Dengfeng Tour

Dengfeng literally means "Ascend Mt.Songshan and give Mt.Songshan a title of Middle Heaven King". Dengfeng was named by Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Different from the other ancient emperors, who always conferred titles on Mt. Taishan. Empress Wu Zetian visited Mt. Songshan and gave it the title of "Holy Mountain". Emperess Wu Zetian had ascended Mt.Songshan for 10 times.

Travel to Shaolin Temple overland is the only choice of transportation at the moment. You may prebook a taxi or rent a private car from local travel agency in Luoyang, which costs you around RMB 600 for a round trip.

For money saving and more interactive contact with the locals as well, you may go to Shaolin Temple by taking the long-distance bus from Luoyang Long-distance Station which is located across Luoyang Railway Station in the city center. Plentiful buses pass by Shaolin Temple. Just get up early and buy your bus ticket on the spot from Luoyang to Shaolin Temple.

Most of the Shaolin Temple bound buses run on National Highway No.207 and Shaolin Temple is just located by the highway 80km from Luoyang. Actually many long-distance buses work as shuttle buses along the highway passing numerous villages. Don’t be surprised when your bus will stop when there are people waving hands by the roadside if your bus still have some vacancies which your bus driver definetely wants to fill in for maximizing the profit.

Chinese are “noisy” people. On your bus, the passengers around you will talk loudly, even shout and eat, making the bus like their homes and ignoring the existence of others on the bus. So just keep your patience, be tolerant and “enjoy” your travel experience on a long-distance bus in China!

On the way to Shaolin Temple from Luoyang

The main gate to Shaolin Temple, the stone archway with a huge rock in its front carved with the words “Shaolin Culture, People’s Heritage” by former Chinese president Jiang Zeming.

The main gate to Shaolin Temple, the stone archway

There are not so many passengers on the bus from Shaolin Temple to Dengfeng.

I soon arrive at Dengfeng, which is located at the southern foot of Mount Song with a population of 640,000 (2010). It has a total area of 1220 Square kilometers, 56km long from east to west and 35.5km from north to south. Dengfeng City is regarded as a city of China’s Martial Arts as well as a city where three Chinese religions are converged including Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

The city of Dengfeng is quite clean and well organized.

This is the largest hall in Zhongyue Temple – Junji Palace dedicated to the God of Mount Song

Songyang Shuyuan is known in English as Songyang Academy, which was a type of private school in ancient China. Different from national-level academy and district-level schools, shuyuan (academies) were usually private establishments constructed away from towns and cities, offering a quiet environment where scholars and students could pursue learning, studies and thinking without outside distractions.

The shuyuan (academies) originated in the Tang Dynasty ( 618-907) and further developed in the successive dynasties of Song, Ming, Qing. They were places where scholars could teach and study the classics.

Songyang Academy was named “Songyang Temple” when it was originally built in Beiwai Dynasty (484AD). In Sui Dynasty, it was renamed “Songyang Taoist Temple”. In 1035, it was rebuilt and renamed “Songyang Academy”. Many famous confucian scholars came here lecturing and studying. Songyang Academy was known as one of the Four Great Academies of the Northern Song (960–1127‎) almost in the same period when University of Oxford 1096 was founded in the UK.

Classrooms at Songyang Academy

Tip: Hassle-free Shaolin Temple and Luoyang Guided Tours

Luoyang One Day Private Tour Starting US$ 60 per person Luoyang- Shaolin One Day Private Tour Starting US$ 60 per person Luoyang – Shaolin 2 Day Private Tour Packages Starting US$ 150 per person

Further Readings

Any questions, just drop a line.