Luoyang Travel Guide
Since the Sui Dynasty of China, peony had become a favorite flower in imperial gardens. In 604 AD, Sui Yang Emperor chose Luoyang as capital. He ordered his staff and subjects to build a big peony garden, which was the first of its kind for an imperial palace. Planting and admiring peony were very popular among common people and aristocrats until the chaotic and eventful Song Dynasty.
There is a sentimental story with a happy ending about peony :
A snowy winter day in the year 691 AD, Empress Wuzetian was in great mood, so she took her servants to the Upper Garden. When the snow stopped, Wuzetian saw pavilions, bridges and corridors here were covered with snow. Withered tree branches were very good looking when they were dressed up by snow and butterfly-like flakes on them would fall when touched by small birds. Suddenly, she saw a flower of fire-like red color standing upon the snowy ground. She then discovered it was the red plum blossom. Wuzetian was so rejoiced. One of the maid servants said, "Your majesty, it is only one flower blossoming here now. If you can make a decree to order all the flowers in the garden to blossom, you will be more gratified."
Wuzetian returned to her palace and then wrote a poem on her white handkerchief telling her order to the Flower God :
"Tomorrow I will visit the Upper Garden,
The Flower God please tell the spring now :
The flowers must bloom at night
And before the morning wind blows."
Wu saw all flowers were blooming at the Upper Garden in the following morning. The sun shined on the vividly colored garden, red, pink and yellow flowers demonstrating their heavenly beauty with young leaves besides, white glistering snow covered tree branches were a very moving scene as a whole. Wuzetian noticed that only the peony had not bloomed. She went angry and ordered her army to burn out the peony field. At noon all the peony trees became ashes.
Wuzetian was still so in a temper with the peony. "Root out the peonies and demote them out of Chang'an. Put them onto the Mangshan Mountain in Luoyang in order to exterminate them !" She ordered the army to root out all peony trees, transferred to Luoyang overnight by carriages and dumped on the Mangshan Mountain, where it was a place in the outskirts Luoyang that Wu frequently visited. The mountain was a very remote and cold place that there were many gaps and gorges. Wu furiously wanted the peonies to be planted in such an agonistic area.
By everyone's surprise, in such a harsh place the peonies rooted again. In the following spring, they blossomed on the mountain. The flower had always been loved very much by the local people. Later, urban people in Luoyang heard the news about the flower's utmost beauty, so they went to Mangshan and bought the flower seeds, to plant them at their homes. Every spring people flocked in the city to admire the heavenly beauty of the peony blossom.
Luoyang people called the flower as "burnt bone peony", because it was to pay tribute to its uncompromising spirit against the Wu's atrocity. Through the effort of Luoyang's people in later times, the flower's colors became more flamboyant, so it's also called as "Luoyang's red". The peony has been a symbol of the city since then.
Nowadays, the peony is still regarded as the queen of the flowers by Chinese people, because it represents courage, endeavor and wealth. It can be planted in cold areas and its seedlings can grow and blossom even in very dry conditions.
Tangsancai earthenware is another symbol for Luoyang, where the city is its origin. The name, literally means "Tang Dynasty's tri-color", is derived from the fact that the main base colors on the pottery are yellow, brown and green. Tangsancai earthenware is painted with people's daily life scenes, natural scenery, beautiful flowers with brilliant colors, cast into lifelike human figures or house furniture.
People The total population in Luoyang is 6.4 million, 7.7% of which are workers or farmers from outside the city who try to find jobs here. Luoyang is typically a Han Chinese city, the people here are mostly speaking standard Putonghua. Chinese people regard Luoyang as a city in the north because the staple food eaten here is noodles or mantou (a kind of Chinese dumpling made solely from wheat flour), not to mention its location.
Transportation Historically, Luoyang was the eastern end of the Silk Road. Nowadays, it is still a traffic hub in northern China. The airport is located at 13km northwest to the downtown, there are domestic flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Frequent trains start from Jinan, Shanghai and Xian that go to Luoyang. Long distance buses to the provincial capital - Zhengzhou are frequent with less comfortable seats.
Geography Luoyang is situated on the banks of the Yellow River, the west of Henan Province, China. Traditionally Luoyang has been regarded as "the heart of land" or "the heart of China", which is one of the places of origin for the Chinese nation. It is also the one of the seven ancient capitals in China. The greater Luoyang covers an area of 15208 sq. km.
Climate Luoyang has a moderate climate with distinct seasons and sufficient rainfall. The annual average temperature is 14 degrees Celsius. Summer is very warm and winter is cold.
