Luoyang Departure: Longmen Grottoes, White Horse Temple, Grand Canal Museum and Tianzi Jialiu, 4 Days 3 Nights

We leave the old town hotel at half past eight and reach the north gate of Longmen in about twenty minutes, ahead of the coach groups. The west bank path steps down past Qianxi Temple and the three Binyang caves before running south along the Yi River to Fengxian. The great Vairocana Buddha sits at the centre of the cliff, and standing close defeats the purpose, so we step back past the railing to see the face. Lunch is a bowl of noodles in the village outside, then we cross the causeway to the east bank and look back at the whole wall of niches, which reads far better from a distance. We finish at Xiangshan Temple and the Bai Garden.

Attraction introduction: Longmen was begun around the Northern Wei move of the capital to Luoyang and kept being carved through Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui and Tang for more than four centuries, leaving over two thousand three hundred niches. It entered the World Heritage list in 2000. The Vairocana Buddha of Fengxian stands more than seventeen metres tall, flanked by heavenly kings and guardians, and was funded by the Tang court.

Tips: The whole day is stone steps in both directions and hard on weak knees. Guests generally find that west bank first and east bank second saves effort, while the reverse means climbing a long slope. In practice we put the sight you care about most in the morning, since the afternoon light falls across the cliff and photographs with more depth.

White Horse Temple opens at eight and we are outside the gate at ten to. The central axis runs north through the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Great Buddha Hall, the Mahavira Hall and the Reception Hall up to Qingliang Terrace, and in the first hour there is room to stand and look. East of the axis is the Qiyun Pagoda courtyard, where the brick tower dates from the Jin dynasty and cannot be climbed but can be walked around. Lunch is a Luoyang water banquet in the city, then the International Buddhist Halls, where Indian, Thai and Burmese buildings stand side by side in three entirely different styles.

Attraction introduction: White Horse Temple was founded in the eleventh year of Yongping of the Eastern Han, the first monastery built by the government after Buddhism reached the central plains, and is called the source and ancestral court of Chinese Buddhism. The brick pagoda east of the temple was rebuilt in the Jin dynasty and rises thirteen storeys. The International Buddhist Halls were funded and built by friendly countries in their own architectural styles and hold no incense, only display.

Tips: Between eight and ten the halls fill with worshippers and nobody can linger. Guests generally find that the central axis in the first hour after opening is much quieter. In practice incense is available inside the temple, and there is no reason to buy from the sellers outside the gate, who charge more for sticks that cannot be carried in.

The museum opens at nine and the entry slot was booked on the official account the day before, so we scan our identity cards and walk in. The permanent exhibition occupies the first and second floors, starting with the two Sui wrecks, Luoyang Canal One and Two, laid side by side at the centre of the hall with the grain of the timber still legible. Further in are inscribed bricks from the Huiluo granary, the date of Daye first year cut into the side. A twenty-five metre section of Bian River strata runs along one wall, sand over silt, layer by layer. The third floor is the digital gallery, following a single grain of rice from the south to the granaries of Luoyang. We rest at the hotel in the afternoon and go to Luoyi old town at dusk.

Attraction introduction: The Sui and Tang Grand Canal Museum opened in May 2022 beside the old course of the Tongji Canal, its walls clad in Tang sancai coloured panels and its roof taking the line of Sui and Tang palace halls. The permanent exhibition runs in four parts with more than four hundred objects, including the two wrecks, the inscribed granary bricks and the Bian River strata section.

Tips: Entry is free but needs a booking on the official account two or three days ahead, and the museum closes all day Monday. Guests generally find Monday is the wasted trip that happens most often. In practice the ships draw the crowd while the cases explaining how the canal made Luoyang are passed in a minute, and those are the ones worth slowing down for.

In the morning we cross Zhouwangcheng Square, where the museum entrance sits on the east side a few steps from the metro exit. The hall is small: first the model of the Eastern Zhou capital with bronzes and jades from the tombs, then the basement, where the chariot pit lies whole under glass. The horse skeletons still hold their pulling stance, and the central carriage has three horses on each side of the shaft, six in all. Back upstairs, the enlarged bronze sculpture on the square is worth a glance. Lunch is a bowl of bufan soup nearby, then the station.

Attraction introduction: Construction work on the square in 2002 exposed more than three hundred and ninety Eastern Zhou tombs and eighteen chariot pits, one of which held a single carriage drawn by six horses, matching the Rites of Zhou. The pit is over forty metres long and more than seven wide, and yielded twenty-six carriages, seventy horses and seven dogs, all kept in place under the museum.

Tips: The exhibition is underground and holds a steady temperature, warmer than the street in winter. Guests generally find an hour here is enough and that pairing it with Longmen on one day still works well. In practice we put it on the departure morning, so the station follows directly with no doubling back.