No ancient capitals had witnessed the rise and fall of so many dynasties for so long a time span as Luoyang, the oldest capital in Chinese history. For over 1,200 years, Luoyang was the capital of 13 dynasties, including Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Eastern Han, Sui, and Tang. Major attractions : Longmen Grottoes, White Horse Temple, and Museum of Ancient Tombs. Luoyang, which produces the best peonies China has to offer, is the venue of a yearly peony festival which lasts from April 15 to 25. Twelve km to the east of Luoyang Monastery is White Horse Temple, China's oldest Buddhist temple established in 68 AD, or the 11th year Yongping reign of the Eastern Han, but its buildings were rebuilt during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Construction of Longmen, one of the three major grottoes in China 12 km south of luoyang, began in 494, but it was not until he Sui and Tang dynasties that it acquired the scale as we see today. Among Longmen's wealth of world-famous treasures are flying Apasras as well as fine works of Chinese calligraphy represented by the "20 Longmen calligraphic Samples". Enshrined in a total of 2,100 cave-temples are 3,600 stone inscriptions and 100,000 large and small Buddhist statues. The 17-metre-high statue of Vairocana in Fengxian Temple is the most representative of the trove. Seven km south of Luoyang is Guanlin, or Temple of Lord Guan, where the head of the celebrated Shu general is said to have been buried. Gleaming amidst rich piles of foliage of more than 1,000 ancient cypresses are the rooftops and walls of memorial buildings erected during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Museum of Ancient Tombs in the northern suburb of luoyang is the only one of its kinds in China, featuring 25 ancient tombs found in the Mangshan area of Luoyang.
Longmen Grottoes
Located twelve kilometers south of Luoyang, the Longmen Grottoes are among the greatest treasure troves of ancient stone carving in China, together with Dunhuang in the northwestern province of Gansu and Yungang in the northern province of Shanxi.
The work on these grottoes began in 494 during the Northern Wei Dynasty and continued for more four hundred years in the ensuing Sui and Tang dynasties. The grottoes are cut into precipitous cliffs on both bank of the Yishui River, and stretch for over a thousand meters from south to north. The existing 2.100 caves and niches contain more than 100.000 statues of Buddhist figures in various postures, the largest rising over seventeen meters and the smallest only two centimeters. There are also 3.600 inscribed tablets and forty pagodas here.
The stone sculptures at Longmen represent a new height in the art of stone carving and the development of Buddhism in China. The largest Buddhist monastery at Longmen, the Fengxian Teple, in particular, contains the most exquisite works of art among the grottoes and represents the best stone carving techniques of the Tang Dynasty. It was built partly with the funds that Tang Dynasty Emperor Gao Zong gave to his wife, Empress Wu Zetian for cosmetics.