, one of the ancient capital cities in China, was the seat of power for 13 dynasties. Its name comes from its strategic location by the Luo River. Luoyang has a long history and is filled with ancient relics, significant Buddhist sites and unique, cultural destinations. The Luoyang area is also famous for its peonies, the national flower of China. Peonies have been grown in this region for over a thousand years, since the Tang Dynasty.

1. Essential Luoyang 2 Days　RMB3440/2pax

Day01: Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple (Including Kungfu show). Overnight in Luoyang

Day02: White Horse Temple and Millionaire's Mansion

2. Classic Luoyang 1 Day  RMB1430/2pax

Longmen Grottoes, Guanlin Temple, White Horse Temple

3. Shaolin Martial Arts 1 Day  RMB1660/2pax

Shaolin Temple (Including Kungfu show)

4. Ancient Mansion and Longmen 1 Day  RMB2175/2pax

Millionaire's Mansion, Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple (Including Kungfu show)

5. Cultural Luoyang 2 Days  RMB3430/2pax

Day01: Longmen Grottoes, Guanlin Temple, White Horse Temple. Overnight in Luoyang

Day02: Gongyi Grotto Temple, Shaolin Temple (Including Kungfu show), drive to Zhengzhou

6. Cradle of Taiji Boxing 1 Day  RMB1420

Ancestral Temple of Taiji Boxing in Wenxian Chengjiagou

Longmen Grottoes

Longmen Grottoes is a collection of some 2,100 caves with more than 100,000 statues and 3,600 inscriptions carved on stone tablets. Longmen means "Dragon Gate," and houses the largest number of such cultural relics in China. In this amazing display of art and craftsmanship, you'll find statues of Buddha that range in size from tall (17.14 meters) to small (2 centimeters) and everything in between. Strolling along the rock path built on the cliff, you will see Guyang Cave, Binyang Cave and Cave of Ten Thousand Buddha, each with a legend of its own.

Guanlin Temple

Guanlin Temple, also known as General Guan's Tomb, is where the head of this legendary military man was buried. It is said that the King of Wu killed Guan and returned his head to the King of Wei. A lavish burial ceremony was held for Guan and a carved wooden body was crafted to accompany the head. Construction of the temple began in 1595, and today, it is filled with paintings and statues of the general and artworks illustrating famous scenes from the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. An impressive display of more than 70 inscribed stone tablets are housed at the temple.

White Horse Temple

White Horse Temple is said to be the first Buddhist Monastery built in China, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, in the year 68 AD. Located to the east of Luoyang, it is nestled between the Luo River and Mang Hill. With its distinctive red walls, exquisite palaces and towering pagoda it sits gently amid green pines and cypress groves, adding a solemn and timeless quality to the complex. It is honored as "the Founder's Home" and "the Cradle of Buddhism in China".

Shaolin Temple

In the beautiful forests of the Songshan Mountains, the famous Shaolin Temple has stood the test of time since 495AD. The name Shaolin means "new forest," and was inspired by the beautiful forest of the Shaoshi Mountain in Henan Province. The temple has a history of over 1500 years, based on the Buddhist teachings of an Indian monk known as Damo or Bodhidharma. He included martial arts as part of the spiritual teachings and is credited with laying the foundations for Shaolin Kungfu. During the Ming Dynasty, Shaolin housed over 1,000 solder-monks who, at the request of local officials, were asked to combat rebellions and fight invading armies. Today, legend and history meet in this complex of pagodas, tombs and ancient artifacts.

Shaolin Martial Arts

Shaolin Martial Arts (Shaolin Quan) originated in the Shaolin Temple on Mount Songshan in Henan Province. It was named after Shaolin Temple, which was built during the Northern Wei dynasty in 495 AD and is one of China's most famous ancient temples. Some monks knew martial arts before entering the temple, so they taught and helped each other in Shaolin Temple to improve their skills. They also absorbed the experience of their predecessors and gradually developed their martial arts into the unique Shaolin school.

Shaolin Quan improved and developed through the trials of battles and wars. During the Ming dynasty, Shaolin monks switched from cudgel fighting to fist fighting, so that fist fights could be improved to match cudgel fights in terms of effectiveness and power. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), people living around the Shaolin Temple were very active in practicing Wushu, which further accelerated the growth of the Shaolin school of martial arts.

The Shaolin school is very popular in secular society with many followers. Over the years it was enriched theoretically and its techniques perfected to form a comprehensive system of fist fighting. Compactness is a feature of the Shaolin school. The moves of this school are short, simple, direct and versatile. When fighting, Shaolin boxers would advance and retreat in a straight line. They need only a small space to execute their style of fist fight, which is described as "fighting along a single straight line." Shaolin Quan is powerful and speedy with rhythmic rising and falling of body movements. It stresses power of each blow but also advocates softness/passive power in support of the direct aggression. The motto of the Shaolin fist fight says "hardness first and softness second." When jabbing or palming, the arm is required to be neither bent nor straight, in an attempt to blend external and internal forces.

Chenjiagou Village - Hometown of Taiji Boxing

Chen-style Taiji boxing originated in Chenjiagou village, Wenxian County, Henan Province. Chen Bu, the founder of Chen-style Taiji Boxing settled here in the early Ming dynasty. In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty, Chen Yuting, the ninth generation descendant of Chen Bu, absorbed the essences of all existing boxing moves of different families, developed Taiji Boxing and introduced taiji to the wider public. Four schools then further branched out from Chen-style Taiji: the Yang-style, Wu-style, Wu-style and Sun-style respectively.

Taiji is a popular sport in China. It spread to Japan, Great Britain, United States, France and many other countries where Taiji Institutes have been set up. Shaolin Kungfu is famous for its quick and powerful movements while Chen-styie Taiji is known for its slow yet surprisingly taxing postures. Practicing Taiji is a great way to improve one's constitution and maintain a healthy physique.

Taiji Boxing (Taiji Quan)

The word Taiji first appeared in the Book of Changes of the Zhou Dynasty. The essay says: "Where there is Taiji, there is peace and harmony between the yin and the yang. As a concept, Taiji is both the most general and the most unique, the most absolute and the most relative. Taiji Quan was first exercised and practiced among the Chen family members at the Chenjia Valley which is located in Wenxian County in Henan Province. The earliest choreographer of the Taiji boxing was Chen Wangting who was both a scholar and a martial artist. Chen combined his knowledge of ancient psychological exercises, th yin/yang philosophy and Chinese medical theory with the exercises and practices of Wushu. He absorbed the strong points from various schools and styles of martial arts of the Ming Dynasty, especially the 32-move Qi Jiguang style of boxing (long-style boxing), to form the s School of Taiji Quan.