Pick up from your hotel or train station in Luoyang. First visit the Longmen Grottoes . It is situated on the Yihe River bank, about 12 kilometers from Luoyang city. It is one of the three most valuable Buddhist cave and rock carvings in China. The grottoes were first carved during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), when the rulers relocated their capital from Datong to Luoyang at the end of the 5th century. The Longmen Grottoes were listed as a World Heritage Site in Nov, 2000.
Shaolin Temple is located in the Songshan Mountains, 80 km south-east of Luoyang.Shaolin Temple was established in 495AD by Emperor Xiaowen in Beiwei Dynasty for the purpose of housing the famous Indian monk, Batuo, who came to Luoyang, the ancient capital for spreading Buddhism at that period.
Emperor Xiaowen was a dedicated believer of Buddhism so he decided to construct the temple at the foot of the Songshan Mountains to welcome Batuo, who translated many Buddhist documents and had several hundred followers there capital from Datong to Luoyang at the end of the 5th century. Now Shaolin Temple is reputed as the Number One Temple under Heaven which was listed as UNESCO’s World Cultural & Natural Heritage List in 2010 as part of the "Historic Monuments of Dengfeng. Outside the temple and move on to the next big attraction – Pagoda Forest, a graveyard for the monks through the ages.
