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Published: September 23rd 2013
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A quiet start to the day. Packing is easy. More and more we’re able to rely on the boys organising their own gear. Some of the clothes still haven’t dried so the plastic bags we bought yesterday come in handy. Tina picks us up – but the driver couldn’t make it so his brother is driving the 50 minute trip in creeping heavy traffic to get to T2. Tina helps us with the tickets then we make our goodbyes and offer tips. The security screening is the most thorough we’ve seen – and this for an internal flight. Full pat-down with hand scanner for everyone.
The airport is accommodating to foreigners, with main tourist destinations having English announcements, and dual language signs. We grab lunch at a cheap cafeteria that serves only chinese foods. A bowl of rice is ¥2 (36c), and drinks in cans ¥6. The dishes range from ¥16 to ¥24, with options for sea cucumber ¥38 or bullfrog ¥38. Ky isn’t hungry, possibly the little froggies in the pot put her off, so ¥112 (A$20.4) for 3 of us.
While taking off, I comment again on the air pollution as being “incredible”, but Joseph finds a
better adjective and describes it as “appalling”. After a short 1hr 40min flight we land in Luoyang, and are picked up by Cherry and a driver. I keep missing the names of the drivers. The outskirts of Luoyang look much like any major city of 6 million people, although when we were in Beijing with 22 million people I never felt like we were on the ‘outskirts’. Its possible we never actually got to the outskirts. For the whole flight and also in Luoyang the pollution appears to be at the same thickness. At Luoyang it is hot and dry, with a noticeable clay/dirt smell in the air. Thank god for the dryness, I had had enough of the humidity in Beijing.
We are going straight to the Longmen Caves (also known as grottos but they are best described as caves). On the way we pass acre after acre of apartment blocks of 30 storeys or more being built. They go as far as the eye can see. Cherry says that government offices are moving there. Even given the size of the population, I wonder where all the people are going to come from to populate this ‘New City’
part of Luoyang? The main roads are 6 to 8 lanes with wide motorbike/cyclist lanes as well as footpaths. Between the paths and the apartments are landscaped green spaces, so their town planning is working well.
A walk through a pretty tree-covered park and we enter the caves area at a large arched bridge that spans the river Li. The first group of caves are fascinating, 3 original caves that were carved out around 600 AD were later added on by dynasties of Emperors. The caves range from tiny alcoves and shelves to enormous open spaces. In each one is at least one carving of a Buddha. The cave of the 15,000 Buddhas is, although most of them are around 2cm tall. The extent of both the carving work and the number of caves is astonishing.
Like all large statues, the giant statues in the main space have to be walked around to really appreciate them. A picture just doesn’t give you the scale.
We cross over a bridge to the south, admiring the cranes flying over the wetlands, and spy the sun setting red due to the pollution. From the east side we catch a cart
back to the entrance, and from there a walk through a long wide alley of tourist shops selling fascinating carvings of the Buddha. They sell wood carvings, brass work, fans, silk shirts, Peony stones, ceramics and more. I buy a small Peony stone for ¥15, and Liam gets a long stick with a pointy finger on it for ¥20. Unlike in Italy, where there were heaps of simple souvenir items the kids could buy for a few Euros, most of even the little things here are over ¥100, so that plus them not being so into the small stuff, and they haven’t bought much.
Another 40 minutes of driving and we’re at the Hua Yang Plaza Hotel, downtown Luoyang. The impressive roman columns and huge foyer set this out as a flash hotel. I can’t help feeling a little underdressed, wandering around in shorts and shirt. This time the boys’ room is across the corridor. The rooms are very similar to the Crown Plaza, but no alarm clock. Our window looks out over a garden park with paths, small lake and roller skating rink. Looks pleasant once you peer through the smog. A packet of 3 “Jissbon” condoms sits
on the bedside table beside a box of tissues. That’s a clever play on a name.
A couple of complementary mooncakes are provided along with a plate of fruit. I try a mooncake. It’s nice and cakey, but the softer filling part is sweet and has a Chinese flavour. That’s the only way I can describe it.
Prices are reasonable at the in-house restaurant, so we have burgers, pizza and a club sandwich for all up ¥188 (A$34). Drycleaning a pair of undies is ¥10. Pity we’re not staying long enough to make use of that service! Cherry says the average wage is ¥1,600 a month, while a retail price for a room at the Hua Yang is ¥1,880. If there was a direct comparison, that would be like an Aussie spending A$5,800 for a night at a hotel. Imagine what we’d expect to get for that! There’s some extremes going on here.
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