Today, I introduce Henan Day Tour to you, the passionate tourists. What do you know about Henan and its tourist attractions? and what’ s your expectation? This Henan day tour won’t let you down, cause you are going to visit the two big highlights of Henan tour- Shaolin Temple & Longmen Grottoes.
Reading Guideline:
Shaolin Temple-Longmen Grottoes
1. In the morning, catch the bus from Zhengzhou to Shaolin Temple at 07:00, then have a tour in Shaolin Temple from 09:00-12:00.
2. In the noon, have a lunch and take a bus to Luoyang. In the afternoon, visit Longmen Grottoes from 14:30 to 18:00. About transport, take a bus to Shaolin Temple, then transfer to Longmen Grottoes from Shaolin Temple. If you do have a large budget, you might rent a car or book a transfer service from a travel agency.
In the second of hearing Shaolin Temple, what do you get in your mind? Shaolin Kungfu? A Buddhist Temple? Hold this and follow me, you will know why it is a must-see place in Henan.
► How to get to Shaolin Temple
From Zhengzhou to Shaolin Temple, go to Zhengzhou Bus Station, facing Zhengzhou Railway Station, which has buses directly go to Shaolin Temple, and the driving distance is about 85 kilometers and driving time is about 1.5 hours. The buses leave at 07:00, 08:00, 09:40, 11:00, and cost 28 yuan per person.
If you come to Zhengzhou by flight, then you take the airport shuttle bus to Zhengzhou Railway Station, which takes about 40 minutes and costs 20 yuan, and transfer to the bus to Shaolin Temple. If you are close to Zhengzhou East Railway Station, you might take a bus to Shaolin Temple at Zhengzhou East Bus Station.
► Shaolin Temple Facts:
Shaolin Temple(少林寺) is located the foot of Songshan(嵩山) Mountain, and about 12 kilometers away from Dengfeng, Henan. Shaolin Temple is an ancient Buddhist temple, and have a great significance in China Buddhism, marked as the top one Buddhist temple. It is well known to the world, mostly because of Shanlin Kung fu created by Shaolin monks, listed as World Heritage and a 5-A tourist attraction.
Songshan Sanhuang scenic area is composed of three scenic spots, Shaolin scenic spot, Zhongyue scenic spot and Songyang scenic spot, and there isn’t a through ticket of these three scenic spots, but in today’s half day tour in here, you are only recommended to Shaolin scenic spot, including Shaolin Temple, Pagoda Forest and Sanhuang village. Pagoda Forest is in the west side of Shaolin Temple, covering an area of 14,000 square meters. It has 241 pagodas, built from Tang Dynasty to Qing Dynasty.
► What to see & what to do
What do you expect? See special buildings, watch Kungfu performance, learn to play Kung fu? Let me tell you:
► Notes:
Ticket: 100 yuan for a through ticket of Shaolin Temple, Pagoda Forest and Sanhuang village. 15 yuan for shuttle bus inside the temple.
Opening hours: 07:30-18:00 from March to November, 08:00-17:30 from December to February.
Kungfu performance: everyday, Kungfu performances are held in every hour, and one performance lasts for 30 minutes. It is one of the highlights in this scenic spot, please do not miss it.
Sightseeing route: Changzhuyuan, Pagoda Forest, Kongfu performance.
► How to get to Longmen Grottoes
Take a bus at the front gate of Shaolin Sanhuang scenic area, where the bus heading to Luoyang will pick you up, then go off at Luoyang Bus Station. Next, walk to Luoyang Railway Station bus stop, take No. 81 public bus from Luoyang Railway Station(洛阳火车站) to Longmen Grottoes.
► 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 times.
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 in Longmen mountain, and it is the most essential part. Xishan Grottoes consist of many grottoes, and some of them are well-known to tourists, like Qianxi Temple(潜溪洞), Wanfo Cave(万佛洞), Fengxian Temple(奉先寺), Binyang Caves (宾阳三洞), Guyang Cave(古阳洞) and Yaofang Cave(药方洞).
► Notes
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.
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.
Opening hours & Ticketing:
| Opening hours | Ticketing | Close at |
|
1st Feburary-31st March |
08:00-17:00 | 18:00 |
| 1st April-7th October | 08:00-17:30 | 18:30 |
| 8th October-31st October | 08:00-17:00 | 18:00 |
| 1st November-31st January | 08:00-16:00 | 17:00 |
► Sightseeing route: Xishan Grottoes- Dongshan Grottoes- Xiangshan Temple- Baiyuan
Go to Xishan Grottoes first. In Fengxian Temple, Lushena Buddhas is the highlight, with 9 Buddha sculptures. The giant with a height of 17.14 meters is sculptured based on the image of Wuzetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history. In Wanfo Cave, 15,000 small Buddha sculptures are orderly lined, and the tiniest is only 2 centimeter high. In Yaofang Cave, the stone is carved with over 150 prescriptions of Chinese medicine, and it is the earliest stone inscription of prescription. In Guyang Cave, the earliest made one, with a history of over 1,500 years, there are over 1,000 Buddha niches, and over 800 inscriptions.
Second, go to Dongshan Grottoes. Kanjing Temple is the biggest one, with 29 Buddha well preserved. Third, go to Xiangshan Temple, then to Baiyuan. Baiyuan is built in memory of Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty. If you don’t have enough time, you might visit Xishan Grottoes only.
► What to see & what to do
After this tour, where will you go? Back to Zhengzhou, or other places? but please don’t forget to clear your photos, or you could write a travel notes to remember the fascinating things you see.
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