Luoyang, Henan

[ilunga]

There seems to be a lack of Henan threads, so it's only right I should write aout my home for two years.

I don't really know where to start. Actually that's a lie - it has to be the place which will be my first port of call when I head back there tomorrow (homeless ). That place is 'Image western food and music pub' It's a bar owned by a swiss guy called Paul. It's like a second home, and most probably will be my home this summer. I've nowhere else to crash Chinese name is 'yin xiang' on lian meng lu. Make sure to greet the stunning 'Annie Fanny' - long term barmaid, and please, please, wipe the floor with jessie the chef at pool. Be warned though, he's poo-hot sometimes and is known to demand ice-cream if he beats you. Beat his ass and he'll give you a quick massage The prices are reasonable. 15 for a corona/bud/heineken/carlsberg/san miguel. 10 for a hapi/tsingtao. Burgers are yummy and only 12. Pizzas and soups are also excellent. Things like weinershcnitzel and cordon bleu are a little pricier but well worth it.

There's a new bar just opened (the kind I never thought I'd see in Luoyang) on Huang he lu called 'man yao ba'. It's a real bar/club. None of the boom-boom and rigidly adhered to singers and other crap that passes as entertainment. It has a really good vibe, strikes me as a place the youth of Luoyang can identify with. The local break-dancing crew will sometimes put on an impromptu show. It's also open until 3am

Entertainment is otherwise pretty limited. There's some half-decent bars on Zhu Jiang lu, and my old haunt 'dawn of freedom' disco (zi you shu guang) on nan chang lu can be fun. 'Xin jianlong' hotel has a bowling alley and there's numerous ktvs. Dawn of freedom ktv is the best and is purely for singing (as far as a i know).

Luoyang food is pretty good and cheap. Make sure you try the water banquet (shui xi). The best place in the old town but it's not cheap. If you go for the full monty they'll bring you twenty four different kinds of soup. Anything from fish to meatballs. You can request an explanation and a history of every dish but be warned - you'll feel like nipping out for some bao zi halfway through, it doesn't half drag on.

There's plenty of hotels around. If you're feeling flush there's now a five star hotel. If you see any dodgy chinglish on their breakfast buffet menu that was me I'm friendly with the chef and he asked me to translate some food names. Not as easy as it sounds.
The Peony Plaza hotel (overlooking peony square) has a 38RMB buffet which is decent enough. Wenlai on xi yuan lu also has decent western food, and great coffee.
Expect to pay more for hotels in april as it's the 'International Peony Flower Festival'. Visitors from 'all over the world flock to Luoyang' apparently. Personally i don't think a month is long enough. I could happily stare at the same flower for months on end.

Outside of the city you have the Longmen Grottoes and White Horse Temple. Longmen is a must-see but 'Bai ma si' is a bit dull. Three hours outside Luoyang is 'Shaolin Temple' but I haven't been yet. My bad.

Zhengzhou is two hours east by train. Xi'an about five and a half hours to the west. Beinjing twelve, Shanghai about 15.

Best things about Luoyang are the friendliness of the people and the cost of living. At the risk of sounding like a shameless plugger 'Paul's bar' is also at the top of my list. I could well have gone insane without that place.

I've probably missed a few things out but there you go.

PS Macyds and kfc count stands at two-a-piece.

[George61]

Aha! We know where you spend most of your time, Ilunga. Chasing barmaids!....nice write!

[Raoul Duke]

Amen! A beautiful piece, Ilunga. Thank you...

I've always heard Luoyang, in conjunction with Kaifeng and one other city whose name escapes me, are quite a historical powerhouse. Are these other cities pretty close? And would you travel a distance to come see them?

Maybe you shouldn't feel too bad about not making Shaolin. From what I've heard from many sources, it has totally succumbed to touristism and hucksterism...

[ilunga]

Raoul, to be honest I probably wouldn't travel a long way to see Luoyang and Kaifeng (not sure about what other city you're referring to). I did a weekend in Kaifeng and it was ok. It's about three hours east of Luoyang. Luoyang seems to be popular with the tourist groups en-route to Xi'an. Apart from Longmen, there's not really much to see. I would say if you're doing Xi'an it would be worth spending a day or two in Kaifeng and Luoyang on the way. Avoid Zhengzhou like the plague though.

George, my use of 'stunning' was a tad sarcastic. I can proudly say I've never chased any of Paul's barmaids - poo on your own doorstep and all that. Although I have been known to chip in with a few thoughts when it comes to recruiting

[MK]

But is her English name really 'Annie Fanny'? It doesn't matter if you are using Brit or US English, still funny as hell.

[ilunga]

It's not actually 'Annie Fanny'. We added the 'fanny' part in immature fashion. She was bleating on about being hungry last night. Told her she could eat my ass. She replies 'wo bu zhi dao. hao chi ma?' I'm gonna miss that place.

[Seth]

I can vouch for Paul being a top bloke...he and and his wife drove me to Kaifeng one day. Driving in a private car down a Chinese interstate was quite a frightening experience. I think we probably only saw about 4 cars the entire drive there, and every single one was swerving all over the place. His wife is also very nice, and very beautiful. On my last day there she gave me a gigantic Chinese scroll painting that her mother painted for me. I can't say enough nice things about the both of them. Unfortunately I don't think their place is real popular with Chinese clientele because it doesn't have the 'entertainment' that Chinese bars have, nor the gaudy decor. It's 100% pure western.

Kaifeng is 'ma ma hu hu' at best. It's supposedly famous for it's baozi but I've had a lot better in Xi'an. The famous state park 'Qing ming shang he yuan' is pretty hokey but they do have a really interesting buddhist temple there. All the other 'historical' buildings were rebuilt about 10 years ago, complete with paint spills. There used to be Chinese jews there but not anymore. I'd give it a pass.

I think Anyang is the other ancient capital but I've never been there.

Luoyang definately has it's charms. Most of the city is the drab industrial wasteland that most Chinese cities tend to be, but in the old part of the city you can still see some pretty old buildings, and even a few sections of the old city wall from the Tang dysnasty about 1000 years ago. There are a few hutongs to be seen but they're filled with prostitutes. The white horse temple is really boring, and none of it is original, anyway. There's also the Guan Yu temple. Guan Yu is that famous Chinese warrior that you see paintings and statues of all over the place. Supposedly his head is buried in Luoyang. I never went to the temple, though, so I can't comment on it.

The only thing worth travelling to see in Luoyang are the Longmen Grottoes. They really are magnificent. If you're on your way to Xi'an, I'd definately stop for a few days.