Luoyang for foreigners

Luoyang, 600 km west of Beijing, was the capital of 13 Chinese dynasties from 1,100 BC to 937 AD — longer than any other city. The result is a 1,500-year layered history that today sits inside a modern industrial city of 7 million. The reason foreign travelers come: the Longmen Grottoes (龙门石窟), a UNESCO World Heritage Site of 100,000+ Buddhist statues carved into limestone cliffs along the Yi River, started in 493 AD and continued for 400 years. The largest statue — the 17-meter Vairocana Buddha at the Fengxian Temple — is one of the great works of Chinese Buddhist art. Luoyang is also the home of the White Horse Temple (白马寺, 68 AD, China's first Buddhist temple), the Laojun Mountain Taoist complex, and the Luoyang Peony Festival (April–May), when the city erupts in 100+ varieties of peonies. The Luoyang Bianbi Museum and the Ancient Tombs Museum round out the cultural layer.