Luoyang

Two hills stand like gates at Longmen with the Yi River flowing between them; the place was anciently called Yique, and it took the name "Dragon's Gate" after the Sui built their eastern capital, whose principal southern gate faced the opening directly. Carving began when Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei moved the capital to Luoyang (493 AD) and continued for more than four centuries through the Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui and Tang. Today 2,345 numbered caves and niches, nearly 110,000 statues and more than 2,800 stelae and inscriptions survive. On the west cliff, the Great Vairocana Niche of Fengxian Temple was begun in the third year of the Xianheng era of Tang Gaozong (672 AD), and Wu Zetian contributed "twenty thousand strings of cosmetic money"; nine figures are grouped around the Vairocana Buddha, which stands 17.14 meters tall, and the stele recording the niche's construction, the Record of the Great Vairocana Niche, still remains — a meeting of imperial will and supreme stonework. The Ten Thousand Buddha Cave on the east cliff packs more than ten thousand small Buddhas across its walls, while Northern Wei dedication inscriptions from Guyang Cave and elsewhere on the west cliff were later compiled as the Twenty Longmen Masterpieces, models of Wei-style stele calligraphy. The relief of the Emperor and Empress Worshiping the Buddha at the Binyang Caves was hacked out and dispersed in the 1930s, and today is divided between the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. In November 2000 Longmen Grottoes were inscribed on the World Heritage List; Xiangshan Temple across the river and Bai Garden on Pipa Peak, where the poet Bai Juyi spent his last years and was buried, are part of the same setting.

Tip: Visit in the afternoon, when sunlight falls most beautifully on the Vairocana Buddha.

• Address: Longmen Town, Luolong District, Luoyang, Henan
• Ticket: ¥90
• Opening: 08:00–18:00

White Horse Temple stands about 12 kilometres east of Luoyang's old city. Tradition says that Liu Zhuang, Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han, dreamed one night of a golden figure flying past his palace hall and sent Cai Yin, Qin Jing and others west in search of the Dharma. In the Yongping era they brought back the Indian monks Kashyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna, whose images and scriptures were carried east on a white horse, and in the eleventh year of Yongping (68 AD) an imperial monastery was built, taking its name from the white horse carrying the scriptures; Chinese Buddhism honors it as the "ancestral court" and "source of the Teaching." The two monks translated texts at the Cooling Terrace inside the temple, and the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters, the earliest Buddhist scripture rendered into Chinese, is said to have been produced there. The surviving courtyards are a Ming and Qing reconstruction on the central axis, five courts deepening in sequence from the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Great Buddha Hall, the Mahavira Hall and the Reception Hall to the Vairocana Pavilion. East of the temple stands the Qiyun Pagoda, formally the Pagoda of Shakyamuni's Relics, a Jin-dynasty brick multi-eaved pagoda more than twenty meters tall and the oldest surviving structure on the site. White Horse Temple was listed in the first batch of national key cultural relics in 1961, and in recent years Indian, Thai and Burmese style halls have been built to the west, so that Buddhist architecture from several countries stands side by side in one temple — a rarity in China.

Tip: Visit early in the morning, when the ancient cypresses and morning bells create the most Zen atmosphere.

• Address: Baima Town, Luolong District, Luoyang, Henan
• Ticket: ¥35
• Opening: 07:30–18:00

Yingtianmen was the southern gate of the Sui-Tang Luoyang palace city, first built in the first year of the Sui Daye era (605), and was the place where emperors held ceremonies for enthronement, changing the era name and granting amnesties. The site museum protects and displays the gate platform, passages and gate-tower foundations in situ. The reconstructed gate towers rise about 35 meters and use the double three-projection form, the highest rank among ancient Chinese capital gates. At night there are light shows and 3D projections, and visitors can climb the towers to look over Luoyang. Highlights include the Yingtianmen remains, the night view of the gate towers and the 3D light projections. Tip: enter in the late afternoon, see the remains and exhibitions first, then watch the lights after dark; it is on the same route as the Mingtang-Tiantang site and Luoyi Ancient City, at Yingtianmen station on Metro Line 1. Practical info: located at Dingding South Road at Kaixuan Road, Laocheng District, Luoyang; ticket about ¥60 (subject to official notices); opening hours 09:00–22:00 (last entry 21:00).

Tip: Enter in the late afternoon, see the remains and exhibitions first, then watch the lights after dark; it is on…

• Address: Dingding South Road at Kaixuan Road, Laocheng District, Luoyang
• Ticket: About ¥60 (subject to official notices)
• Opening: 09:00–22:00 (last entry 21:00)