Luoyang Highlights Day Trip of Longmen Grottoes and Shaolin Temple

Luoyang was a true hidden gem on our travels through China! We found it to be a beautiful and very interesting city that compares to Xi’an for its rich culture and historical monuments, as well as its incredible natural beauty. We spent a day touring the Longmen Grottoes viewing Buddha cave carvings dating back to the Northern Wei and Tang dynasties with the earliest being from 478 AD. These were exquisite and really well preserved despite being over 1500 years old. We also visited the original Shaolin Buddhist Temple located in the Shaolin Mountains near Luoyang. This is the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu, and the warrior monks have a special place in Chinese history dating back to around 500AD. To this day Shaolin Temple continues to operate as both a traditional monastery and a Kung Fu academy. One of the best meals of the trip was our vegetarian lunch at Shaolin Temple. Our local Louyang tour guide Cherry was amazing! She provided us with expert knowledge on the history and culture of the areas we visited. She was so patient and kind with us, always giving thoughtful answers to our many complex questions. She was an exceptional English speaker and a brilliant guide. This was one of our favorite days on our China trip and we were so happy to spend it with one of our favorite guides!

<p>Loved the KungFu show at the temple... lots and lots of walking but very interesting at both the temple and the grottoes. Definitely pay the extra for battery cart at both sites.... it's worth the small expense and even so I did 14K steps. Guide had excellent English skills and was good at her job.</p>