Luoyang is located on both banks of the middle reaches of the Yellow River in the western part of Henan Province with a history spanning 5,000 years, Luoyang is one of China's seven ancient capitals. The State Council lists it in the first group of the famous historical and cultural cities. People call it Luoyang only because it lies on the north bank of the Luo River in the Yi-Luo River Basin and can ever obtain the sunlight. It always enjoys names of 'Nine States Hinterland' and 'Ten Provinces Thoroughfare'. With enchanting scenery encircled by well-know mountains and hills, Luoyang and the Yu-Luo River Basin encompass a large expanse of natural landscape in various forms and colors. The Luoyang peony, precious and elegant, is the finest of its kind under heaven and has a planting history of 1,500 years. The flower now has more than 500 species and blooms in mid-April.

Longmen Grottoes are located 12km south of Luoyang. Here two mountains, namely, East Hill (Mt. Xiangshan) and West Hill (Mt. Longmen), confront each other with the Yi River traversing northward between them, just like a pair of Chinese gate towers. So during the Zhou and Qin dynasties, it was called 'Yi Que' (Gate of Yi River). Later, when the Sui established its capital city in Luoyang, the palace gate was just facing Yi Que, hence the name 'Longmen' which means 'Dragon Gate'. Spanning a length of over 1,000 meters on the hillsides along the Yi River, the Longmen Grottoes, together with the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang (Gansu Province) and the Yungang Grottoes (Shaanxi Province), are reputed as the three greatest stone sculpture treasure houses in China. In the year 2000, UNESCO listed Longmen Grottoes as a World Cultural Heritage Site.

The White Horse Temple, 12 kilometers east of downtown Luoyang, was the first temple built in 68 AD, the 11th year during the reign of Emperor Yongping of the Eastern Ran Dynasty (25-220) after the introduction of Buddhism to China. As legend has it, the Buddhist scriptures were carried by a white horse, hence the name. Covering an area of 40, 000 square meters, the temple has Qiyun Pagoda erected in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), a pair of sculptured white horses, the tombs of eminent monks from India, pagodas to enshrine Buddhist sutras, stone tablets carved in the Yuan and Ming dynasties (1271-1644) and bell tower. On New Year's Eve, the bell in the temple chimes to welcome the New Year.

Luoyang Museum is in the center and busiest section of China's ancient capital of Luoyang City. It was built in 1958. The whole area covers more than 200,000 square meters. The main building is imposing, dignified, and seems like one imitating an ancient era. It is the only integrated historic museum in Luoyang City. It has an impressive collection of nearly four hundred thousand (400,000) pieces of local, historic, rare and cultural relics from the past dynasties. Besides being numerous and in various kinds, they are of high quality collection. Among them are the bronze wares, the pottery-made tomb figures, and the Tang Three Color, considered to be special and famous worldwide.

Shaolin Monastery, known worldwide as the cradle of Chinese martial arts, is 80 kilometers southeast of Luoyang at the western edge of Songshan, the central of China's four sacred Taoist peaks. It can be reached in 3 hours on a country road through farming villages. The fame has brought change and it is far from a remote and romantic retreat where the wisdom of the ages is passed from master to novice. It is now a major tourist area, as well as a place of pilgrimage for monks and lay Buddhists. A training hall has been built next to the monastery for the many foreign enthusiasts that come to study. The founder of the monastery was the Indian monk Bodhidharma, where he reportedly sat facing the back wall of a cave and meditated for nine years. His silhouette said to have been imprinted on the rock. Imperial sanctions ensured the growth of Shaolin's reputation as a martial arts center.