洛阳水席
Water banquet
A set sequence, soup after soup, with a famous radish dish called swallow dish that contains no bird. Share a table. It is a Luoyang ceremony, not everyday lunch.
洛阳 · 2 to 3 days
Luoyang
Longmen is the reason the train stops. The Buddhist cliff is a reserved half day across the river. The museum is the other serious morning. The rebuilt old town is an evening, and it is rebuilt. Peonies, if you are here in April, take over the parks and the prices.
The sky
Today and the next few days
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Stay near
The city center, on a metro line
Give it
Two days, three in peony season
Book first
Longmen Grottoes
Watch for
A peony garden sold as the grottoes
Book Longmen for the morning and go early. The museum can be the next morning. White Horse Temple is east of the center, a separate ride. Guanlin is south, near the approach to the grottoes, and can share a day if you are not already tired. Luoyi Old Town is the evening walk, with your expectations adjusted.
Luoyang Longmen Station is the high-speed stop convenient to the grottoes. Luoyang Station is the other one. Read the ticket. From Xi’an it is a short train. Do not try to do Longmen as a day trip from Beijing.
The water banquet is a sequence of Luoyang dishes, more ceremony than a single bowl. Noodles are the ordinary meal. April peony sweets are seasonal and optional.
Getting around
How you actually move.
Metro and taxis. Longmen Grottoes have a station on the line south, then a walk to the gate you were told to use. The west hill and the east hill are one reservation and a lot of steps.
White Horse Temple is east, a ride. Guanlin is on the way south. A driver who wants to reorder your day around a peony field in April should be told no unless the field was the plan.
Where to sleep
A neighborhood, not a booking ad.
The center, near a metro stop, is the useful base for the museum and dinner. Longmen Station is convenient for the grottoes and dull at night.
Do not sleep in a peony park. Sleep where you can leave for the cliff at opening.
Eat this, not a poster of it
What Luoyang actually tastes like
浆面条
Jiang noodles
Noodles in a fermented sour soup. An acquired breakfast. Wheat, and a flavor that is supposed to be sour.
牡丹饼
Peony pastry, in April
A seasonal sweet. Eat one. You do not need a box for the train unless you liked it.
The sights
Where to go, and whether you can just show up.
Passport reservation
Longmen Grottoes
Historic sites 历史古迹
The Buddhist cliff on the Yi River. Reserve it. Go early.
Temple ticket
White Horse Temple
Historic sites 历史古迹
The old Buddhist temple east of the city, traditionally the first in China.
Free, but reserve
Luoyang Museum
Museums 博物馆
The city’s museum, strong on bronzes and the capitals that stood here.
Free streets, paid shows
Luoyi Old Town
Cultural landscapes 人文风光
The rebuilt old-town street. An evening walk, not a Han capital.
Temple ticket
Guanlin
Historic sites 历史古迹
The temple and tomb complex for Guan Yu, south of the city.