Luoyang: Old Town Experiences, Museums and the Longmen Grottoes

Luoyang combines impressive cultural sites with a wide variety of ways to experience the city: At Luoyi Ancient City, visitors can enjoy cultural experiences, presentations of intangible cultural heritage, Hanfu photo experiences and nighttime light shows. The city also has museums with distinct focuses, as well as the Longmen Grottoes to the south. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Luoyang, you could start by considering whether your visit will be shaped more by the old town atmosphere, exhibitions, Buddhist history or the grottoes.

Old Town Experiences at Luoyi Ancient City

Luoyi Ancient City is in the old town of Luoyang, at the intersection of Jiudu Road and Liulin Street. The area covers about 2 square kilometres and is described as an immersive old town district. Its range of offerings has something for different interests: presentations of intangible cultural heritage sit alongside Hanfu photo experiences and nighttime light shows. This allows you to tailor your visit to your own interests, rather than viewing Luoyi simply as a backdrop for a short walk. The variety also gives families different themes to choose from together.

If you would like to make Luoyi Ancient City the main focus of your stay, the district's location is a useful reference point when looking for a holiday apartment: it is in the old town, at the street intersection mentioned above.

Longmen Grottoes: Cliffs, Caves and Inscriptions

South of Luoyang, the Longmen Grottoes stretch along steep limestone cliffs on both sides of the Yi River for about 1 kilometre. More than 2,300 caves and niches, over 100,000 statues and more than 2,800 inscriptions give a sense of the scale of this cultural site. Those especially interested in historical art and writing will find a different focus for their visit here than in the city's museums.

There is a direct connection to the Longmen Grottoes from Luoyang Longmen Railway Station: a taxi ride takes about 10 minutes, and the site is also served directly by bus route 71. This information can help you plan your visit if the grottoes are among the main destinations on your trip.

Museums with Different Areas of Focus

Luoyang Museum is a national first-class museum and is considered a cultural landmark of Luoyang. Among the objects on display is an eight-ton stone bixie from the Eastern Han period. If you enjoy taking a closer look at individual exhibits, this extraordinary scale can provide a distinctive focus for your museum visit.

The Sui-Tang Grand Canal Cultural Museum is located at the confluence of the Chan and Luo rivers. This modern museum is dedicated to the Grand Canal and combines exhibitions with public recreational areas, as well as educational and research functions. It also includes areas for storing cultural relics. The Zhou Wangcheng Tianzi Jia Liu Museum, meanwhile, is located in Zhou Wangcheng Square in downtown Luoyang, in the northeastern part of the Eastern Zhou Royal City site.

Evening Activities and Buddhist History

The Jiuzhou Pool area of Sui-Tang Luoyang City offers nighttime exhibitions, listening events, evening classes, night walks and a night market. This is a different focus from the cultural experiences and light shows at Luoyi Ancient City: here, several kinds of evening activities are available. Which of them interests you may play a part in planning your trip.

The White Horse Temple stands on the eastern outskirts of Luoyang. It is considered the first Buddhist monastery built under state sponsorship after Buddhism was introduced to China. Alongside its museums and old town experiences, Luoyang therefore offers another focus for exploring its cultural history. When choosing a holiday apartment or holiday house, it makes sense to compare the specific places you are most interested in visiting with the location of your accommodation, rather than assuming it will be close to particular sights.

If you would like to explore more destination pages, you can find Shangqiu, Zhengzhou, Hebi, Xinxiang, Zhumadian, Xinyang, Kaifeng and Luohe here.

For the overview of the wider region: Henan.