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Luoyang
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Luoyang, the second largest city (after Zhengzhou, the provincial capoital) in
Henan Province, lies on the southern
bank of the Yellow River. It is one
of the seven ancient capital cities in China's history,
served sooner or later as the
capital city with a history of 1592 years
and for 13 different dynasties (the Xia, the Shang, the Eastern Zhou, the
Eastern
Han, the Cao Wei, the Western Jin,the
Northern Wei, the Sui and the Tang,etc.);considered the miniature of the
ancient
Chinese history. It is a brilliant pearl
in central China and also an industrial city with modern civilization known as
"the
center of heaven", "the center of earth"
and "the center of China" since the ancient times. Its leading
manufactures
include farm machinery (especially
tractors), bearings, cement, and textiles. |
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To give fame to Luoyang are its many historic sites. The Longmen Grottoes
contain more than 100,000 stone statues
carved after the Northern Wei.
The White Horse Temple was the first Buddhist monastery in China built in 68
A.D. The
Han Tombs contain the earliest mural
paintings ever discovered in China.
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Location:
situated in the west of Henan province, the start point of "the Silk Road"
Population: 6.10 million
Urban Population: 1.38
million
Area: 15,208 sq km
History: Climatic
Features: the continental monsoon climate in the temperate zone
Average Temperature:
14.7C annually
Rainfall: mainly
concentrated on June, July and August with annual average amount of 45.83 mm
Mountains: Mt. Song, Mt.
Baiyunshan, and Mt. Huaguoshan
Rivers: Yellow River,
Luohe River, Yihe River, Lihe River and Jianhe River
Local Highlights: Luoyang
Peony (city and the national flower), Shaolin Martial Arts |
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| Peony
-- City Flower of Luoyang |
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Peony, common name for any of a family of plants having large showy flowers
composed of five leafy sepals, five
to ten petals, numerous stamens, and two to
five carpels, each with numerous round, black, shiny seeds.The leaves are
compound, the leaflets variously and irregularly
divided. The fibers of the root are often thickened and tuberous. Peony
species are large herbaceous perennials or,
rarely, half-shrubby plants, native to Europe, Asia
, and the northwestern
United States. Because of the beauty
of their flowers, some species are
cultivated, particularly the common peony,
a native of the mountain woods of southern
Europe. This species has carmine or blood-red flowers.A
variety with
double flowers is
common. The white peony is another
favorite garden species. The mountain peony in
favorable
circumstances may attain large size
and a height of about 4 m (about 12 ft)
. It is propagated by cuttings and also by
grafting.Scientific classification: Peonies make
up the family Paeoniaceae.The common peony is classified as Paeonia
officinalis, the white peony as Paeonia
lactiflora, and the mountain peony as Paeonia moutan. |
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| Longmen Grottoes |
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UNESCO
World Heritage (2000)
34° 28' N, 112° 28' E
Criterion 1: The sculptures of the Longmen Grottoes are an
outstanding manifestation
of human artistic creativity.
Criterion 2: The Longmen Grottoes illustrate the
perfection of a long-established art
form which was to play a highly significant role in the cultural evolution of
this region of
Asia.
Criterion 3: The high cultural level and sophisticated
society of Tang Dynasty China
is encapsulated in the exceptional stone carvings of the Longmen Grottoes.
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The world-famous Longmen Grottoes are located 12km south of Luoyang. Here two
mountains, namely, East Hill
(Mt. Xiangshan) and West Hill (Mt.
Longmen), confront each other with the Yi River traversing northward between
them,
just like a pair of Chinese gate towers.
So during the Zhou and Qin dynasties, it was called "Yi Que" (Gate of Yi
River).
Later, when the Sui established its
capital city in Luoyang, the palace gate was just facing Yi
Que, hence the name
"Longmen" which means "Dragon
Gate". Spanning a length of over 1,000 meters on the
hillsides along the Yi River,
the Longmen Grottoes, together
with the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang (Gansu
Province) and the Yungang Grottoes
(Shanxi Province),are reputed as the three
greatest stone sculpture treasure houses in China.In the year 2000,Longmen
Grottoes was listed by UNESCO as a World
Cultural Heritage Site. |
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The Longmen Grottoes were first sculptured and chiseled around 493AD when the
capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty
(386-534) was moved from Datong to
Luoyang. The entire construction of Longmen Grottoes lasted more than four
hundred
years through the Northern Dynasties, Sui
Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and up to Song Dynasty. Today, there are still 2345
caves and niches, 100,000 Buddhist images
ranging in size from 2 cm to 17.14 meters, more than 2800 inscribed tablets,
and 43 Buddhist pagodas remaining in both
East Hill and West Hill. Altogether 30 % date from Northern Wei Dynasty,
60 % from Tang Dynasty and the rest 10 %
from other periods. [More
Information ] |
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