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3 Days Private Trip to Luoyang & Kaifeng

Code: LY05

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Trip Highlights

Personalized private tour tailored to your own schedule and interests.
English-speaking private guide, air-conditioned private car with experienced driver.
Marvel at the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang with over 110,000 Buddhist stone statues.
Enjoy a Kung Fu show in the Shaolin Temple and learn basic moves from a genuine monk.
Explore the Millennium City Park to experience Kaifeng’s daily life over nine centuries ago.

This trip can be customized to meet your individual needs!

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Day 1 Luoyang: Train Station Pick-up, Visit Longmen Grottoes & Luoyang Old Town

Upon your arrival in Luoyang, your private guide and driver will await you at the high-speed train station, and then let’s start our 3 days private Luoyang tour with the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Longmen Grottoes. It is world-famous for exquisite Buddhist sculptures and inscriptions on tablets, with a history dating back over 15 centuries. Perched on both banks of the Yi River, the entire complex stretches over 1,000 meters (1,100 yards) north to south along the cliffs. Here, let’s admire roughly 110,000 Buddhist stone statues in various sizes created by skilled artisans to the full. Why not snap souvenir photos with the ‘cutest’ Buddha sculpture - the Amitabha Buddha at the North Binyang Cave? It seems to be making a V-sign, a lovely pose that’s very popular among modern people for photos. Actually, this gesture, once a Buddhist mudra, is caused by the natural erosion of the thumb over centuries. Turn your gaze to the Prescription Cave: the entrance walls teem with the world’s oldest stone-engraved medicinal formulas covering treatments for malaria, nausea, and intractable aphonia, so it’s no surprise this cave has been revered as a ‘folk charity hospital’.

Next, let’s embark on a leisurely city walk through the Luoyang Old Town. Set off from the majestic Lijing Gate, which has the reputation that “A trip to Luoyang is incomplete without visiting the Lijing Gate”. Stroll down the slabstone-paved West Avenue, flanked by row upon row of gray-brick eateries, to find out what dishes make up an authentic Luoyang Water Banquet. With your guide, you’ll learn that the “water banquet” has two meanings: each hot dish is served with soup, and all dishes are presented one after another like flowing water. Move to East Avenue, where the air is thick with a literary atmosphere. Wander around those studios laden with antique books, calligraphy works, and paintings, and then pause to appreciate the iconic Drum Tower silently standing for four centuries. The final destination of this city walk will be Luoyi Ancient City, home to many historical landmarks including Wenfeng Tower, Henan Confucius Temple, and Four-eyed Well. There, you’ll also find visitors in traditional Chinese clothing posing for photos on quaint bridges, by the calm lake, and in bustling alleyways.

After the visit, your guide and driver will escort you to your hotel. Alternatively, you can linger until the city lights up at night for more fun on your own, and finally take a taxi ride of 15-25 minutes back to the hotel by yourself.

Accommodation: Hampton by Hilton (4 stars) or Luoyang International Hotel (5 stars)

Buddha Statues in Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

Drum Tower in Luoyang Old Town

Day 2 Luoyang: Shaolin Temple & Kung Fu Show; Transfer to Kaifeng and Visit a Night Market

After breakfast, your guide and driver will accompany you on a 1.5-hour car ride to Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and Chinese Kung Fu. Make a beeline for the iconic archway, inscribed with “China’s First Ancient Temple”, an honor bestowed by an emperor who was rescued by the temple’s thirteen warrior monks in 621 AD. Touch the weather-beaten stone lions to feel the weight of the temple’s millennia-old history. Then, stroll along the central axis to visit the incense-shrouded Mahavira Hall and the Thousand Buddha Hall, with giant murals and pitted bricks from generations of warrior monks’ practice. Step into the Pagoda Forest, China’s largest complex of burial pagodas, and marvel at the dense cluster of distinctive pagodas spanning over 1,000 years. From your guide, you’ll know that the height, size, and tiers of each pagoda mainly depend on the enlightened monk’s learning, prestige, and merits in life.
► Reminder: Photography is allowed in Pagoda Forest, but it’s better not to pose for pictures with it, as Chinese traditional belief holds that photographing with tombs is inauspicious. But of course, if you don’t mind, feel free to do so.

Later, appreciate a mind-blowing Chinese Kung Fu show! Performed by martial monks and young trainees, this show will first enchant you with a perfectly synchronized formation and high-pitched shouts. Their punches and kicks strike with powerful force, as if denting a sheet of iron. There may be an interactive session where the audience is invited onstage to learn basic fist techniques such as Mantis Fist and Tiger Fist firsthand. See if you are the lucky guy! At the end of the show, you can also take pictures with the actors. Get up close to these young monks with innocent faces and unyielding eyes, and you’ll truly feel the endless vitality of Chinese martial arts.

★ Unique Highlight: Learn Authentic Chinese Ku Fu

During this one-hour lesson, a genuine monk will teach you simple martial arts techniques, such as Five-step Fist for beginners and cudgel practice for advanced learners. When you stand in horse stance, he may share the reason why Shaolin Temple is known as the cradle of Zen Buddhism: Indian monk Bodhidharma, its founder, mediated here for nine years to spread Zen Buddhism teachings. With each punch and step, you’ll experience the unique wisdom of Shaolin culture, that is, seeking inner peace in motion. For convenient movement, it’s recommended that you wear comfy sportswear and sneakers.

Pagoda Forest in Shaolin Temple

Shaolin Kung Fu Show

► Lunch Recommendation (at your own expense):
Lunch is on your own. Near the entrance, the Shaolin Temple Visitor Service Center Plaza is a good destination where you’ll be spoilt for choice with Henan Stewed Noodles, Kaifeng Soup Dumplings, Dicos, Tastien Chinese burger, or Luckin Coffee. Or if you’d like to explore temple life deeply, you can go to the Joyous Land Vegetarian Restaurant to enjoy daily monk-style meals. If needed, your guide will be willing to help you locate these places.

You’ll then enjoy a comfortable 2.5-hour drive to your hotel in Kaifeng. After a short rest, your guide will show you around a night market to experience the local hustle and bustle. There, you’ll find various Kaifeng specialties, such as bucket chicken, freshly-baked lamp-stuffed pancakes, steaming soup dumplings, and a warm bowl of almond tea. If you’re interested, try some of them at your own expense. Your guide will be glad to give you some appropriate suggestions. Finally, your guide and driver will escort you back to your hotel.

Meal: Western buffet breakfast
Accommodation: Mercure Kaifeng Qingming Shangheyuan Hotel (4 stars) or Sheraton Kaifeng (5 stars)

Day 3 Kaifeng: Visit Shanxi-Shaanxi-Gansu Guild Hall & Millennium City Park, Train Station See-off

After breakfast, your guide and driver will first accompany you to the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Gansu Guild Hall, a business and cultural hub funded 250 years ago by rich merchants from the nearby provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu who lived in Kaifeng. Gaze upon the intricate wood carvings beneath the eaves of the main hall and wing rooms, which feature blooming florals, birds, plump fruits, and lifelike immortals - motifs primarily symbolize prosperity, fortune, longevity, and family bliss in Chinese traditional culture. Then, lean in to appreciate the grey-brick walls, adorned with auspicious patterns like juicy pomegranates, flying magpies, and elegant lotuses.

Next, we’ll head to Millennium City Park, a 1:1 recreation of a famous Chinese painting that captures the bustling daily life of ordinary people from 900 years ago. Stroll along the river to admire the wooden arched Rainbow Bridge, and then walk further into the park’s heart - Song Street, where you can completely experience ancient Chinese culture with a bewildering variety of snacks, handicrafts, antiques, calligraphy, and paintings. Meanwhile, appreciate occasional traditional performances such as horse shows, lion dances, face-changing acts, and fire-breathing. The most enjoyable experience is interacting with NPCs in ancient attire. For instance, attend their quizzes or talent challenges to earn ancient paper money, which can be redeemed for free cruise tickets, drinks, and discounts on traditional costume makeup!

Your 3 days Luoyang tour with Kaifeng ends here. Your guide and driver will see you off at the high-speed train station in Kaifeng. Since lots of classic performances in the Millennium City Park, like the festive Theme Parade, are scheduled in the late afternoon, you’re advised to book your tickets for a train departing after 19:30 if you plan to leave Kaifeng tonight. If you want to extend your trip to Xi’an for the Terracotta Army, welcome to contact us anytime for a customized tour!

Meal: Western buffet breakfast