2-day Tour to Zhengzhou, Dengfeng and Luoyang

Set up in the year of 1927, Henan Museum is one of the oldest museums in China. Occupying 100,000 m², Henan Museum has been attracting an increasing number of visitors with 130,000 pieces of rarely seen historic relics displayed.
 
Because of Henan locates in the Yellow River basin, one of the cradles of Chinese ancient cultures, the cultural relic items displayed here are of various styles and of great significance in the study of the Chinese history. As mentioned above, Henan lies on the bank of Yellow River, so she has experienced many badly floods, which, in turn, attests how tough the cultural relics discovered here are.
 
The main architecture here is the magnificent Chinese oldest astronomical observatory that is as tall as 45.5 meters with five floors, which is deem as the center of the Ancient China. The precious historic relics showed around the pyramid-like astronomical observatory are the living fossils for you to learn about the Chinese culture.

Opening Hours: 9:00 -- 17:00 (from Tuesday to Sunday)

Ticket Price: 20 CNY

Location: No. 8, Nongye Road, Zhengzhou

Transportation: Bus No. 32, 39, 42, 61, 69 and 251 will bring you here.

The splendid Yellow River, the mother river of China, with a length of 5464 km (about 3400 miles) is the second longest river in China to the Yangtze River. Therefore, in the vast scenic spots like this, every single scene is amazingly attractive, and the members in this scenic spot are the Five Dragons Peak, the Camel Mountain Range, the Yueshan Temple, the Stone Figures of Yandi and Huangdi, and the Ancient City of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu.
 
The headwaters of this mighty river lie in Kunlun Mountains in northwestern Qinghai Province. It runs through nine provinces and autonomous regions on its way to the Bohai Sea. It is not exaggerating to say that Yellow River is a melting port, because there are more than 30 branches and countless streams feeding it through its course. The vigorous upper reaches of the Yellow River starts in Qinghai Province to Hekouzhen in Inner Mongolia. This magnificent river flows quietly, like a shy girl in this section, irrigating the farmlands and nurturing the people. Its middle reaches ends at Taohuayu in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. Here the Yellow River splits the Loess Plateau in half, forming the longest continuous gorge in the whole drainage area of the river. The Yellow River's lower reaches ends in a delta on the Bohai Sea.

The Yellow River is regarded as the source of Chinese civilization, the spiritual home of the Chinese people. It has nourished millions of people since Chinese civilization emerged from the river's central basin thousands of years ago. It is the waters of the Yellow River and its spirit that nurture the whole Chinese nation. For thousands of years, the Yellow River has been admiring by literary giants, artists, as well as by the common people. The Yellow River is not just several letters, nor is it just the name of a yellow-ochre-colored river. It bears special significance: the symbol of the Chinese nation, the spirit of the Chinese people and more importantly, civilization itself.
 
Five Dragons Peak is named after a range of five mountains. From a distance, you see ancient pavilions, both large and small, of many designs scattered on the mountains among ancient pines and cypresses. To catch a broad view of the Yellow River, come to Jimu Pavilion on the top of the Five Dragons Peak, from where you can see the mighty river, which has nourished Chinese for thousands of years. Here you see a sculpture of a mother's figure named 'Nourishing'. This benevolent mother in ancient costume is happily holding her baby in her arms.

Yueshan Temple is 1.5 kilometers (about 0.93 miles) to the east of Five Dragons Peak. There are several featured spots, such as the Purple Golden Pavilion (Zijin Pavilion) and the Peony Garden. During festivals, a deafening bell reverberates from a distance to catch your attention. The bell is on the top of the Golden Pavilion and its deep heavy sounds mixing with the Yellow River's rumble create enormous reverberations. In the wilderness, the reverberation rises and falls in waves.

The Camel Mountain Range is 2 kilometers (about 1.24 miles) to the west of Yueshan Temple. A figure of Yu the Great (2,070 B.C. - 2,061 B.C.) is a highlight on the main peak of the Camel Mountain Range. Yu the Great, a beloved and legendary ruler in China's prehistoric times, was the first King of the Xia Dynasty (21st centuries B.C. - 16th centuries B.C.). The sculpture of Yu the Great is very striking in this area.

The Yellow River has become a major tourist attraction enticing thousands of Chinese and overseas tourists every year. As seen from a high point in this scenic area, the mighty Yellow River rushes by and demonstrates tremendous force with rolling and falling of the river's torrents. Sometimes in its thousands of miles, the river reaches wide endless plains where currents flow smoothly, and sometimes it meets precipitous mountains where it has to zigzag its way.

Opening Hours: 08:00 -- 18:00

Ticket Price: 30 CNY

Location: 30 km away from the city center of Zhengzhou

Transportation: Bus No. 16 and 18 or the shuttle buses from Zhengzhou Railway Station will bring you here.

Here are the ruins of the ancient city of 3,600 years old, which are discovered in the year 1950. It is home to the thousands of precious cultural relics, most of which are invaluable jade items reflecting the sophisticated technology. With a 6,960-meter-long wall as an impregnable shield, the Shang Dynasty ruins cover an area of twenty-five square kilometers.
 
Excavations here, and at other Shang sites, suggest that a ‘typical’ Shang city consisted of a central walled area containing large buildings (presumably government buildings or the residences of important people, used for ceremonial occasions) surrounded by villages. Each village specialized in a product such as pottery, metal- work, wine or textiles. The village dwellings were mostly semi-underground pit houses, while the buildings in the centre were rectangular and above the ground.
 
Excavations have also uncovered Shang tombs. These are rectangular pits with ramps or steps leading down to a burial chamber where the coffin was placed and surrounded with funerary objects such as bronze weapons, helmets, musical instruments, inscribed oracle bones and silk fabrics. Some also contained the skeletons of sacrificial animals and humans. Study of these human skeletons suggests they were of a different ethnic origin from the Shang – possibly prisoners of war. This and other evidence suggest that Shang society was an aristocratic dictatorship with the emperor/ father-figure at the apex and did not enslave its own people.

The large-scale excavation in Yin Xu has been continued since the last century. Apart from the 150, 000 pieces of oracles, abundant bronze ware has been excavated, and among them, Simuwu Ding, a 4-legged bronze cooking vessel is the biggest and heaviest bronze ware ever found worldwide. In addition to the oracles and bronze ware, people have also excavated much pottery ware and jade. The excavation is still in progress and great discoveries come forth from time to time. As a famous archeologist has said, more treasures are waiting to be found here.

It is of great significance in not only the historical relics of Chinese culture but also the human civilization of the whole world.

Opening Hours: 8:00 -- 18:00

Ticket Price: 90 CNY

Location: in the suburban of the Zhengzhou City, Henan Province

Transportation: Bus No. 1, 15 and 18 from downtown Anyang to Yin Xu Station will bring you here.

In the very center of the Henan Province, lies a splendid mountain. That is the Song Mountain, which is praised as the birthplace of China Zen Buddhism and the home of many wondrous temples, including Shaolin Temple, the largest pagoda forest in China, Ta Lin (meaning pagoda forest) and the most ancient pagoda in China --- Songyue Temple pagoda.
 
With a peak of 1491.7 meter, this grand and mysterious mountain spans over 60 kilometers, among which the landscapes are amazingly beautiful. Owing to the great power from nature, all the sceneries look more than charming -- the waterfalls rushing down from the steep cliffs, the clear streams running through the peaceful valleys and the spring ponds lying in the steaming forests will make you hard to believe.

The mountain rises from the Central China Plain; being the middle-most of the five sacred mountains of China, in Taoism it is considered as the Central Mountain, symbolizing earth in the religion’s belief that five elements make up the world. Legend says that Taoists searched throughout China for mountains to match these crucial elements. They came up with Heng Mountain in Hebei province for wood, Heng Mountain in Hunan province for fire, Tai Mountain in Shandong province for water and Hua Mountain in Shaanxi province for metal. Song Mountain occupies the axis --- directly under heaven.
 
The history of Song Mountain is as rich and interesting as its landscape. Its proximity to Luoyang, the ancient capital city of nine different dynasties, made it an essential place for emperors to offer sacrifices to their ancestors and the gods and to confer the crown to their heirs. This has left many sites of historic and cultural interest in this area. The beauty of the area's scenery also led to many scholars, eminent monks and famous Taoists chose this area as an important place to give lectures, explain Buddhist sutras and develop the teachings of different religions. Practitioners of the three faiths of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism absorbed ideas from each other, which led to their three belief systems growing closer together.

To be exact, you can feast your eyes on the Shaolin Monastery, the Songyang Academy of Classical Learning, the Han Imperial Palaces, Star Observatory Terrace (guanxingtai), and Stone Streams-Confluence (shizonghuiyin).

Opening Hours: 8:00 -- 17:30

Location: Dengfeng City, Henan Province

Transportation: Bus No. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 9 will bring you here.

Since the completion around the year 210 BC, the monastery has experienced centuries of history, which, however, has been preserved amazingly well. With a splendid ancient architecture group lying peaceful inside its hug, this monastery enjoys a high reputation and population among the visitors who have ever come to have a close touch.
 
Although being embraced by marvelous mountains in every direction, the monastery is still shinning due to the magnificent buildings that is said to be the largest, oldest and best-preserved architecture group. For such an ancient architecture groups with a large scale of 110,000 m2, every single building with red walls and golden roofs looks like an old man who can tell you stories in the ancient China.
 
The monastery lies at the southern foot of Mt. Songshan and is hemmed in by mountains. In the monastery stands a pagoda, 40 meters in height and has 10 stories. It is the oldest brick and mud pagoda in China that has attracted an increasing number of tourists.

Opening Hours: 8:00 --17:00

Ticket Price: 30 CNY

Location: Dengfeng City, Henan Province

Transportation: Bus No. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 9 will bring you here.

Shaolin Temple, has witnessed centuries of changes since the Northern Wei Dynasty (368-534), is known as the birthplace of all the Chinese Kung Fu and the Zen Buddhism. As the most popular temple in China, Shaolin Temple, with a total area of over 30,000 square meters, possesses marvelous scenes, including the ancient architectures, the rarely seen Buddhist relics as well as the natural landscapes around it.
 
The most splendid tower grove will amaze you with a total amount of 250 towers, which are actually the tombs of the late abbots. All the towers of various sizes and shapes, with various inscriptions on them, are a living book made of bricks that tell us about the history in different dynasties.

The famous Chinese martial arts tradition was developed by Buddhist monks at Shaolin Temple, the fighting monks in a thousand martial arts films can trace their origin here. In fact, the Chinese martial arts and such offshoots as the gender exercise forms known as Shadow Boxing have their symbolic, if not literal, birthplace at this temple. The branch of Buddhism known as Zen treats Shaolin as its source. Each September, here will come alive with visitors from near and far to enjoy the annual international Wushu Festival.
 
While crowded and commercialized, Shaolin is still one of China’s most interesting historical and religious monuments, dating back to the end of the fifth century A.D. In the year 625, it was expanded by a Tang Dynasty emperor in gratitude for wartime services rendered by the Shaolin monks, who used their fighting skills to send off some usurpers. In the early sixth century, a monk from India named Bodhidharma arrived at Shaolin, where he founded Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Bodhidharma, who was probably a legendary rather than actual figure, is also heralded as the founder of martial arts, a system of hand- to- hand combat that was later modified to produce the immensely popular form of exercise that millions practice every morning throughout china---taiji, sometimes called “shadow boxing” in the west.

There is a mural entitled Thirteen Shaolin Cudgeling Monks Rescue the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty on the walls of Baiyi Hall. It depicts the fight for power toward the end of Sui Dynasty between Prince Qin (599-649) and General Wang Shichong (?-621). At the crucial moment, monks from the Shaolin Temple came to help Prince Qin attack Wang Shichong's army from behind and win victory. When Prince Qin came to power as Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, he conferred titles on the monks, granted land to the Shaolin Temple, and issued a special edict that allowed the monks to eat meat and drink wine.

For your exploration of Chinese Kung Fu and Buddhist Culture, Shaolin Temple is a must-visit place.

Travel Tips for Shaolin Temple
1. Pay respects to the Buddhist customs
2. Take off your hat inside Shaolin Temple
3. No photographing inside the Tower Grove
4. No stepping on the doorsill of any room in the temple

Opening Hours:
8:00 -- 17:00  ( Kung Fu Show Time: 9:30 10:30 11:30 14:30 15:30)

Ticket Price:
100 CNY
50 CNY for kids below 1.1 m

Location: Dengdeng, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province

Transportation: Tour bus and Bus No. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 9 will bring you here.
 

This observatory, built in the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1370), is the oldest well-preserved observatory in China. It enjoys a high reputation in the world for being of great significance in the study of the development of world’s astronomy and architecture.
 
The astronomer Guo Shoujing (1231-1314) designed this particular observatory in 1276, at the beginning of the Yuan period. The building is an angular construction made of brick and stone and stands 9.46 m high. A 31.9-meter-long stone rod stretches out in front of the building and is used to measure the sun's shadow. Based upon his own diagrams and with the aid of information collected by other observatories, Guo Shoujing worked out a calendar that corresponds to the present-day Gregorian calendar. A calculation that he made of the amount of time that it takes the earth to revolve around the sun was off by only 26 seconds.
 
This centuries old observatory is still of great value in the observation of the astronomy, from where you can have a try by using the ancient instruments to learn how the astronomers study the astronomy in the ancient time.

Opening Hours: 8:00 -- 18:00

Ticket Price: 40 CNY

Location: Gaocheng Town, Dengfeng County, Zhengzhou

Transportation: Bus and tour bus will bring you here directly 

Songyang Academy of Classical Learning, built in the Northern Wei Dynasty (368-534), is a member of the top four Chinese ancient academy of classical learning, together with Yingtian Academy in Suizhou of Henan, Yuelu Academy in Hunan, Bailudong Academy in Jiangxi. Having experienced centuries of changes, it won great reputation for the splendid cultural relics and the beautiful sceneries around.
 
The buildings of the academy are old but elegant. There are over 100 rooms covering more than 10000 square meters. The center axis consists of 5-yard groups. At the west side, there are two high and old cypresses named 'Great General' and 'Second General'. The Great General has a biggest trunk perimeter of 6 meters and a height of about 15 meters, while the Second General has a perimeter of some 12 meters and a height of about 20 meters. They are the oldest cypresses with over 2000 years of history, now they boast the oldest and biggest existing trees of the kind in China. At the gate of the academy on the southwestern side, stands an 8-meter-tall Tang Tablet, which was erected in the 3rd year (744 AD) of the Emperor Xuanzong in the Tang Dynasty. It is the largest stele in Henan Province and famous in Chinese handwriting history.
 
Embraced by steaming mountains, with clear streams circling around, here is a peaceful place for your option to spend the luxurious moment to enjoy the ancient culture and the beautiful landscapes.

Opening Hours: 8:00 --18:00

Ticket Price: 80 CNY

Location: Dengfeng City, Zhengzhou

Transportation: Bus No. 2 and 6 will bring you here.