Luoyang is one of China's ancient capitals, a city with over a thousand years of imperial history pressed into its soil, and the Grand Canal is part of the reason why. In the early seventh century the Sui emperor Yang ordered a system of canals dug to link the Yellow River plain with the rice country of the south, and Luoyang became its great hub. Grain from the Yangtze delta was shipped here and stored in enormous underground granaries; one of them, the Hanjia granary inside the city, is part of the UNESCO listing of the Grand Canal and you can see the excavated grain pits today.
Standing beside the Luo river, it takes some effort to picture the barges and warehouses, because modern Luoyang is a sprawling city of more than a million people with wide avenues and towering apartment blocks. Yet the history pops up everywhere. South of town, the Longmen Grottoes line the Yi river with thousands of Buddhist carvings, including a giant Buddha that is said to bear the features of Empress Wu Zetian. In April the city celebrates its peony festival, and its parks fill with crowds photographing flowers the size of dinner plates. Local food includes the water banquet, a long sequence of soups and broths served in a strict order.
Riding here comes with practical limits. Foreign travellers generally need special permits and often a guide to ride their own motorcycle in China, and many city centres, Luoyang included, restrict or ban motorcycles on major roads. Expressways are closed to motorbikes. If you are on two wheels, the best riding is out on the provincial roads west towards the Han'gu Pass and east to Song Shan and the Shaolin Temple, where the loess hills fold into terraces and the traffic thins out.
Fuel is plentiful, and electric scooters outnumber petrol bikes by a wide margin. Spring and autumn are the best seasons; summer is humid and hot, winters dry and cold with occasional smog. Carry water and cash as backup, though mobile payment is nearly universal, and expect curious onlookers wherever you park a big touring bike.