Henan Heritage Tour: 6 Days Luoyang, Kaifeng, Dengfeng & Anyang

Tour Overview

Itinerary Highlights

Day 1: Arrive Zhengzhou — The Capital of Henan

Welcome to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province — historically the command center of dynastic China. Visit the Henan Museum, one of China’s top three museums (along with Beijing’s Palace Museum and Shaanxi History Museum), housing 170,000+ artifacts including the Jiahu bone flutes (9,000-year-old, the world’s oldest playable musical instruments) and a bronze lotus-and-crane square vessel from the Song Dynasty. Evening walk along the binary star-shaped Dehua pedestrian street for a taste of modern Henan street food. Overnight in Zhengzhou.

Day 2: Anyang — The Oracle Bones City

Drive 200km north to Anyang, capital of the late Shang Dynasty (1300-1046 BC). Visit Yinxu, the ruins of the last Shang capital — where, in 1899, scholar Wang Yirong noticed dragon-bone patterns on “dragon bones” being sold as medicine, leading to the discovery of oracle bone script (the earliest Chinese writing system, now 3,000+ characters deciphered). The site, UNESCO-listed since 2017, contains palace foundations, royal tombs, and bronze workshops. At the Houjiazhuang site, see the largest Shang bronze vessel ever found — the 832kg Simuwu Ding, cast using piece-mold technology 1,000 years before Europeans figured it out. Overnight in Anyang.

Day 3: Anyang — Taihang Mountains & Red Flag Canal

Visit the Red Flag Canal — an engineering marvel of socialist-era China. Between 1960-1969, 100,000 Linxian farmers hand-carved a 1,500km canal through the Taihang Mountains to bring water from the Zhang River to their drought-stricken county — using nothing but hammers, chisels, and willpower. Lin Zhaode, the project leader, lost his daughter who fell into the cliffs during construction. The canal, with its steep mountain cuts and ingenious tunnels, has been called the “8th Wonder of the Ancient World.” Afternoon visit to the Yangshao Culture Museum — site of China’s first Neolithic painted pottery (5,000-3,000 BC). Overnight in Anyang.

Day 4: Zhengzhou — Kaifeng Ancient Capital

Drive to Kaifeng, capital of China’s Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and once the world’s largest city with over 1 million residents. Walk along the rebuilt Song Dynasty city walls (the original city was destroyed multiple times by the Yellow River’s catastrophic flooding). Visit the Millennium City Park, a recreation of Northern Song Bianjing with traditional street performers, craftsmen, and the iconic Rainbow Bridge. Afternoon: visit the Iron Pagoda, built in 1049 — actually made of glazed bricks (so dark they look like iron). Climb the 11-story pagoda for panoramic city views. Visit the Daxiangguo Si, a Song Dynasty Buddhist temple where the famous Judge Bao (Bao Zheng) once sat as magistrate. Overnight in Zhengzhou.

Day 5: Dengfeng — Shaolin Temple & Song Mountain

Drive to Dengfeng for the highlight of the trip. At the Shaolin Temple (495 AD), visit the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the original source of kung fu. The temple’s 1,500-year history includes a pivotal 627 AD episode when the Indian monk Bodhidharma (Damo) sat facing a wall for nine years in meditation — leading to the development of Chan (Zen) Buddhism and Shaolin kung fu. Watch a kung fu performance by trainee monks. Afternoon hike on Mount Song (1,512m), one of China’s Five Sacred Mountains. The mountain is home to the ancient Zhongyue Temple (秦, 110 BC) and the 36 stone pagodas representing Song-era Shaolin abbots. Return to Luoyang. Overnight in Luoyang.

Day 6: Luoyang — Longmen Grottoes & Depart

Morning at the Longmen Grottoes, UNESCO World Heritage since 2000 — a chain of caves carved along 1km of limestone cliffs beside the Yi River. Begun in 493 AD and continuing for 400 years, the grottoes contain over 100,000 Buddhist statues and 2,800 inscribed steles. The largest statue, the Vairocana Buddha, is 17.14 meters tall, completed in 675 AD during the Tang Dynasty. Visit the White Horse Temple (68 AD), China’s first Buddhist temple — where the missionary monks Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna translated the first Buddhist sutras into Chinese. Afternoon transfer to Luoyang airport.

Inclusions

• 5 nights (2 Zhengzhou + 1 Anyang + 1 Dengfeng + 1 Luoyang) with breakfast
• Henan Museum + Yinxu UNESCO + Yangshao Museum entries
• Red Flag Canal guided tour
• Millennium City Park + Iron Pagoda + Daxiangguo Si (Kaifeng)
• Shaolin Temple + Mount Song + kung fu performance
• Longmen Grottoes + White Horse Temple (Luoyang)
• Private vehicle + English-speaking guide throughout
• All transfers