Luoyang, in Henan province, is one of the four great ancient capitals of China, a city that served as the seat of more than a dozen dynasties over a thousand years. East of the modern city, in the fields along the Luo river, lie the remains of the capital of the Eastern Han dynasty, which ruled from Luoyang from the first to the early third century AD, and of the later Wei, Jin and Northern Wei capitals built on the same site. The site is part of the UNESCO-listed Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor, inscribed in 2014.
Little remains above ground: earthen walls, the foundations of palaces and gates, and the outlines of a city that once housed hundreds of thousands of people. Archaeologists have uncovered sections of the city walls and the remains of the imperial academy and the Lingtai observatory. The vast scale of the site, and the sense of history beneath the fields, is what impresses.
Nearby, the White Horse Temple is traditionally considered the first Buddhist temple in China, founded under the Eastern Han in the first century AD, when two Indian monks arrived with scriptures on white horses. South of the city, the Longmen Grottoes, a UNESCO site in their own right, contain tens of thousands of Buddhist statues carved into the limestone cliffs along the Yi river, from tiny figures to a giant Buddha seventeen metres high.
Riding in China as a foreigner is complicated. A Chinese driving licence is required, foreign vehicles need special permits and often a guide, and motorcycles are restricted or banned in the centres of many cities. If you are on an organised tour, the guide will handle the details. Traffic is heavy, with a mix of cars, trucks, electric scooters and pedestrians. The roads around Luoyang are mostly modern highways and busy urban roads.
Luoyang has every service. The city is famous for its peonies, celebrated in a festival in April, and for its water banquet, a series of soups and broths. Spring and autumn are the best seasons.