Reading Guideline:
In this day tour, you will visit Luoyang attractions, Longmen Grottoes in the morning and White Horse Temple in the afternoon. Tour time: go to Longmen Grottoes at 08:00, and have a four hours tour in there, then have a lunch, next go to White Horse Temple and arrive at about 14:00, and end the tour at 17:00. If you have more time you could go to Luoyang Old Street, where you can taste local traditional food and snacks, and buy some handcraft. If you come to Luoyang from Zhengzhou for a day tour, you might take a high speed train arriving Luoyang at about 08:00 or 09:00, and delay this itinerary for one or two hours.
About Luoyang city transport, to budget tourists, I recommend public bus to you, take No. 53 public bus to Longmen Grottoes, and take No. 60 public bus and transfer to No. 58 public bus to White Horse Temple. After today’s tour, if you want to go to Luoyang Old Street, located in Zhongzhou east road, you could take No. 58, No. 801, or No. 56 public bus. If you want to go to Luoyang Railway Station, take No. 56 or No. 81 public bus. In the case of going to Luoyang Longmen Railway Station, you may take No. 58 public bus, then transfer to No. 33 or No. 66 public bus.
Luoyang location: Luoyang is located in the Henan province, China, an it is in the middel of China, close to Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, and Wuhan. Xi'an to Luoyang and Xi'an to Longmen Grottoes : hight speed train is recommended
►Longmen Grottoes Facts
Longmen Grottoes, or Longmen Caves(龙门石窟) is an art treasury of stone carvings and Buddhist art, and listed as World Heritage, a five-A tourist attraction, and one of the top four grottoes in China. It is made in two mountains in the riverside of Yihe river, Longmen mountain and Xiangshan mountain, featured with life-like stone carvings. Longmen Grottoes is first built in the 5th century, and completed after over 400 years. Such a long construction makes Longmen Grottoes have a large scale, 1,000 kimeters long from the south to the north. So far, it has over 2000 grottoes, over 10,000 sculptures, and 2,800 stone inscriptions, but some of those artistic works are not in good shapes due to wind erosion and damages made in war time.
Longmen Grottoes is divided into four parts: Xishan Grottoes, Dongshan Grottoes, Xiangshan Temple, and Baiyuan, and each part is composed of many small attractions. Xiangshan Temple, Baiyuan and Dongshan Grottoes is in Xiangshan mountain, Xishan Grottoes is Longmen mountain.
►Longmen Grottoes Travel Tips
Longmen Grottoes Entrance Fee / Ticket: 100 yuan for an entrance ticket to Xishan Grottoes, Dongshan Grottoes, Xiangshan Temple, and Baiyuan. 10 yuan for shuttle bus inside the tourist attraction, and 25 yuan for a boat.
Longmen Grottoes Opening Hours
1st Feburary-31st March | 1st April-7th October | 8th October-31st October | 1st November-31st January | |
Ticketing | 08:00-17:00 | 08:00-17:30 | 08:00-17:00 | 08:00-16:00 |
Close at | 18:00 | 18:30 | 18:00 | 17:00 |
Tour Guide: 150 yuan and 240 yuan for an English speaking tour guide, and 30 yuan for an audio guide, with a deposit of 100 yuan
Sightseeing Route: Xishan Grottoes→ Dongshan Grottoes→ Xiangshan Temple→Baiyuan
►How to get to Longmen Grottoes
Longmen Grottoes is located in Luolong district, about 8 kilometers away from Luoyang downtown, and you might take a bus or take a taxi to get there.
►White Horse Temple Facts
White Horse Temple address: White Horse Temple(白马寺) is located in No. 6, Luobai road, Baima town, Luolong district, Luoyang, and 23 kilometers away from Luoyang downtown, 13 kilometers away from Luoyang East Railway Station, and 26 kilometers away from Longmen Grottoes.
White Horse Temple history: it is first built in 68 BC, and has a history of over 1,900 years, and it is the first temple built by government since its coming into China, regarded as the ancestor of China Buddhism.
White Horse Temple architecture: White Horse Temple faces to the south, covering an area of 40,000 square meters, with its main buildings standing in the central axis, such as Hall of Heavenly Kings, and Hall of Giant Buddha. It gets from two horse stone sculptures inside the temple, made in the Song Dynasty(960 AD-1279 AD), 1.75 meters high and 2.2 meters long. Besides, there are over 40 ancient stele inscriptions and some Buddha sculptures, of great value.
►White Horse Temple Travel Tips
White Horse Temple Opening Hours: 07:30-18:00
White Horse Temple Entrace Fee / Ticket: 35 yuan for a through ticket to White Horse Temple, Qiyun Tower, and Exhibition of World Buddha Halls
►How to get to White Horse Temple
►What to see and what to do in White Horse Temple
How to visit White Horse Temple