Legendary Journey- 2021 Yujian Golden Autumn Travel Notes (including 6 5A-level scenic spots, 2100 yuan for food, accommodation and entertainment for 2 people, great value for money, lucky and happy)

Today (2021-12-21), when I was preparing to supplement my travel notes and photos, I suddenly realized that the words and pictures in the second half were suddenly missing. I was so scared!

I decided to open a few chapters to share with you some of the most impressive attractions.

2021-12-14 Add a few new compressed photos, let's take a look at Laojun Mountain first

2021-12-1 Newly added "Henan Food Chapter"

This time, I ate more than ten dinners and breakfast every day in eight days in Henan. What I remember best was the various soups in the breakfast.

During the trip, especially when living in Laojun Mountain, all kinds of self-heating rice and self-heating hot pot showed their power.

Let's talk about soup and vegetables. Whether it is the beef soup on the streets of Luoyang or the flat noodles on the roadside of Anyang, they are all delicious.

However, after eating the famous "Luoyang Water Tasting" in the restaurant, I didn't feel too impressive, and my wife especially didn't like it very much.

It is said that breakfast in Luoyang must start with a bowl of soup

Beef soup-beef offal soup-milky sweet mutton soup-tofu soup, meatball soup... There are many choices.

Luoyang people all have their own obsession with eating.

As the saying goes: "The plan for the day lies in the morning", so Luoyang people never make breakfast!

"In Luoyang, there are 100 ways to wake you up from 100 breakfasts."~ This is true

The old city of Luoyang has the feeling of a four-tier old county town. It has historical heritage, is very simple, and it is delicious and cheap to eat. This place is definitely positive, and tourists like this feeling very much. It's much better than man-made "monuments" and it's authentic.

A bowl of fragrant soup paired with golden and crispy meatballs is the meatball soup that Luoyang people are longing for.

The crispy meatballs that my wife has a special liking are said to be made from fried with vermicelli. (Some people also say it's tofu)

In Luoyang, I specially went to eat the "Luoyang Water Tasts" from an old store in Lao Street and used the group purchase package from a certain Dianping website.

Borrowing a professional introduction from the Internet:

Luoyang water mat is a business card of Luoyang. More than 100 years of money have been enjoyed by dignitaries in the court. Now it has become a common practice among ordinary people.

If you ask how much a Luoyang water banquet costs, is it expensive or cheap? Is it a big table? Or taste some of the water mats. If it is expensive to eat, the signature of the century-old famous Luoyang water mat is a famous Chinese banquet or a time-honored Chinese brand. If you eat all the dishes in the water mat, then generally speaking, you will serve 8 cold dishes first, then 16 main courses, and 8 snacks. The 16 main courses are-peony swallow cabbage, Luoyang boiled goods, Luoyang pork slices, pork braised strips, spicy fish slices, milk soup stewed hanging, four pieces stewed, Luoyang crispy pork, chicken fin with material, sour soup scorched fried meatballs, boiled meatballs, Luoyang sea cucumber, fried eight-treasure rice with oil, honey juice ginseng fruit, rice wine Manjianghong Perfect Ruyi Soup. Add 8 cold dishes and 8 snacks, and the minimum price for a table is basically 500 yuan.

There are many small and medium-sized restaurants that operate water mats in the streets and alleys of Luoyang, such as Yantianxia, Luoyang Noodle House, Luoyang Restaurant, etc.; there are also many small restaurants such as Yaoyao Water Mats and Xinghua Village, all on the West Street of Laocheng District of Luoyang; there is a Guanji Water Mats on Xianguo Street behind Laoji in the Old City of Laocheng District, which is very popular. There is often a queue for water mats. This water mat shop has small portions. You can eat 8 of 10 to taste the essence of Luoyang water mats, but the price is no more than 200 yuan.

Luoyang folk water mats still retain their traditional flavor, and most of them are more authentic from the Laocheng District.

This time, we went to a water mat in the old street next to Lijing Gate because of our fame, but it was closed. We found a nearby "Xinxin Water Tasting" to eat.

I went to the store at five o'clock and there were no customers. The boss actually introduced that there was only one steamed bun left for today's staple food, which meant that business was very good during the day, so I sat down.

After we sat down, 5-6 orders of customers came one after another, filling the store to a full size. Finally, we even put together the old couple who came first and other guests before they all sat down. Everyone ordered basically the same food, and they used the same group purchase coupons in several waves. Later, the landlady went out and bought two bags of steamed buns, which seemed to be used up quickly.

I booked a set meal for two online and it was really inexpensive. It was 57 yuan for four dishes, including the long-admired peony swallow cabbage, boiled pork slices, sour soup and fried meatballs, and hawthorn soup (I tasted it in the store and it was not bad. The hot, sour and sweet ones were packed and brought back to the station for supper; I threw them all the way out the next morning). The only regret is that there is too much pepper, and the soup is sour. It feels like several dishes all have the same taste. The only thing my wife likes is fried meatballs, and they are in their original state when they are hot and put into the soup. Later, I asked the boss lady before I found out that it was made of vermicelli.

After eating the water mat, my stomach was full but I didn't feel full. I sent the packed hawthorn soup back to the station (it was only a 5-minute walk) and then went to the snack street for a long time. I ate half of the pot stickers and my wife ate a handful of steamed tripe. It felt no different from other snack streets, except that there were a huge number of stalls (about hundreds) and the price was quite cheap.

It has been 21 years since I registered as a Ctrip member, and I haven't written travel notes for more than 6 years. I have become lazy. Most of the 42 travel notes that are still left in Ctrip cannot see the pictures and lack a lot of charm. Hundreds of thousands of page views and hundreds of messages are all fond memories of the past.

There was a trip that I came in October this year. Looking back now, it was an extremely lucky trip-I had a good time, spent less, and the most important thing was that I perfectly avoided the epidemic.

The trip was between October 16 and 24, 2021, during which time a new round of epidemic outbreaks in Inner Mongolia and other places, which later spread to Henan and Shanxi; not long after returning to Dalian, a round of epidemic outbreaks in Dalian started on November 4 has not passed until today. I am so lucky to want to make this trip now.

Because of this particularly lucky reason, I decided to pick up my pen again and write an outline and a running account first. If anyone was interested, I would slowly put in the experience and photos of the period.

The nine-day journey traveled through Henan, Shanxi and Shandong provinces, driving 2100 kilometers by themselves, and spending a total of 6347 yuan for the two people. In addition to transportation expenses, food, accommodation and entertainment cost 2086 yuan. Detailed explanation follows the specific details.

This time, we visited 9 attractions including 6 5A-level scenic spots.

In addition to touring the mountains and rivers, he also visited 4 customers and 2 relatives.

The time and itinerary are as follows:

10-16 at 7:50 a.m. plane from Dalian to Zhengzhou

Shaolin Temple,

Luoyang Lijing Gate,

Luoyi Ancient City

10-17 Longtan Grand Canyon

Separate posts, welcome to browse:

Fan Foreign Chapter: Traveling in the Longtan Grand Canyon

https://you.ctrip.com/travels/luoyang198/4045435.html

10-18 Laojun Mountain

Fan Waijiao: Food, Clothing, Accommodation and Travel Tour in Laojun Mountain

The biggest highlight of this trip to Henan is undoubtedly Laojun Mountain.

Welcome to browse:

https://you.ctrip.com/travels/2098808/4045020.html

Fan Waijiao: Food, Clothing, Accommodation and Travel Tour in Laojun Mountain

10-19 Longmen Grottoes

10-20 Hongqi Canal

The chapters have been compiled:

The stunning and touching of the Hongqi Canal

https://you.ctrip.com/travels/linzhou1890/4046110.html? isAuthor=true

10-21 Yin Ruins Museum

Museum of Chinese characters

Flight back to Dalian on October 24

Round-trip air ticket 1220 yuan

Car rental, gas, parking fees: 3041 yuan

Accommodation 911 yuan

Travel tickets, cableway, battery car, rent coat: 600 yuan

(Among them, tickets only cost 140 yuan for Shaolin Temple, and everything else is free.)

Meals and shopping expenses: 575 yuan

This trip is due to the "Yujian Golden Autumn Tour" tourism activity launched in Henan from October 10 to November 10, 2021. It was this free ticket event that inspired my wife and I to travel to Henan.

A total of 432 A-level scenic spots in Henan responded positively to this event, offering free tickets to tourists across the country. The free scenic spots accounted for 74.48% of the province's A-level scenic spots.

Among the 19 5A-level scenic spots in the province, 16 participated in the free ticket activities, namely Longmen Grottoes, Longtan Grand Canyon, Baiyun Mountain, Laojun Mountain-Jiguandong Scenic Area in Luoyang; Yaoshan Scenic Area in Pingdingshan; Yinxu, Hongqi Canal, Taihang Grand Canyon Scenic Area in Anyang; Yuntai Mountain, Qingtian River, and Shennongshan Scenic Area in Jiaozuo; Baligou Scenic Area in Xinxiang; Dinosaur Relics Garden and Laojieling Scenic Area in Nanyang; Mangdang Mountain Tourist Area in Shangqiu City; Zhumadian's Wushan Scenic Area.

It only took a week to travel to Henan, so that the boss was a little confused when he asked for leave from the company before leaving. Why was he suddenly so anxious to take annual leave? On October 12, I booked a ticket at Ctrip. The outbound trip was economy class at a discount of 2.1%; the return trip was a preferential economy class at a discount of 2.5%. The round-trip ticket was 610 yuan per person, which was really cheap.

After booking the ticket, I began to study the itinerary and attractions. For the first time, I set the tone of not going to non-5A-level scenic spots. Later, I found that Henan's tourism resources are too rich. I couldn't see all of Henan's 5A-level scenic spots in this time!

To talk about an interlude, I am ashamed to say that a week before my departure, I, who claimed to be a tourist, didn't even know about the existence of Laojun Mountain. It wasn't until I saw the existence of Laojun Mountain Wonderland in the online videos when I was doing my homework before setting off, especially the magnificent aerial pictures overlooking the Golden Summit and the Sea of Clouds, that I was immediately shocked. "The world's unparalleled saint realm, the world's number one immortal mountain." I immediately made the decision to stay on Laojun Mountain for the night no matter what and watch the sunrise and sea of clouds in the morning.

Finally, after reading the introductions and tourist evaluations of various attractions on Ctrip, I initially selected 5 5A scenic spots to participate in the free ticket activity this time, plus a Shaolin Temple that is not immune to tickets but has been admired for a long time.

After determining the attractions to visit, planning the route, and decided to rent a car at Zhengzhou Airport for a self-driving trip. Before departure, I only booked accommodation in Luoyang for the first night and decided to stay wherever I wanted to go. It was not a problem to stay if it was not the tourist season, let alone we had a car. I just paid special attention to the accommodation on Laojun Mountain. Judging from the introduction, it seemed that it was difficult to find a bed on the mountain during the peak season. I communicated with the owner of the mountain villa on WeChat in advance and made a verbal reservation for one night.

Because free tickets for each scenic spot can only be booked three days in advance, and I have to download the "Henan Cultural Travel" Mini programs on my mobile phone to make reservations, I decided to leave this job to my wife. Facts proved to be a very correct choice. She successfully completed the work and booked all the tickets we planned and later unplanned in time. Great!

I just bought tickets for the first stop of Shaolin Temple on Ctrip. Tickets priced at 70 per ticket are not expensive. I was just a little surprised why tourists from Ctrip and the Internet did not have a high evaluation of this attraction and lowered their expectations in due course.

During the week from the decision to go to Henan to the trip, as soon as I got home, I would read the introductions of various scenic spots and tourist reviews on Ctrip. Later, I found that Baidu videos could search the introductions of various scenic spots and various "live broadcast" videos. The image of each scenic spot quickly became three-dimensional, and my heart became more and more agitated. It turned out that Henan was so beautiful, with such a profound history, and so many delicious food.

Full of expectation, this particularly value-for-money trip to Yujian Golden Autumn began on the early morning of October 16.

D1 Shaolin Temple + Luoyang Lijingmen + Luoyang Ancient City

The first day of a trip is often the time when the physical condition is at its best and the desire to play is at its fullest. The many homework I did before this trip made me not expect too much for the first day. As the saying goes, the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. It is often a good thing to lower expectations.

Arrived at Xinzheng Airport at 9:40 a.m., I went directly to the parking lot to pick up the car without checked luggage. I rented a white sedan. The basic price was 58 yuan a day. Including insurance and other miscellaneous fees, I spent a total of 1780 yuan in car rental fees for the last 9 days. After running 2100 kilometers, it was still very worth it.

I picked up the car and headed straight to Dengfeng Shaolin Temple, a dream place when I was a child and where many stories of film and television works took place.

Introduction to Shaolin Temple: In 495 AD, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved his capital to Luoyang and chose a place to build the temple in order to accommodate the eminent monk Batuo who followed him. Because the temple faced Shaoshi Mountain, faced Wuru Peak in the north, and was located deep in the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, it was named Shaolin Temple. We walked up the steps from the front door of the Shaolin Temple, passed through the foyer, and followed the central axis to the Tianwang Hall, the Daxiong Hall, the Sutra Pavilion (Dharma Hall), the Abbot's Courtyard, the Lixue Pavilion, and the Thousand Buddha Hall (the Western Sage Hall). There are seven courtyards in total. Shaolin Temple has suffered several disasters in its history. The most recent one was in 1928, when warlords fought in a scuffle. Warlord Shi Yousan burned Shaolin Temple, destroying all major buildings such as the Tianwang Hall, the Daxiong Hall, and the Sutra Pavilion in one torch; many precious Buddhist scriptures, temple annals, boxing manuals, etc. were burned to ashes. There are still buildings that exist today such as Shanmen, Lixue Pavilion, Thousand Buddha Hall, etc., and other buildings were rebuilt subsequently. Shi You was punished for his three evils, many of whom were unjust, and he was buried alive.

It is noon when we arrive at Shaolin Temple. It is time to eat. I can't forget about Henan's stewed noodles, especially mutton stewed noodles. I have never eaten authentic stewed noodles in recent times when I have been to Henan for business trips. Big bowls, fragrant soup, mutton hidden at the bottom of the bowls, and mixed with day lily, fungus, bean sprouts, vermicelli... Thinking about it makes me drool.

Based on experience, the restaurants next to tourist attractions are often expensive and not delicious. I decided to turn to a densely populated place 7-8 kilometers away from the gate of Shaolin Temple and find a local authentic noodle restaurant to have a full meal and recharge the afternoon tour. Turning off the main road, I searched for local food on my mobile phone. I was surprised to find that it was either just nearby fast food or takeout, or it was too far away. I had to find a good parking place nearby and then go to a restaurant. Finally, I found a small restaurant "Jinjiang Hotel" with a street corner. There are six or seven small tables in the restaurant. In addition to various pasta dishes, there are also stir-fried dishes and rice (rice is called rice locally, which I had not noticed before). There were no customers when we entered. But after taking a look at the waiters who were all honest and over 50 years old, it was not expensive for a bowl of mutton stewed noodles at 10 yuan, so I decided to eat it here.

I ordered a bowl of stewed noodles for 10 yuan, the braised beef noodles for 16 yuan, and I looked at the recipe and ordered a scrambled egg with sophora flowers for 19 yuan. A sumptuous lunch cost only 45 yuan. The soup of the stewed noodles tastes very good. The side dishes are missing the day lily and fungus in my impression. There is not much mutton, but it only costs 10 yuan a bowl and needs to be on a bicycle! However, my wife was a little dissatisfied with the braised beef noodles. There was no sign of beef on the noodles that came up. I said that the meat was hidden under the noodles. She followed her instructions and found traces of several pieces of diced beef at the bottom of the bowl. I think this year's beef is extremely expensive. The amount of scrambled eggs with sophora flowers was extremely sufficient. It was at least 4 eggs by visual inspection. After arriving, I immediately had the urge to pack them and take them away. My wife complained that I ordered too much, but I didn't say too much, but I actually had enough energy to hold on to it. Later, almost everyone who entered the store ordered stewed noodles, which proved that my choice was very wise.

After I was full, I bought drinks and water at the nearby grocery store. The feeling of filling my stomach immediately swelled and I was ready to visit Shaolin Temple all afternoon.

Introduction to Shaolin Temple: In 495 AD, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved his capital to Luoyang and chose a place to build the temple in order to accommodate the eminent monk Batuo who followed him. Because the temple faced Shaoshi Mountain, faced Wuru Peak in the north, and was located deep in the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, it was named Shaolin Temple. We walked up the steps from the front door of the Shaolin Temple, passed through the foyer, and followed the central axis to the Tianwang Hall, the Daxiong Hall, the Sutra Pavilion (Dharma Hall), the Abbot's Courtyard, the Lixue Pavilion, and the Thousand Buddha Hall (the Western Sage Hall). There are seven courtyards in total. Shaolin Temple has suffered several disasters in its history. The most recent one was in 1928, when warlords fought in a scuffle. Warlord Shi Yousan burned Shaolin Temple, destroying all major buildings such as the Tianwang Hall, the Daxiong Hall, and the Sutra Pavilion in one torch; many precious Buddhist scriptures, temple annals, boxing manuals, etc. were burned to ashes. There are still buildings that exist today such as Shanmen, Lixue Pavilion, Thousand Buddha Hall, etc., and other buildings were rebuilt subsequently. Shi You was punished for his three evils, many of whom were unjust, and he was buried alive.

If I hadn't stopped by and told the truth, I wouldn't have made a special trip to Shaolin Temple and ruined the lofty image of this temple in my mind. You can feel the flavor of Shaolin from afar. There are several Shaolin Martial Arts Schools around where you eat at noon. The various signs on both sides of the road near Shaolin Temple can feel the strong flavor.

The parking lot at the entrance is very large, with at least a few hundred cars parked here. It seems that even if they do not participate in the free ticket event, it will not affect the bustling tourists here. There is a battery car to ride on at the gate. I did my homework in advance and knew that the walk in was not a long way, so I didn't sit when I entered and planned to ride when I came out if I got tired. But when I came back, I had to hang it out to watch a martial arts performance halfway through, and I didn't take the battery car on the way back.

Several archways and gate gates of Shaolin Temple are good places to take photos. In addition, the stone tablets and ancient cypresses in the temple are also very good. Except for the Western Sage Hall, which was not burned by warlords, the buildings were renovated in recent years. There is no difference anywhere else. However, the King Kong at the entrance impressed me. His expression was indeed very impressive.

Footprints left by martial monks in the Western Sage Hall are clearly visible, and some other cypress trees have finger holes, all of which are marks left by Shaolin martial arts.

In addition, the discovery of the imperial pen with the word "Shimin" on the stone tablet left by Li Shimin was also a gain from this trip.

The secular atmosphere in the temple is not as much as the complaints on the Internet. There are a few places that add bricks and tiles to the temple, but fortunately it is not a nuisance. The most speechless thing is Tallinn. The place where the eminent monks of all ages slept was actually embossed on the tower body with planes, high-speed trains, and laptops. Isn't this too advanced with the times?

After visiting Shaolin Temple for 2 hours, there was nowhere to go. The scheduled Shaolin martial arts performance was reduced for no reason, and there were no notices or staff members in front of the Martial Arts Hall to explain it, which made tourists feel very uncomfortable. Although it was a free performance, I still bought tickets to come in. Fortunately, I read some strategies before coming here and said that there was an auction of calligraphy and paintings before each performance. I didn't like it. I don't want to watch it. I'll go back to Luoyang City early to rest and prepare to go see the night view of Luoyi Ancient City at night!

There are two most commendable things about Shaolin Temple. First, there is no disorderly expansion of the garden; second, there is no noisy music such as "Shaolin, Shaolin" or "Shepherd Song" around the scenic spots, which disturbs the Qing cultivation of our Buddha.

It was only 3:30 in the afternoon when I left Shaolin Temple. I had the idea of asking my wife to look for other scenic spots nearby that were free of charge. When I couldn't find a suitable one, I decided to go back to Luoyang Station to repair before going out to play.

I did my homework in advance. The parking lot in the station is the parking lot next to the Lijingmen Scenic Area. It takes almost an hour and a half to guide Shanghai Airlines. If I think rationally, it's time to go home.

Tonight's location in Luoyang-Luohua Leisure House (the name is very literary and I like ING) is really great. It is on the Old City Pedestrian Street next to Lijing Gate. After looking at the photos on Ctrip, each room was decorated differently. I finally chose a romantic love bed room. The original price was 214 yuan. After using various discounts, it was less than 118 yuan:

1 room x 1 night ¥ 214.00

Room and other charges ¥ 214.00

Premium membership discount-¥ 33.00

Ticket users-¥ 45.00

One billion yuan subsidy-¥ 13.00

Full discount coupon-¥ 5.00

Total amount payable ¥ 117.95

I only booked accommodation for this night in advance for this trip. I planned to check the room on site after checking in and decide whether to stay here again the next day.

The room facilities are not inferior to that of ordinary three-star hotels. The bathroom is dry and wet, and the shampoo and bath lotion supplied are all large bottles and of good quality. The decoration is very artistic and warm. The cleanest B & B I have ever stayed in. The room on the second floor has a relief desk, which is simply an exclusive living room. I bought breakfast and ate it in my room. It was very happy and comfortable. My wife could slowly dress up while I went out to buy breakfast. It was very nice.

The boss recommended that the peony cake and unturned soup next to it were both delicious.

The shops on the pedestrian street are all very distinctive, and this pointing sign is very interesting and specially photographed:

For the first night's delicious food, photos of the night view of Lijingmen and Luoyi Ancient City will be edited and posted later.

I'm very lucky that I chose a good place to live. It's very close to eating special snacks, buying special products, and visiting scenic spots. It's so awesome!

For breakfast the next day, I got up early and walked for 20 minutes. I developed a "Lao Sun's Beef Soup" restaurant. It tasted particularly good. Let's feel the above pictures:

Running account:

2021-12-26 Update the link to the external chapter of Laojun Mountain Fan to be continued…

2021-12-31 Supplementary photos of Hongqi Canal

2022-1-1 Supplement videos of Laojun Mountain and Longtan Grand Canyon (unfortunately, the 30M limit can only upload very short videos)