Luoyang to Shaolin Temple, Sanhuangzhai and Songyang Academy 5 Days

A nine o clock departure from Luoyang, the Zhengshaoluo expressway, and Dengfeng ninety minutes later. Bags into the hotel, then lunch on braised lamb with sesame flatbread. The afternoon belongs to Zhongyue Temple and its 30 yuan ticket, past the Tianzhong Pavilion and along the axis from courtyard to courtyard to the Jiji Hall, with the iron figures and stone lions still in place. Old cypresses fill the grounds and two hours covers it comfortably.

Attraction introduction: Zhongyue Temple stands east of Dengfeng town and served for centuries as the state shrine to the god of the central sacred mountain. The ticket is 30 yuan. Buildings line up on a strict axis across several courtyards, the Jiji Hall as the main structure, and the cypress grove keeps the grounds noticeably cooler than the street outside.

Tips: Day one is short on driving, so the afternoon already has a site in it. Guests generally find the main hall crowded during incence hours and slip into the side courtyards for photographs. In practice we enter after three, when the light rakes across the courtyards, and finish in time for dinner back in town.

At the gate by half past eight. One ticket of 80 yuan covers the main temple, the pagoda forest, Sanhuangzhai, the martial arts show, Chuzu Hut and Erzu Hut. Start with the temple itself, the Tianwang Hall, the Mahavira Hall, the sutra library and the abbot quarters, ending at Lixue Pavilion and the Thousand Buddha Hall. The martial arts show comes after lunch, when the crowd thins, and the afternoon goes to the pagoda forest, more than two hundred brick and stone tombs spread across the slope.

Attraction introduction: The Shaolin Temple sits at the northern foot of Shaoshi mountain and was founded in the Northern Wei period. The pagoda forest holds the burial stupas of abbots and eminent monks in square, hexagonal and round forms, many carved with inscriptions. The Thousand Buddha Hall is known for its murals and for the worn hollows in its floor.

Tips: Most halls forbid photography, so read the signs at each door. Guests generally find the ten o clock martial arts show the most crowded, with everyone standing through it. In practice we move it to after lunch and walk straight from there to the pagoda forest and the cable car, with no doubling back.

Today is Sanhuangzhai, and no second ticket is needed because the 80 yuan Shaolin ticket already includes it. The cable car is 100 yuan return, and from the top station a boardwalk cuts across the southern face of Shaoshi mountain, rock on one shoulder and a deep valley on the other. Walk through to the Sanhuangzhai area and return the same way, four to five hours in total, with a packed lunch on the mountain.

Attraction introduction: Sanhuangzhai occupies the southwest side of Shaoshi mountain within the Shaolin scenic area. The boardwalk is cut along the cliff, narrow enough that two people pass with care, and the name refers to the veneration of the three earliest sovereigns rather than to Buddhism or Daoism.

Tips: Several flights on the boardwalk are steep, and anyone uneasy with heights should keep to the rock side. Guests generally find fog filling the valley after midday and visibility dropping fast, so turning back early is the safer call. In practice the cable car goes up before nine and the group leaves the boardwalk by one, with ample time for the descent.

The morning goes to Songyang Academy, 30 yuan. Inside, the Sage Hall, the lecture hall and the Confucian lineage shrine come first, then the general cypresses said to have been titled by Emperor Wu of Han, trunks too wide for two people to reach around. A combined ticket at 79.9 yuan also covers Taishi mountain, the Fawang Temple pagoda and the Songyue Temple pagoda. The afternoon climbs Taishi, stone steps the whole way, with Dengfeng town spread out below at the halfway point.

Attraction introduction: Songyang Academy sits on the southern slope of Taishi mountain and counts among the four great academies of the Song dynasty, where the Cheng brothers taught. Its halls follow a central axis and the cypresses are Han dynasty survivors. Taishi is the main massif of Songshan, its paths mostly stone stairs, with the Fawang and Songyue pagodas near its foot.

Tips: Taishi is one long staircase, so knee supports help anyone with old injuries. Guests generally find the academy quietest before nine, with groups arriving after ten. In practice the academy comes first at half past eight, and by the time the coaches pull in the group is already heading uphill.

Bags packed early, then southeast to Gaocheng town. The Yuan dynasty observatory is free to enter, its brick platform still on the original spot, steps up both sides and the gnomon shadow scale laid out to the south. Forty minutes covers the site, and from the top the surrounding villages open up. Lunch back in Dengfeng, then the expressway to Luoyang, arriving mid afternoon.

Attraction introduction: The Gaocheng observatory was built under the astronomer Guo Shoujing in the Yuan dynasty to measure the sun shadow and fix the solar terms. The platform is brick, with a vertical slot on the north face and a stone scale running 31 metres to the south. Entry has been free since 2017.

Tips: The last day is light but the road still takes time. Guests generally find the stretch from Gaocheng into Dengfeng slow when roadworks are active. In practice the return waits until after lunch, so nobody is chasing an afternoon train, and Luoyang comes up in good time.