Fascinating trip to cradle of Chinese civilization

During the short leisure time you get whether you go to China for an educational event, a business conference or a sporting activity, my feeling is that you should visit a place of cultural and historical value in China. It will undoubtedly be a wonderful journey that will leave a lasting memory. I have had many such opportunities. One of them was a trip to Luoyang in Henan province. One day my colleagues, our coordinators and I reached the Beijing South Railway Station by bus from the hotel.

The station has four floors. The first floor is arrival hall with two southern exits and two northern exits, the second floor is the departure hall with two southern entrances and two northern entrances. We entered the station and joined the crowd. The coordinators had prepared our documents well and collected train tickets. We boarded a high-speed train at 09:22 am and passed very attractive views of many prefectures and sites such as automotive factories, power plants, high-tech designed bridges, paddy fields, housing complexes and landscaping. It took 4 hours and 30 minutes to reach Luoyang Longmen Station. The 832 km distance in high-speed railway track links with Beijing. It was previously known as Luoyang South Railway Station. From there we boarded a bus and went to the hotel.

After breakfast next morning we went to the Luoyang heritage site by bus. It took us only 30 minutes to reach the location. As per the travel guide, Luoyang is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. It is home to two UNESCO world heritage sites out of 53 in China, including the Longmen Grottoes and the Buddhist White Horse temple. It was the first Buddhist temple established in China. There are also the admirable and beautiful Peony flower gardens to watch. The guide told us that if one wants to explore Luoyang's mysterious history and culture, one should undoubtedly go to the Longmen Grottoes. We walked to the grottoes along a wide and long path for for almost three hours. The Longmen Grottoes, located on both sides of the Yi River to the south of the ancient capital of Luoyang in Henan province, comprises of more than 2,300 caves and niches carved into the steep limestone cliffs for over a 1-kilometer-long stretch, according to the tour guide. These contain almost 100,000 Buddha statues made of stones, more than 60 stupas and 2,800 inscriptions carved on steles. The caves, stone statues, steles and inscriptions scattered in the East Hill and West Hill at Longmen are well preserved.

The whole great region retains its natural landscapes and the ecological environment that have existed since the 5th century. As one of China’s state priority protected sites, the Longmen Grottoes have received protection at national level under the Law of Protection of Cultural Relics.. If you want to study ancient political and religious activities, visit the Tianzi Jialiu Museum, Luoyang Museum and Luoyang Ancient Art Museum. They would definitely be a mesmerizing sight in your life. The weather in Luoyang is typically four seasons. But from March to May the weather is warm with less rainfall. If anyone is interested in flowers, the best time to visit is in April to join famous Peony flower festival. It is held from April to early May each year. The daily average temperature from September to November is between 20°-22°C. The comfortable weather will make the tour more pleasant. However, Luoyang is pleasant all year round.

After two days of our trip, our coordinators arranged to visit another historical place. It was a one day trip to Shaolin Temple. It is the world famous birthplace of Chinese Zen Buddhism and Shaolin kung fu. In 497 AD the emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty ordered its construction to commence.

The Shaolin Temple is located in Songshan Shaoshi Mountain. It is the cradle of kung fu. The entire complex consists of Faru Temple, Memorial Archway, Martial Art Hall, Shaolin Temple , ChuZu Temple, 1,000 Buddha Palace Hall, Cave of Bodhidharma statue, pagoda forest Shaolin and Sonyang cable way, Sanhuang Place and Hanging Bridge. The main tourist attraction is Shaolin Temple. A Songyue Temple contains the oldest Buddhist pagoda made of bricks in China. It is miraculously in good shape considering it is 1,400 years old. We first visited the famous pagoda forest. Our tour guide informed said when an important monk died, his remains would be put into the underground palace, and a pagoda was built on it. The height, size and number of layers of the pagoda were decided according to the monk's knowledge of Buddhism, reputation and merits and virtues during his life time. Each pagoda holds a tomb and there are so many scattered close together. This pagoda forest was inscribed as a UNESCO world heritage site in 2010. The temple complex with its picturesque gardens is pleasant to stroll in. Afterwards we went to the Shaolin Temple, it is one of the main Zen Buddhist temples in China.

We had to buy an entrance fee to buy a ticket. It also allows watching a fantastic kung fu show at the temple's Martial Arts Hall. You can still see young students and monks learning kung fu in the scenic area. The performance lasts for about 30 minutes and runs at 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 2:00 pm, 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm. There are two extra shows at 9:30 am and 5:00 pm in summer. To avoid the long queues, best thing is getting there 20 minutes before the show. Temple is open from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm in March to November and 7:00 am-5:30 pm in December to February. We enjoyed a magnificent kung fu Show in Wushu hall. At the place you can buy many books, leaflets and movie VCDs about Shaolin Martial Art.

According to the historical records, Luoyang was the starting point of the Silk Road to Europe from eastern region. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Ming sent his envoy, Ban Chao, to the western regions to open up the long-neglected Silk Road. He extended the Silk Road to Europe for the first time to reach the Roman Empire. During that period emperor Ming sent ambassadors to the western regions to collect Buddhist sutras (Buddha’s teaching sermons). They came back after four years with two eminent monks and lots of Buddhist sutras. Chinese Buddhism began spreading from Luoyang afterwards. The site represents the highest achievement in art relating to sculptures, which is a real treasure in China in terms of religion, fine arts, architecture and calligraphy.

Luoyang has convenient transportation to all major cities with accessible by trains and flights and buses. The city is located in a basin surrounded by mountains. Therefore all foods were related to its geographical location. Soup and hot noodles were the biggest characteristic of Luoyang’s dining traditions. Local food in Luoyang is cheap but nice. We got plenty of choices in food. There are many street vendors around parking area of Longmen Grottoes and Shaolin Temple sites. There are few hotels in Luoyang. But you have many options from 3-5-star hotels to rest within the suburb.

I hope to visit China again.

The author has worked as a farm mechanical instructor over the past 30 years at the Department of Agriculture in Sri Lanka and is a freelance writer for leading National Level (Sinhala) newspapers and magazines in Sri Lanka.

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