Luoyang with
a history of nearly 5,000 years is located in the
western part of Henan Province and to the south
of the middle reaches of the Yellow River. It has
a population of 800,000 in the city proper.
The ancient city of Luoyang is one of the seven
ancient capitals of China and is included in a list
of famous historical and cultural cities of China.
Archaeologists have recently confirmed that Luoyang
was the capital during the reign of 96 emperors
in 13 dynasties over a period of 1,529years. The
layout of Luoyang during the Xia (21th -16th century
B.C.), Shang (16 th-11th Century B.C.), Zhou (11th
century -256 B.C.), Han-Wei (206B.C.-220A.D.), and
Sui-Tang dynasties (581-907 A.D.), displayed in
Luoyang Municipal Museum, is known as "Five
capitals Assembling in Luoyang". Today there
are six major historical and cultural sites here
under state protection. The Longmen Grottoes are
one of the three major treasure houses of stone
carving in China. The Baima Temple (White Horse
Temple) was the first Buddhist temple established
by the government after Buddhism started to spread
in China. The "Forest of Guan Yu" is one
of the three major memorial temples of Lord Guan.
Mount Mangshan in the north suburbs is the site
of China's largest ancient tomb group that consists
mainly of imperial mausoleums, the oldest dating
back to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
Luoyang boasts beautiful natural scenery, being
surrounded by the Yellow River, the scenic Xiaolangdi
Reservoir and the tomb of Emperor Guangwu of the
Han Dynasty (206B.C.-220A.D.) to the north; Baiyun
state Forest park and a limestone cave in the Jiguan
Mountain that is called "the First Cave in
North China" to the south; Songshan Mountain,
one of the five sacred Mountains, and the shaolin
Monastery to the east. The world-renowned Luoyang
peony has been selected as the flower of the city.
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