Out of Norm Travels - Longmen Grottoes @ Luoyang
Flying out from Beijing to Luoyang ( simplified Chinese : 洛阳 ; traditional Chinese : 洛陽 ; pinyin : Luòyáng) is certainly not high on the travel itineraries of many - quite a few not having even heard or visited this place, not even those hailing from China. It is thus with much anticipation that I took an internal flight to this city located in the Henan p rovince which was once 1 out of the 4 Great Ancient Capitals of China (other 3 are Beijing, Nanjing and Changan (Xian)) to spend the night. My main aim was the visit to Luoyang Grottoes, which was listed by UNESCO in 2000 as a World Heritage Site. Luoyang Grottoes simplified Chinese 龙门石窟 traditional Chinese 龍門石窟 pinyin Dragon's Gate Grottoes - I can only say " MAGNIFICENT".....I have never seen so many thousands of Buddhist statues carved into limestone caves. One advice to travelers is to start early in the morning and spend more time at th...