The millennial Luoyang

Luoyang is one of the most ancient cities of China and nevertheless one of the most modern. His historical importance perhaps only admits comparison with Xian, but of that one in the city no sample stays. The today Luoyang can make a mistake with any small capital of province, with his animated streets and his thousands of yellow taxis circulating continuously in expectation of clients. And in certain form sometimes it seems that this rhythm still provincial of the city, with his dead, almost arrested times, ties him a little with his past, better than the sudden changes that have transformed some cities in a few years.

The Caves of Longmen, or of the Door of the Dragon.

They owe his name to be placed to the shore of a river that passes between two mountains, they say that the step that stays between them is alike a dragon, and hence his name. His construction began at the end of the Vth century, when the Wei of the North, these Xiongnu sinizados that so much did for the diffusion of the Buddhism, move his capital to Luoyang. For many years, generations of sculptors carved in the rock of the hillside of the mountain more than 100.000 images of Buddha, grouped in almost 2000 caves of all the sizes and more than 700 niches. Every emperor, every nobleman contributed to the formation of this masterpiece. The Caves kept on constructing during the following dynasties, Sui and Tang, although they date the majority of the VIth and VIIth century. Nowadays almost thousand meters spread in the hillside of the mountain. Together with the Caves of Mokao in Dunhuang and those of Yungang in Datong are considered to be one of three treasures of the Chinese sculpture.

Temple of the White Horse.

The first temple was a Buddhist who was constructed in Chinese soil, in the year 68 of our age, although the rooms that are visited at present are much more modern reconstructions, of the dynasty Ming and Qing. It is to eleven kilometers of Luoyang, and debit his name to which, according to the legend, the official sent by the emperor Mingdi to know that it was this religion of the India about which so much one was beginning speaking in China, returned to Luoyang accompanied by two Hindu monks and two white horses that there were carrying the writing Buddhists and some statues.

Museum of Luoyang

They emphasize his gadgetry of the culture Yangshao, as well as the objects of the dynasty Xia dug up in Erlitou, which allow to do to us an idea of how the life of the Chinese was in these remote times.
It has a very good collection of bronzes of the dynasties Shang and Zhou, only comparable to those who can be in the Museums of Xian and Shanghai. But what has made really famous to this museum there are his collections of the original figures of the three-colored ceramics of the dynasty Tang.

Park Wangcheng, or Ciudad Real.

Eestá placed on the place where there was the Imperial City of the Zhou of the East, today there is nothing of this dynasty, therefore better to enjoy the park, in April celebrates in him the exhibitions of peonies, and that of lanterns in the holiday of the same name, and not to look for a few ruins that do not exist.

The City Antigua

It is the establishment that stayed in Luoyang from the loss of his imperial glory up to beginning of this century. There is ancient houses, a small Arab quarter, a series of streets with the delight of the life that develops there same, and a Merchants' ancient Center, which is used now like Museum of Crafts of the Province of Henan.

Museum of the Ancient Graves.

To seven kilometers of the city, it is a park to which there has taken a score of sculptures originated from Luoyang and the surroundings. He emphasizes That a grave of the dynasty Is, with remains of wall paintings, and others of the same epoch with enough funeral objects.

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