Luoyang - Massive Crowds and Enormous Statues - In Pursuit of Enchanting Experiences

      I was able to sleep until 4 am, which was a significant improvement. After waking up, I took some time to respond to a request from YoWangdu Tibet asking for information on the Chinese digital arrival card and payment apps. YoWangdu is a husband-and-wife team that offers advice on traveling in Tibet. They had directed me to Explore Tibet, my Tibetan travel agency. Both the arrival card and the functionality of the payment apps with foreign credit cards are quite recent developments. I strongly believe in sharing travel advice, and since I had relevant and timely experience with these topics, I decided to reply. Ultimately, I was mentioned in two separate newsletters. Regarding the Arrival Card, they noted, “Bob completed his application the night before his flight using the Alipay app and included his wife as a companion. There was a slight delay in receiving the QR codes, but everything went smoothly at the airport.” They also provided valuable tips to avoid scam sites, stating, “An important reminder: there have been reports of scam sites pretending to be the arrival card system. Always use the official NIA source or a trusted method like your airline's check-in process or the verified Alipay mini-program.” For the payment apps, they shared, “Bob is traveling through China on his way to Tibet and is providing real-time updates. His conclusion: these apps are the preferred payment method for businesses, so you need them—but they can be troublesome.” Their advice was, “In short: Set up both apps before your trip, link them to different accounts if possible, and have cash as a backup.”

      I had a diverse breakfast while trying to adapt to morning Chinese buffets. My meal included rice porridge and donuts, a Chinese bun, a banana, spicy tofu, some salads, and a few of Po's wontons. There was one other non-Asian diner present. Although Luoyang is somewhat off the usual tourist route, we soon discovered that it is quite popular among Chinese tourists. We met our guide Zella in the lobby and walked out to the waiting car. As I got in, I noticed the water bottles and made a mental note to open them with care. It was a short drive to our first destination of the day, the Longmen Grottoes. After a brief walk, we boarded an electric cart for a ride down to the Yi River. The Longmen Grottos is a UNESCO World Heritage site, home to thousands of statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples, carved as both outdoor rock reliefs and inside artificial caves made from limestone cliffs that date back to the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties (316-907).

      We had to present our passports to enter the park, and we had already learned that we needed to keep our passports handy at all times. I had seen images of enormous crowds at Chinese tourist attractions and wondered if we would encounter them ourselves. It was busy along the river, becoming quite crowded as we approached the Fengxian Temple. We were set to visit a cave but opted out due to the large crowd. I struggled to take photographs while being pushed around by others and had to contend with exposure issues due to the dark caves and bright sun. The Vairocana Buddha stands at 17 meters tall. During the ten years of the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 until Mao Zedong's death in 1976, many cultural and religious sites across China were destroyed. Zella informed us that some places, including this one, were preserved thanks to the efforts of local residents, while others were saved under directives from Zhou Enlai. We walked across the river, where we were able to enjoy a good view of the Fengxian Temple. It was less crowded on this side, so we visited a cave in the Leigutai Cave Complex, which was constructed during the Tang Dynasty. We chose to forgo the opportunity to return to the parking lot by boat, opting instead for our second ride in an electric car.

      We headed back to the city for lunch, where Zella assisted us in ordering but declined Po's invitation to join us. One of the dishes featured taro root, which I didn't particularly enjoy, though the soup was good. A young dancer entertained us during the meal. I made the payment using WeChat pay, feeling confident that my payment apps were functioning well. I would soon discover otherwise.

      Our next destination was the Luoyang Museum, showcasing art from 13 dynasties dating back to 475 BC. The museum was crowded and warm, and I began to feel the effects of my sleep deprivation, so I requested to skip one room. Women in traditional attire seemed to be everywhere—some were examining the exhibits while most were posing for photos. Many were taking selfies or posing for their friends, and several had hired photographers. Most appeared to be under thirty, although there were older women and a few men, some dressed as women. This