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Situated in central China and the middle and
lower reaches of the Yellow River, Henan
Province abbreviated as ¡°Yu¡±. With an area of
160.000 square kilometers, Henan has a
population of 92.56 million, which consists of
41 ethnic peoples including Hans, Huis,
Mongolians, Manchurians and others. Zhengzhou is
the capital city of the Province.
Topographically, Henan slopes down from west to east,
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areas accounts for
a half of the whole territory of the
province,and mountain covers the rest.
Northwestern Henan is screened by mountains on
three sides. Major mountains of the province are
Funiu, Taihang, Tongbai and Dabie Mountains, as
well the Central Sacred Mountains ¨CSongshan
Mount. Main rivers include the Yellow, Huaihe
and Weihe rivers. |
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Having a long history, Henan is known as a
¡°cradle of the Chinese civilization¡± and ¡° the
birthplace of the culture on Central Plains¡±.
The province has numerous places of historical
interest and scenic beauty, and abounds in
cultural relics. Luoyang, Kaifeng, Anyang,
Nanyang, Shangqiu, Zhengzhou and Junxian are all
national famous historical and cultural cities.
Major tourist attractions are: Longmen Grottoes,
a world cultural heritage site, Dahe Village
Ruins including Yangshao, Longshan and Zhou
cultures, Yin Ruins, White-Horse Tempel, Guanlin,
Iron Pagoda, Grand Chancellor¡¯s Temple, Dragon
Pavilion, Shaolin Temple and Mount Songshan
Scenic Resort. |
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4Longmeng
Grottoes |
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Located along the banks on Yihe River in Luoyang,
Henan Province, the Longmen Grottoes are
important cultural relics under state
protection. The carvings started in 493 and
lasted more than 400 years to complete. Along
the cliffs, there are more than 2,100 niches and
2,800 inscribed stone tablets. Buddhist pagodas
and nearly 110,000 Buddhist images and statues
still exist today. |
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The grottoes are an outdoor art museum, of stone
carvings and have significant value to the study
of ancient China¡¯s history and society. The most
spectacular grottoes at Longmen include Guyang
Grotto, Binyang Grotto, Lianhua Grotto, Qianxi
Temple and Fengxian Temple. The group statues of
Sambhaga-Kayah at Fengxian Temple are large and
exquisitely carved.
The Longmen Grottoes display the typical
imperial style and combne features of numerous
sects of Buddhism. They have the highest number
of inscribed stone tablets among China¡¯s
grottoes. In November 200 the Longmen Grottoes
was granted the title of ¡° the World Cultural
Heritage Site¡± by UNESCO.
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