Luoyang Peony Season and the Old Capital

The City That Grows Peonies

Luoyang has grown peonies for more than a thousand years, and each April the city fills with them: parks, courtyards, roadside beds and a festival that draws visitors from across the country. The flower is so thoroughly identified with the place that a spring visit is really two trips in one — the blooms, and the old capital's grottoes, temples and tombs, which stay open and much quieter.

Timing the Bloom

Peonies flower in April, with the peak usually in the second and third weeks depending on the weather; early varieties open first and late ones can stretch to early May. Garden displays are concentrated in the city's parks and in the peony research gardens, and the best light for photographs is early morning before the crowds.

The Longmen Grottoes

The grottoes are Luoyang's other unmissable sight: thousands of Buddhist figures carved into limestone cliffs along the river, from the fifth century onwards, with the great Vairocana Buddha as the centrepiece. They deserve half a day, and the riverside walk between the carvings is the best part.

Temples, Tombs and Food

Between the flowers and the grottoes, the city offers the White Horse Temple — traditionally China's first Buddhist temple — the ancient tombs museum, and the old town's lanes. Luoyang's food is Henan cooking: soups, noodles, dumplings and the famous water banquet, eaten in busy, plain restaurants.

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