Your private guide picks you up at your hotel lobby or train station exit as booked, sharing tales of Luoyang Old Town and Longmen Grottoes en route. Once there, hop on a shuttle bus then wander the grottoes on foot. Dating back to late Northern Wei and Tang dynasties, Longmen is China’s finest ancient stone art treasure. You’ll view exquisite cave carvings up close. You can optionally take a boat for full cliffside views (at your own expense; closed in winter). Over 2,300 grotto niches line a one-kilometer limestone cliff. Tour lasts roughly 3 hours.

Before visiting Shaolin Temple, we’ll have a local lunch and catch a kung fu show by real Shaolin monks. Built in 495 AD, the temple was ordered by Northern Wei’s Emperor Xiaowen for an Indian monk named Batuo. It’s the birthplace of Chinese kung fu and Chinese Zen Buddhism, with Zen widely popular across China and East Asia.