Luoyang in Henan Province is considered the cradle of Chinese civilization due to its location, south of China's Yellow river.
Luoyang is famous for its Longmen Grottes 12 km/ 7 miles south of the city. First sculpted and chiseled around 473 AD when the Northern Wei dynasty shifted its capital to Luoyang, the grottoes are truly unique. Where the Longmen Grottoes are located, two mountains east Hill (mount Xiangshan) and West Hill (mount Longmen) stand as a pair of gate towers, so the name "Yi Que". During the Sui dynasty the Palace Gate faced "Yi Que" hence the name Longmen meaning Dragon Gate. The Longmen Grottoes were declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
The White Horse temple is supposed to be the first Buddhist temple built (68 AD). Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty sent his minister to India to learn about Buddhism. He returned with 2 eminent Indian monks and a white horse and a figure of Buddha. To immortalize the white horse’s contribution the Emperor ordered the construction of the White Horse Temple. The Fengxian Temple is the largest cave in Longmen carved over 1300 years ago. It once had a roof but today the sculptures are exposed to the elements. The most extraordinary statue is the Grand Vairocana Budda, (17.14 metres tall), sitting in the middle of a niche with a gentle facial expression and an enigmatic smile.
The Guyang cave is regarded as the earliest of the grottoes (495-575 AD). The chief Buddha sits meditating on an alter while 2 lions sit at his feet. The Lotus cave has a lotus flower on its ceiling. A statue of Sakyamuni, as the chief Buddha is enshrined here and is shown in a standing position.
The Luoyang Ancient Tombs Museum is located on Mang Hill where an ancient city was located. Many imperial burial tombs were built here. The museum covers 8.6 hectares and has two sections. The western part houses the exhibition halls where excavated artifacts are displayed and the Eastern part is the tomb site of the Northern Wei emperors.
Nearby the internationally acclaimed Shaolin temple on Shaoshi Mountain was built in honour of an Indian monk – Boddhidharma (Chinese Da Mo) founder of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism known as Chinese Chan (or Zen). The Shaolin temple is famous for its martial arts – Kung Fu and for its monks who travel the world (UK, Europe and USA) displaying their prowess in a stage show. It is this which brings tourists here. As you enter the mountain gate of the Shaolin Temple you enter the Devaraja Hall guarded by figures of Vajras.
The Pagoda Forest which lies to the west of the temple has 243 stupas of different architectural styles with the first built in the 8th, century the last in the early nineteenth century. Today the Shaolin monks help guide visitors around. Some purists are critical of the number of tourists visiting Shaolin as they feel it destroys the peace and meditative quality of the area.