Excursions

Shaolin Temple and its surroundings

Yong Tai Si. The temple, dedicated to Princess Yong Tai, Emperor Xiao Ming’s sister, Damo’s disciple - the patriarch of the system. Built in 521. One of the first nunneries. A blossoming tree grows on its territory , which age is 1,5 thousand years. There is also a well, water from which, Damo slaked, according to the legend.

ZhongYue Miao. The largest Taoist monastery in Henan province. It is a beautiful area with a park of 2 thousand years trees. There are a lot of great ceremonial halls and cultural values.

Songyang ShuYuan. Academy. Songyang-Confucian school. The huge territory, a large library, the gardens of Confucius, a beautiful view. There is the oldest tree - more than 4,5 thousand years on the school grounds.

Ang Yan Gung. The oldest temple of worship the mother, was built in the mountains. Nearby there is a small picturesque lake. Beautiful scenery, mountain air. Childless couples ask for the children in this small temple.

Fa Wang Si. The monastery, in which the ancient manuscripts comprising the mysteries of Buddhism were translated from Hindi to Chinese. At the monastery there are several amazing halls depicting the lower worlds. All the sins and all the tortures that wait for the lost souls of the sinners in the lower worlds are depicted in details on the walls.

Lian Hua Si. The Temple of Lotus or Lotus Temple. There is the inscription on the Temple "In the teaching of a flow of large Tao." Just above there is a small home church.

Luoyang (洛阳) and its surroundings

The city of Luoyang is located in the west of Henan Province, on the southern bank of the Yellow River (Huang He). As in the past Luoyang was one of the seven ancient capitals of China and the capital of nine dynasties, the city has great cultural and historical significance. Symbol of the city is a peony flower.

Bai Ma Si (白马 寺 - White Horse Temple) In 68, about 13 kilometers east of Luoyang, an ancient Buddhist temple of China was founded - White Horse Temple. Despite the fact that in 1500 it was rebuilt, it is considered to be the first and one of the most famous Buddhist temples of China. In memory of the the first Buddhist relics which were brought to China by two white horses, the monastery got its name. The temple became a place of translation and storage of Buddhist books and the burial place of Hindu monks. In 1175 13-storey 25-meter beyond the clouds pagoda was built not far from the temple ensemble. It is said that if you stand 20 meters far from the pagoda and clap your hands, you can hear the echoes, reflecting from its cornices, reminiscenting of croaking frogs.

Long Men (Dragon Gate) In the fifth century, under the prosperity of Luoyang, the construction of the famous cave monastery Long Men was begun in the sandy mountains, 12 kilometers to the south of the town. After four centuries, nearly 100,000 Buddhist statues and bas-reliefs were erected in 2000 caves. The highest statue (17 meters) is located in a hollow Fen Sian Si (joss-house meetings with the Saints). The smallest sculptures of the cave monastery is not more than 2 sm high. Another famous cave is Vang Dun cave - "Grotto of ten thousand Buddhas," the path to which, the goddess of compassion Guaning pointed out to people, according to the legend. When the travelers came inside the grotto, they founded 10,000 small sculptured Buddha images which were engraved by the nature itself on its walls.

GuanLin. In 1596 the architectural ensemble of palace style was built 8 kilometers of Luoyang. in which the warlord of the principalities Shu in Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu was buried. All the main buildings aligned the axial line one by one: dancing tower, the central gate, the front arch, the middle path, the worship hall, a large palace, the second and the third palaces, a workshop, an octagonal pavilion and the latest construction - Tomb of Guan Yu.

Gu Lou. Drum Tower in the old Luoyang. Today you can see the cast bell, standing on a pedestal. Its height is 1.6 meters, diameter - 1.5 m. Museum of ancient tombs is situated in the northern neighborhoods of Luoyang, in ZhongTousi village, which is in MangShan mountains, and occupies about 30,000 sq. m. The complex is divided into aboveground and underground parts. In the museum you can see the typical ancient burials of various dynasties of China.

Kaifeng and its vicinity

In 364 BC on the south bank of the Yellow River the legendary city of Kaifeng (开封) was founded. Kaifeng was the capital of China during the Song dynasty. It was the place of the golden age of culture: poetry, calligraphy, philosophy, science and art of tea. Kaifeng - one of seven historical capitals of China, a famous historical, cultural and tourist center of the country.

In 1049 in the north-eastern part of the city, in Beimen Da Jie street it was built the highest structure Kaifeng - 13-tiered octagonal pagoda Iron pagoda, 55 m. height. The pagoda has survived numerous floods, and it is one of the main attractions of the city. It is covered with glazed tiles, having a metal water bar. On the tile you can see the images of divine beings, dragons, lions, Chinese unicorns and lotuses.

Da Xiang Guo Si (大相国寺) - a famous Buddhist temple, which was built in 555. It is located in the center of Kaifeng. The temple was seriuosly damaged during the floods several times. The last time it was restored in 1766. The name "Da Xiang Guo Si" was given in 712 BC in commemoration of the ascent the throne of another Tang emperor.

kaifeng There is Dragon Pavilion in the Dragon Pavilion Park, 1.5 km to the north of the Temple Da Xiang Guo Si. It was the imperial palace during the reign of Sy Nuong dynasty. Later the palace was renovated in Taoist temple, then rebuilt into a residence for the Prince of Chu Ming, and later was destroyed by floods. Under the rule of Shong Zhi Emperor this complex was restored and called the Dragon Pavilion. In the park you can see the ruins of buildings remaining from Song, Jin and Ming Dinasties. There are dragon motifs everywhere – on the stairs and on the benches around the pavilion. The octagonal ceramic Palace is of interest, where you can see a statue of Guanine, the Buddhist goddess of compassion. It is 6-meter high statue with four faces, thousand hands and thousand eyes, carved from a ginkgo-tree.

There is a remarkable construction of The Clock Tower, which was used as an observatory. It was built by an outstanding engineer and scientist Su Song (1020-1101). The tower is crowned with a rotating sphere with a hydraulic drive (using a water wheel). Water clock on the tower is equipped with a mechanism with a chain transfer, invented two hundred years earlier than in Europe.

Ancestor Temple Baogong (包公祠) - built in commemoration of prominent officials of Song Dynasty.