The Yin Ruins Museum

Located at the Xiaotun Village, Anyang city, Henan Province, the ruins of the capital city of the late Shang Dynasty are preserved in the Yin Ruins Museum where inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells were discovered in 1899. It is also the birthplace of Chinese archeology, one of the 100 patriotic education centers of China, one of the superior national scenery areas as well as one of the National Key Historic Relic Sites.

The world famous Yin Ruins Palace is of great importance in the history of human civilization. Large amount of bones and tortoise shells with inscriptions, bronze wares, jade and stone wares  (such as Simuwu Quadripod) and other rare cultural relics, were found on the ruins of more than 50 majestic palaces here. According to archeologists, "we are excavating a slavery society". The Yin (Shang) Culture of "three key factors of cities, characters and bronze wares" is "a glorious ancient Chinese civilization".

Simuwu Quadripod

The Longmen Grottoes 

Longmen Grottoes, one of the four grottoes of China, is located in a beautiful place of green mountains and clear water, 13 kilometers away to the south of Luoyang. The grottoes were started around the year 493 when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) moved the capital to Luoyang and were continuously built during the 400 years until the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).

The scenery measures 1,000 metres (about 1,094 yards) from north to south where there are over 2,300 holes and niches, 1,300 caves and 100,000 statues. Thousands of niches and statues on Yique Mountain were mostly carved in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the booming period of the Tang Dynasty, the two climaxes in the continuous building of 500 years.

Among the numerous caves chiseled in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Guyang Cave, the Middle Binyang Cave, the Lianhua Cave and the Shikusi Cave are the representatives. Statues of the royal family members, aristocrats and ministers of the Northern Wei Dynasty during the capital-moving period kept in the Guyang Cave reflected the typical historical worship of Buddhism of the whole nation in the Northern Wei Dynasty. These marvelous stone carvings of fancy appearances show the typical style of the earliest grotto art of Gandhara Buddhism sculptures in Luoyang.

Among the key grottoes built in the Tang Dynasty here, the grand cluster statues of Vairocana Buddha are the most impressive of all. Centered by the statue of the Buddha Vairocana which carries an air of grace, divinity and magnanimity, the open grotto shrine built according to the description of the Hua-yen Sutra expressed artistically and thoroughly an ideal Buddhism world of peace and lenity with a cluster of images of vivid appearances and infectious expressions.

The Shaolin Temple

Lying at the foot of the Wuru Peak of the Shaoshi Mountain to the north-west of Dengfeng county of Henan Province, the world famous Shaolin Temple is favored by nature with circling springs, flourishing forests, competing hills and sights of quietness and elegance. The Shaolin Temple is regarded as the origin of Zen while Dharma is considered the founder of Zen in Chinese Buddhism. The name "Shaolin" is closely related with its location, meaning "Temple in the forest of the Shaoshi Mountain".

First built in 495 AD in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Shaolin Temple has a long history. In 527 AD, Dharma, a famous master monk from India, came here to spread the theory of Zen. Since then, the temple started its expansion, the number of monks in the temple began to increase and Shaolin Temple became more influential. Shaolin Temple is regarded as the origin of Zen while Dharma was considered the founder of Zen in Chinese Buddhism. Since cultivation of Zen requires sitting still facing the wall in a pose of tailor-fashion, which is apt to lead to weariness, monks practice martial arts to drive the fatigue away. Legend has it that it was Dharma who created the Shaolin Martial Arts. 

Stepping into the Shaolin Temple, tourists will find themselves in a world of selected antiques and historic sites with artistic buildings, sculptures, frescos, bells as well as elegant handrails, inscriptions, stone steps and pagodas which have earned great fame for this temple and won visitors both at home and abroad.

Tomb of legendary general Cao Cao

The tomb of Cao Cao (155-220) about 2,000 years ago was unearthed in Xigaoxue village, Anyang City of central China's Henan Province, according to an announcement Dec. 27 by the Cultural Relic Bureau in Henan. Cao Cao was a famous warlord and politician who built the strong and prosperous Wei Kingdom during the Three Kingdom period (208-280).

Covering an area of about 800 square meters, the tomb was found 15 meters deep under the ground. The path leading to the tomb's front door is a slope 39.5 meters long and inside the space are two chambers where three corpses, a man and two women, were found.

The man in the front chamber was found to have died in his sixties, which coincides with Cao Cao's age of 66 when he died. The two women in the back chamber were found to be at the ages of 20 and 40. According to scientific identification, the two women were probably Cao Cao's concubines, as their bone density is in good physical condition compared to other female corpses found in that period.

Although Cao Cao's tomb was raided several times before archaeologists started to excavate it in December 2008, there are more than 250 items, made of gold, silver, copper, iron, stone and jade that have so far been unearthed.

Manor of Millionaire Kang

The Manor of Millionaire Kang, built in the Qing Dynasty, is located at the Kangdian town of the Gongyi city, two kilometers north of the city. Kang families, rich and powerful in the Qing Dynasty with large amount of fields covering dozens of square kilometers, built up the castle of a feudal style since 1790 to 1820, extending their old manor to the mountain top with accretion of property after years of accumulation.

The Manor of Millionaire Kang, a castle of brick and stone structure isolated from the outside by bounding walls of a close circle on the mountainside, is made up of nine architectural complexes, 31 courtyards, 73 cave-dwellings and 310 living quarters including storehouses, workshops, ancestral memorials, livestock areas, etc. Covering 64,300 square meters, it is a typical ancient Chinese architectural complex of a feudal castle, large, integrated, and is well kept.

It combined the artistic characters of royal courts, temples, civil residences and gardens, building cave-dwellings alongside mountains and erecting buildings along streets, with courtyards  connecting each other while being relatively independent, showing typical architectural characteristics of both the northern China buildings and the loess plateau dwellings.

Looking afar, the grand tile houses connecting each other from the foot of the mountain to the top are full of vigor with an air of majesty. The quadrangle dwellings are decorated in different style, connecting each other with quite narrow winding pathways. Stratified buildings with grand gates and precise layouts are on one hand luxurious, majestic and graceful, elegant on the other hand, composing one of the excellences of the central China.

Built against the Mangshan Mountain, facing the Luoshui River with the Yellow River to the north and the natural barrier of the Heishi Pass to the south, the manor is a strategic place enjoying a splendid view of the landscape. Simple outside and deluxe inside, the well-kept manor is always an attraction to visitors.

Yuntaishan Geopark 

The Yuntaishan Geopark is located at the south foot of the Taihangshan Mountain in Xiuwu county of Jiaozuo. It mainly consists of the Yuntai Mountain Natural Scenic Area, Qinglong Mountain resort and other surrounding areas. The park is known for its massive gardening areas, overhanging high cliffs, flying waterfalls, secluded valleys and spring water.

The mountain is also notable for its peculiar peaks, which stretch far into the distance. The main peak, Zhuyu, is 1,308 meters above the sea level. Mounting by the scaling ladder to the top, you can have a wonderful overview of everything at your feet. The place is also famous for its numerous rivers, lakes, pools and springs. The highest waterfall in the country - Yuntai Skyscraper Waterfall, which is 314 meters high like a huge pillar, looks especially magnificent, forming a unique spectacle along with other waterfalls, such as the Tianmen Waterfall, Bailong Waterfall, Huanglong Waterfall and Y-shaped Waterfall, dashing abruptly downward. Also, the Qinglong Canyon here, renowned as "First Canyon in Central China", attracts many people for ecological touring for its mild climate, rich water resources and various vegetations.

Covered by large pieces of thick forests with abundant spring resources, the mountain is also rich in varieties of exotic plants, flowers and herbs. Besides such valuable herbs as ginseng and magic fungus, there are also the country-known four dinds of Chinese herbs as well as other 200 kinds of Chinese herbs, such as Cornus Officinals, Forsythia Suspensa, Gastrodia elata, Chinese angelica and so on.

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