Deutsch English Home About us Travel information Suggestion Contact us online-booking Impression Testimonial.Beijing Chengdu Chongqing Dali Datong Dunhuang Guangzhou Guilin Guiyang Hangzhou Hohhot Hongkong Kashgar Lhasa Lijiang Luoyang Nanjing Tsingdao Qinghai Shanghai Suzhou Turfan Urumqi Wuhan Xi'an Zhangjiajie Luoyang White Horse Temple Founded in the 1st century AD, Baima Si was the first Buddhist constructed on Chinese soil. Today, Ming and Qing structures stand at the site of the original temple. Five hundred years before the journey of Xuan Zhuang, the Tang dynasty monk whose travels are fancifully immortalised in the classic Journey to the West, two envoys of Han dynasty court went in search of Buddhist scriptures.In Afghanistan, they met two Indian monks and together they returned to Luoyang. The story goes that they carried Buddhist scriptures and statues on the backs of two white horses. In due course the temple was founded to house the scriptures and statues, and it was named after the horses. Dragon Gate GrottoesIn AD 494 the Northern Wei dynasty moved its capital from Datong to Luoyang. At Datong the dynasty had built the impressive Yungang Shiku. Now in Luoyang , the dynasty commenced work on the Longmen Shiku. Over the next 200 years, more than 100,000 images and statues of Buddha and his disciples were caved into the cliff walls on the bank of the YiHe, 16km south of the city. The caves of Luoyang, Dunhuang and Datong represent the peak of Buddhist cave art.Much damage was done to the sculptures at Luoyang during the 19th and 20th centuries by western souvenir hunters who beheaded just about every figure they could lay their saws on. These heads now grace the museums and private paperweight collections of Europe and North America. Among these were two murals that were entirely removed and can now be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Atkinson Museum in Kansas City. The Culture Revolution also took its toll when the Red Guard arrived with hammers-the Ten Thousands Buddha Cave was particularly damaged during this period.The art of Buddhist cave sculpture largely came to an end around the middle of the 9th as the Tang dynasty declined. Persecution of foreign religions in China began, with Buddhist art the prime target. Although Buddhist art and sculpture continued in China, it never reached the heights it had enjoyed previously.Shaolin Si China’s most famous martial arts tradition was developed by Buddhist monks at Shaolin Si, 80km west of Zhenzhou.Each year, thousands of Chinese enrol at Shaolin’s martial art schools. Enthusiastic trainees, many as young as five, can often be seen in the monastery ground ramming a javelin through their imaginary opponent’s body or gracefully kicking into a sparring dummy with enough force to wind an elephant.Some students have found stardom from years of practicing the control of their minds and bodies; one teacher’s young son has struck it big and appeared in Hong Kong martial arts movies. After graduation, many students become police officers, security guards or physical education teachers.According to legend, Shaolin was founded in the 5th century AD by an Indian monk, Bodhidharma, who preached Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Apparently, for relief between long periods of meditation, Bodhidharma’s disciples imitated the natural motions of birds and animals, developing these exercises over the centuries into a form of unarmed combat.The monks have supposedly intervened continually throughout China’s many wars and uprising-always on the side of right-eousness, naturally. Perhaps as a result, their monastery has suffered repeated sackings. The most recent episodes were in 1928, when a local warlord, Shi Yousan, torched almost all the temple’s buildings, and in the early 1970s, courtesy of the Red Guards.In spite of fires and vandalism, many of the monastery buildings are still standing, although most have had any original charm restored out of them. One interesting sight is the Shaolin Talin (Forest of Dagobas) outside the walls past the temple; each of the 244 dagobas (dome-shaped shrines containing Buddhist relics), some dating back to the Tang dynasty, was built in memory of a monk.Nowadays Shaolin is a tourist trap catering to tourists who are bussed in every day. The main area is thick with food stalls, street photographers and souvenir shops.Home, About Us, Travel Information, Suggestion, Contact Us, Online-booking, Impression, Testimonial and professional tour guide. Please contact us! All rights reserved

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Luoyang

White Horse Temple White Horse Temple

The temple, which is located about seven miles away from the city of Luoyang, is covered with green ancient trees and appears solemn and tranquil. Outside the gate, there is a pool with fences around and lovely fish in the water. To the east and west of the gate are the tombs of She Moteng and Zhu Falan, which are one of the six most famous sights in the temple. In the east corner stands a tablet pavilion. The Chinese characters written on the tablet are the work of a Chinese calligrapher abbot Shamen Wencai, designed during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-368).

The temple boasts great antique architecture which has remained intact for over 1,900 years. The Hall of Heavenly Kings, Hall of the Great Buddha, Hall of Mahavira, Hall of Guidance and the Cool and Clear Terrace appear in proper order in the temple, as they were when it was first built.

Outside the temple, there is a tiered brick pagoda named Qiyun Pagoda, which is actually the oldest of China's ancient pagodas. It is the earliest example of ancient architecture in Luoyang and also one of the most precious Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) structures in the Central Plains of China. Standing south of the pagoda and clapping your hands, you will discover that the echoes you hear sound quite similar to the noise of frogs croaking. This perplexing phenomenon attracts many curious tourists every day.

Xiangguo Monastery

Xiangguo Monastery is on Ziyou Road and was first built in 555. The temple was at most active during the Northern Song dynasty when it housed more than 1,000 monks in 64 halls. However most of the halls still found in the temple date back to the Qing dynasty. In the glazed-tile covered Octagonal Hall, you will find a wooden statue of the Avalokitesvara Buddha. This 5 meter or 16 feet statue is a masterpiece devoted to detail, and the deity has 4 faces and 1,000 hands and eyes. The monastery is a magnificent, resplendent architectural complex. In the Tang Dynasty, it was well-known for its ten incomparable possessions such as beautiful architecture, collection of Buddhist scriptures, frescoes and calligraphic inscriptions, etc.

In the main hall stands a sculpture of the Goddess of Mercy standing 7 meters high and all plated with gold, it is a superb work of carving art said to have been chiseled out of the trunk of a single gingko tree at the time of Qianlong. Outside the gate to the monastery is a bell tower in which is hung a massive bronze bell weighing over 5 tons. Made in the Qing Dynasty it stands 3 meters or 10 feet high it is known as the Frost Bell of Xiangguo, because apparently, when frost forms on the bell its ring can be heard throughout town. It is one of many attractions in Kaifeng.

Shaolin Temple

Shaolin Temple, in the region of Song Mountain, Dengfeng City, Henan Province, is reputed to be 'the Number One Temple under Heaven'. The temple is the cradle of the Chinese Zen Buddhism and the Shaolin Martial Arts such as Shaolin Cudgel. One can see wild flowers and pines on the mountain. With birds singing and a brook spattering, a beautiful scene full of life and vitality is revealed to the visitors.

Shaolin Temple embraces many exciting attractions, such as the Hall of Heavenly Kings (Tianwangdian), the Mahavira Hall (Daxiongbaodian), the Pagoda Forest, the Dharma Cave and the Shaolin Temple Martial Art Training Center. Visitors may follow the virtual guide about the Shaolin Temple.
In a word, Shaolin Temple is worthy of a visit. It will give you a better understanding of Chinese Buddhism and the martial arts.

SongYang Academy of Classical Learning

Songyang Academy is located at the south foot of the Songshan Mountain, 3 kilometers north of Dengfeng County seat. Embraced by hills to the east and west, Songyang Academy enjoys a beautiful view with two brisk clear springs joining in front of it into a river and fertile fields extending far away to the south. Standing at the academy gate, visitors can see all the peaks of the Songshan Mountain and overlook the Dengfeng County seat. Being an ideal place for study, it is laurelled as one of the Four Academies of the Song Dynasty (960 – 1729 A.D.), together with the Suiyang Academy in Suizhou (also named “Yingtian Academy”), the Yuelu Academy in the Hunan Province and the Bailudong Academy in Jiangxi Province.

The Pagoda at the backyard of Songyang Academy was built in 520 AD, Northern Wei Dynasty with 15 floors, 40m high. It is the existent oldest pagoda with 12 sides. The Junji Mountain, the main hill of Song Mountain, is the main scenic spot at Song Mountain 1492m high.

Emperor Qianlong (1736-1796), Ch'ing Dynasty came here in a tour of inspection and wrote: “Every fantastic scenic spot presents when I stand on the peak!" There is also the poem related to Junji Mountion by a most poet Fan Zhongyian: "You couldn't know so large the world unless you tour the Junji Mountain!"

Iron Pagoda

The Iron pagoda is located in the northeastern corner of Kaifeng. Actually it is not made of iron, but of red, brown, blue and green glazed bricks. As the main hue is reddish brown, the pagoda looks like iron from afar and has thus been called the Iron Pagoda for hundreds of years.

The Iron Pagoda is thirteen storeys, 54.66 meters high. The glazed bricks are lined with ordinary bricks. The doors, windows, pillars, brackets, bracket supports, pent roofs and balconies on the pagoda's exterior are all modeled after wooden ones and pieced together from twenty-eight standard brick components. The outer walls, comer pillars, doors, windows and bracket supports are all composed of glazed bricks of various colors. Carved on these component parts are more than fifty ornamental designs, including images of Buddha, bodhisattvas, flying apsarases, heavenly kings, celestial guards, lions, unicorns, musicians, peony and lotus flowers and figurines, making the pagoda the oldest and largest artifact of glazed bricks and tiles in China.

Under the main body is a high stone Sumeru pedestal that has been buried by mud because of frequent flooding by the overflowing Yellow River. The present pagoda has doors on four sides, but people can approach the pagoda only by the steps on the north side.