yellow River, Yellow River Strange Stone Exhibition, and Autumnal Peony Exhibition.

The bell in White Horse Temple rings to welcome the New Year

Time: December 31 to the New Year

Location： White Horse Temple

Every year, the New Year activity held in Luoyang attracts many tourists from home and abroad, and the long bell tones ring in White Horse Temple for 108 times, to welcome the happy and auspicious new year.

Funiu Mountain Skiing Festival

Time: Mid-December to the middle of next March

Location： Funiu Mountain Skiing Resort

Funiu Mountain Skiing Resort is the highlight and hotspot of the winter tourism in Funiu Mountain Skiing Festival held in every winter. As adventurous, stimulating, romantic and wonderful skiing and various snow sports become new fashions in tourism, various competitions and performances held during the skiing period attract more and more amateurs.