Community Highlights Asia Luoyang - Huge Crowds and Giant Statues

Luoyang - Huge Crowds and Giant Statues

I managed to sleep until 4 am, a great improvement. Once I was awake, I spent some time answering a request from YoWangdu Tibet for information on the Chinese digital arrival card and payment apps. YoWangdu is a husband-and-wife duo who provide advice on Tibet travel. They had referred me to Explore Tibet, my Tibetan travel agency.

Both the arrival card and the ability to use the payment apps with foreign credit cards are relatively new. I am a big believer in sharing travel advice and since I had timely experience with both topics, I replied. In the end I was mentioned in two separate newsletters.

Arrival Card- “Bob filled his out the night before his flight through the Alipay app and added his wife as an accompanying traveler. There was a bit of a delay before the QR codes arrived, but everything worked at the airport.”

They gave great advice to avoid scam sites-“One important reminder: there are reports of scam sites impersonating the arrival card system. Only use the official NIA source or a trusted route like your airline's check-in flow or the verified Alipay mini-program.”

Payment apps- “Bob is traveling through China on his way into Tibet and writing in with real-time reports. His bottom line: the apps are how businesses want to be paid, and you need them – but they can be a pain.”

Their advice-“Bottom line: Get both apps set up before you go, link them to different accounts if you can, and carry cash as a backup.”

I had an eclectic breakfast as I tried to adjust to morning Chinese buffets. I had rice porridge and donuts, a Chinese bun, a banana, spicy tofu, some salads, and shared a few of Po's wontons. There was one other non-Asian diner. Although Luoyang is a bit off the normal foreign tourist path, we soon learned that it is quite popular with Chinese tourists.

We met our guide Zella in the lobby and walked out to the waiting car. As I got in, I noted the water bottles and made a mental note to be careful when opening them. We had a short drive to our first destination of the day, the Longmen Grottoes. After a short walk got into an electric cart for a ride down to the Yi River.

The Longmen Grottos is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is home to thousands of statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples that were carved as outside rock reliefs and inside artificial caves excavated from the limestone cliffs that date to the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties (316-907).

We had to show our passport to get into the park. We had already learned that we needed to have our passports handy at all times.

I had seen photos of massive crowds at Chinese tourist sites and had wondered if we would encounter them. It was busy along the river, and then got crazy as we approached the Fengxian Temple.

We were supposed to visit a cave but decided to skip it due to the big crowd. I fought to take photographs as I was jostled by the people and then had to deal with exposure issues-dark caves and bright sunshine.

The Vairocana Buddha stands 17 meters tall.

During the ten years of the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 until Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, many cultural and religious sites throughout China were destroyed. Zella told us that some sites, including this one, were saved by the efforts of local residents. Others were saved under orders from Zhou Enlai.

We walked across the river where we had a great view of the Fengxian Temple.

It was not as crowded on this side so we visited a cave in the Leigutai Cave Complex which was built during the Tang Dynasty.

We passed on the chance to return to the parking lot on a boat, instead getting our second electric car ride.

We returned to the city. Our first stop was for lunch where Zella helped us order but declined Po's invitation to dine with us. One of the dishes was a taro root which I did not love. The soup was good.

We were entertained by a young dancer.

I paid with WeChat pay. At this point I assumed that everything was fine with my payment apps. I would soon learn.

Our next stop was the Luoyang Museum. There was art from 13 dynasties that dated back to 475 BC.

The museum was crowded and hot. I began to feel the effects of my lack of sleep and asked to skip one room.

Women in traditional dress seemed to be everywhere. Some were just checking out the exhibits but most were posing for photos. Some were doing selfies or posing for their friends. Many had hired a photographer. Most seemed to be under thirty, but there were older women and a few men, some dressed as women.

This has become a big cultural sensation, as well as a big business as the fad requires the shops to rent the costumes and photographers to take the portraits. According to Zella, it really took off from 2018. This is all thanks to the influence of TikTok and another platform called Xiaohongshu.

All day Zella had been extolling the great beer at a microbrewery that was near the museum. That was enticing for me, but not so much for Po, since she does not drink. The bar was in the shade and even though it was open air, it was quite cool and comfortable. The beer was good, and we both appreciated the break.

We enjoyed talking to Zella. We compared the youth of China to that in Canada and discussed health care systems. She was surprised that we did not need to pay for doctors or hospital visits.

Our final visit was to Luoyang’s Old City. The city was the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty after northern China was unified in 439. The city was rebuilt in 605 by Emperor Yang of Sui. The Old City was listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2014 as part of the Silk Roads.

Based on its status, I had thought that it would be a historic place.

At least the gates were interesting.

But after that it turned out to be a tour of the market.

Zella bought us some food to sample including this spicy tofu.

I loved the shops that specialized in chilis.

There had to be a stall with bugs. We were still not tempted to try.

We stopped outside a restaurant that served its food from a conveyor belt. Zella urged me to go inside to take my photos. The staff seemed okay to be photographed.

Chinese consumers enjoy a variety of tasty snacks, all packed in plastic. They can even visit stores that only sell snacks.

Things were getting busy as vendors set up for the night market.

We were too tired to stay for the night’s activities and made our way back through the gates.

Scooters are very popular in China.

So were full-face masks. These are not for protection from viruses but instead are to protect the wearer’s delicate skin from the sun.

We crossed the street to get to our car. We were learning that street crossing could be challenging. Traffic lights would stop the cars going straight, but then you had to watch for the cars that were turning. Scooters and bikes never stopped, no matter what direction they were going. We always tried to stay with the crowds. There was never a shortage of other pedestrians.

We were happy to get back to the hotel. Between our big lunch and the many snacks, we decided against going out again for supper. We instead took advantage of the hotel laundry where I had a nice visit with a woman from Suzhou who was in town with her parents to see the peonies. This was the peak time for flowers. We now understood why everything had been so crowded.

I carried our clean clothes back to the room. We had to pack since we were checking out in the morning. We had some daytime activities scheduled before taking another high-speed train ride.

This featured blog entry was written by Bob Brink from the blog Searching for Magical Moments.
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