Speeding to Longmen Caves

Moving On

I stepped out of my hostel around 0700 on an empty stomach bound for Zhengzhou. I stumbled on the shop next door which was selling breakfast. After taking a look at what others were eating on the sidewalk tables, I popped my head in and ordered four dumplings.

I didn’t realise that these pan-fried dumplings were meant to be accompanied by either a pinkish barley porridge or a thick brown broth with some glass noodles. I wanted neither of the soups and was charged Y1 (NZD0.20) for four dumplings filled with vegetables and some glass noodles. They were so delicious and flavoursome; texture-wise the dough wasn’t the usual unleavened but they had been slightly raised.

My delicious breakfast dumplings.

After filling up, I walked to the nearby West bus station … I couldn’t understand what the ticketing agent said to me when I asked about the bus to Zhengzhou that specifically stops in the city centre (rather than the outer bus station). I taxied to the South bus station and quite easily caught the bus that dropped me off in Zhengzhou very near my prebooked Jinjiang hotel 1h30 minutes later.

Fast Foodies’ Paradise

The short walk to my hotel indicated that Zhengzhou’s central square is a paradise for fast foodies. There were at least 3 McDonald’s, 4 KFCs, several local Western and Chinese fast food outlets (again, some with multiple shops). It may be that the shoplots are all of a standard size and it wasn’t viable to have one big outlet; in any case having several smaller ones would generate more business but with higher costs.

Outside Zhengzhou’s railway station, people wait for their departure in the square.

Buddhas galore at Longmen Caves

I managed to get my room immediately and after a brief rest I decided to go to Longmen Caves.  In theory it was really easy; just get on the bullet train from the station adjacent to my hotel.

Sadly the queues for the ticketing counters were long and the queues to get into the departure security checks were out the door and in the blazing sun. I made it to the counter at 1125 which is the departure time of the train I had hoped to take. So I bought the ticket for the 1305 departure.

The bullet train reached a top speed of 291 km/h, which is faster than on my previous journey from Shanghai. Development is extremely fast in China and the guidebook is outdated. Upon arrival at Luoyang’s Longmen station, I enquired as to how I could get to the caves. They were only about 4km away and could be reached easily by Bus 71 (and returning on Bus 67) which unfortunately ran only every 50-60 minutes. The ride was short (less than 10 minutes) and cheap (Y1).

Longmen is famous for caves and niches on both sides of a river which house Buddhist statues (and relief carving) created around 500-700AD. Many of them have been defaced during the Communist era, stolen by treasure-seekers or damaged by some seriously high floods. The most impressive of all was the Ancestor Worshipping Temple which features nine figure including a 17m high Buddha.

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Last stop was a temple and a villa where Chiang Kai Shek and his wife stayed at. I was quite surprised that this had been preserved and the Kuomintang flag was very proudly displayed inside. Wow! China is more tolerant than I expected.

Due to the oppressive heat, the walk seemed long and the climbs up the stairs tiring. In fact, my whole time there from entry to exit was only a little over 2 hours (assisted by a buggy ride at the end to avoid the long walk back). It must have been well of 40degC in the sun at Longmen and I kept myself cool with several bottles of cold drinks and also red bean iceblocks.

The weather forecast had indicated a maximum of 38degC but it must have been much higher. The 37degC (as displayed on the train) upon arrival at Zhengzhou felt decidedly cool.

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It was 2000 by the time I sat down for dinner and also rehydrated myself with a Tsingtao Beer. The fish-flavoured pork strips were delicious and cost Y16. I love the fish-flavoured eggplant that’s sold in my suburb in Auckland and I immediately guessed that the pork would be just as good. It turned out to be an extremely tasty and satisfying meal which went well with the beer.