ASIANOVERLAND.NET SYDNEY TO LONDON DAY 76: XIAN TO LUOYANG, HENAN, CHINA

Transport in China made a massive improvement since 1985, when we could only travel as slow as the bullock and cart or bicycle in front of us. Thirty years later, the Chinese trains are like aeroplanes travelling at 300 km/h (many thanks to our main photographer Rob Fisher on our 2015 trip, who recorded the 300 km/h train speed, as well as many other great photos).

Luoyang is among the oldest cities in China and one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. It is the earliest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China.

Luoyang is on the central plain of China, at the intersection of the Yellow River and Luo River in Henan province, with a population of about 7 million people, a “small” city by Chinese standards.

The intersection of the Luo River and Yi River is the geographical centre of China, and many cities – all of which are referred to as "Luoyang" – have been built in the area. In 2070 BC, the Xia dynasty king Tai Kang moved the Xia capital to the intersection of the Luo and Yi and named the city Zhenxun. In 1600 BC, Tang of Shang defeated Jie, the final Xia dynasty king, and built Western Bo, a new capital on the Luo River. The ruins of Western Bo are in Luoyang.

In 771 BC Western Zhou capital, Wangcheng, became the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Modern Luoyang is built over the ruins of Wangcheng, which are still visible today at Wangcheng Park.

Some ancient ruins, including a six horse chariot (which must be for a great, important Emperor), were discovered during excavation for a large building in the centre of Luoyang. The excavation and building were halted, and a new Luoyang was built across the river from modern Luoyang to preserve the ancient archaeological sites. The new Luoyang was completely finished but empty in 2015, as the people of Luoyang were awaiting unanimity for the moving date from modern Luoyang into new, more modern Luoyang. The ancient archaeological sites are more important than the more recent Luoyang city, which only houses about 7 million people.

In 25 AD, Luoyang was declared the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty on November 27 by Emperor Guangwu of Han. The city walls formed a rectangle 4 km south to north and 2.5 km west to east. The rectangular Southern Palace and the Northern Palace were 3 km apart, and connected by The Covered Way.

For centuries, Luoyang was the focal point of China. In AD 68, the White Horse Temple, the first Buddhist temple in China, was founded in Luoyang. The temple still exists.

The ambassador Banchao restored the Silk Road in the Eastern Han dynasty and made his capital city Luoyang the start of Silk Road. Historically, the start of the Silk Road was further west, in Xian.

In 166 AD, the first Roman mission, sent by "the king of Da Qin [the Roman Empire], Andun" (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, r. 161–180 AD), reached Luoyang after arriving by sea in what is now central Vietnam.

In 493 AD, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty moved the capital from Datong to Luoyang and started the construction of the rock-cut Longmen Grottoes.

More than 30,000 Buddhist statues from this dynasty are in the caves. Many of these sculptures were two-faced. At the same time, the Shaolin Temple was also built by the Emperor to accommodate an Indian monk on Mont Song, beside Luoyang City. The Yongning Temple, the tallest pagoda in China, was also built in Luoyang.

During the Tang dynasty, the first and only empress in Chinese history – Empress Wu, moved the capital of her Zhou Dynasty to Luoyang and named it Shen Du (Capital of the God). She constructed the tallest palace in Chinese history, in Sui Tang Luoyang city.

In Luoyang, the mixed raced sons of Christian Sogdian (ancient Iranian) women and Han Chinese men have many career paths available to them. Neither their mixed ethnicity nor their faith were barriers, and they became civil officials, military officers and openly celebrated their Christian religion and Christian monasteries. Central Asians like Sogdians were called "Hu" by the Chinese during the Tang dynasty.

Central Asian "Hu" women were stereotyped as barmaids or dancers by Han in China. Han Chinese men engaged in extra-marital sexual relationships with "Hu" women, who mostly occupied positions like singers, maids, slaves and prostitutes. Han men did not want to legally marry "Hu" women unless they were on the frontier or in exile, where the Han men were socially disadvantaged and could only marry non-Han. The task of taking care of herd animals like sheep and cattle was given to "Hu" slaves in China.

The Longmen Grottoes or Longmen Caves are some of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples, they are 12 kilometres south of Luoyang. The images, many painted, were carved as outside rock reliefs and inside artificial caves excavated from limestone cliffs.

There are 100,000 statues (30% date from the Northern Wei and 60% from the Tang dynasty) within the 2,345 caves, ranging from 25 mm to 17 m in height. The area also contains nearly 2,500 stelae (stone carvings) and inscriptions (“Forest of Ancient Stelae"), as well as over sixty Buddhist pagodas. The caves were dug from a 1 kilometre stretch of cliff running along both banks of the river in a scenic natural environment. Well worth a visit and a photo stop.

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