Luoyang

Luoyang, the second largest city (after Zhengzhou, the provincial capoital) in Henan Province, lies on the southern bank of the Yellow River. It is one of the seven ancient capital cities in China's history, served sooner or later as the capital city with a history of 1592 years and for 13 different dynasties (the Xia, the Shang, the Eastern Zhou, the Eastern Han, the Cao Wei, the Western Jin, the Northern Wei, the Sui and the Tang, etc.); considered the miniature of the ancient Chinese history. It is a brilliant pearl in central China and also an industrial city with modern civilization known as "the center of heaven", "the center of earth" and "the center of China" since the ancient times. Its leading manufactures include farm machinery (especially tractors), bearings, cement, and textiles.

To give fame to Luoyang are its many historic sites. The Longmen Grottoes contain more than 100,000 stone statues carved after the Northern Wei. The White Horse Temple was the first Buddhist monastery in China built in 68 A.D. The Han Tombs contain the earliest mural paintings ever discovered in China.

Location: situated in the west of Henan province, the start point of "the Silk Road"

Population: 6.10 million
Urban Population: 1.38 million
Area: 15,208 sq km
History: Climatic Features: the continental monsoon climate in the temperate zone

Average Temperature: 14.7C annually
Rainfall: mainly concentrated on June, July and August with annual average amount of 45.83 mm
Mountains: Mt. Song, Mt. Baiyunshan, and Mt. Huaguoshan
Rivers: Yellow River, Luohe River, Yihe River, Lihe River and Jianhe River
Local Highlights: Luoyang Peony (city and the national flower), Shaolin Martial Arts

Peony – City Flower of Luoyang

Peony, common name for any of a family of plants having large showy flowers composed of five leafy sepals, five to ten petals, numerous stamens, and two to five carpels, each with numerous round, black, shiny seeds. The leaves are compound, the leaflets variously and irregularly divided. The fibers of the root are often thickened and tuberous. Peony species are large herbaceous perennials or, rarely, half-shrubby plants, native to Europe, Asia, and the northwestern United States. Because of the beauty of their flowers, some species are cultivated, particularly the common peony, a native of the mountain woods of southern Europe. This species has carmine or blood-red flowers. A variety with double flowers is common. The white peony is another favorite garden species. The mountain peony in favorable circumstances may attain large size and a height of about 4 m (about 12 ft). It is propagated by cuttings and also by grafting.
Scientific classification: Peonies make up the family Paeoniaceae. The common peony is classified as Paeonia officinalis, the white peony as Paeonia lactiflora, and the mountain peony as Paeonia moutan.

Longmen Grottoes

UNESCO World Heritage (2000) 34° 28' N, 112° 28' E Criterion 1: The sculptures of the Longmen Grottoes are an outstanding manifestation of human artistic creativity. Criterion 2: The Longmen Grottoes illustrate the perfection of a long-established art form which was to play a highly significant role in the cultural evolution of this region of Asia. Criterion 3: The high cultural level and sophisticated society of Tang Dynasty China is encapsulated in the exceptional stone carvings of the Longmen Grottoes.

The world-famous Longmen Grottoes are located 12km south of Luoyang. Here two mountains, namely, East Hill (Mt. Xiangshan) and West Hill (Mt. Longmen), confront each other with the Yi River traversing northward between them, just like a pair of Chinese gate towers. So during the Zhou and Qin dynasties, it was called "Yi Que" (Gate of Yi River). Later, when the Sui established its capital city in Luoyang, the palace gate was just facing Yi Que, hence the name "Longmen" which means "Dragon Gate".
Spanning a length of over 1,000 meters on the hillsides along the Yi River, the Longmen Grottoes, together with the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang (Gansu Province) and the Yungang Grottoes (Shanxi Province), are reputed as the three greatest stone sculpture treasure houses in China. In the year 2000, Longmen Grottoes was listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site.

The Longmen Grottoes were first sculptured and chiseled around 493AD when the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) was moved from Datong to Luoyang. The entire construction of Longmen Grottoes lasted more than four hundred years through the Northern Dynasties, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and up to Song Dynasty. Today, there are still 2345 caves and niches, 100,000 Buddhist images ranging in size from 2 cm to 17.14 meters, more than 2800 inscribed tablets, and 43 Buddhist pagodas remaining in both East Hill and West Hill. Altogether 30 % date from Northern Wei Dynasty, 60 % from Tang Dynasty and the rest 10 % from other periods. [More Information]