The name of the Henan Province comes from its geographic situation that means south of the Yellow River. The province covers an area of over 160,000 sq km with 92,560,000 people that include Han, Hui, Manchu, Mongolian and other ethnic groups. Due to its location on the Yellow River, Henan province is considered the cradle of Chinese civilisation and boasts rich historic heritage. Among its popular treasures are:

Luoyang

Luoyang has been the capital for nine dynasties since Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770BC-221BC) and is one of the seven ancient capital cities in China’s history. It is located in the west of Henan Province, covers total area of 15,208 sq km and a population of 6.10 million.

Longmen Grottoes

The world-famous Longmen Grottoes are located 12km south of Luoyang. The grottoes contain the largest and most impressive collections of Chinese art from late Northern Wei to Tang Dynasties (316-907). These art pieces are devoted to the Buddhist religion and represent the high point of Chinese stone carving.

Shaolin Temple

Shaolin Temple, regarded as the birthplace of Chinese Buddhism and famous for the Shaolin martial arts, is located 50 miles southwest of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province. It was originally built in 496AD during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-543). Shaolin Temple was built in honour of an Indian monk called Bodhidharma (known as Da Mo in Chinese) who is the founder of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism (popularly known as Chinese 'Chan’ or 'Zen’ Buddhism).

Shaolin monks

Martial Arts

Chinese Martial Arts are known as the Wu Shu or Kung Fu in Chinese and are one of the typical demonstrations of traditional Chinese culture. The Martial Arts are distinguished by being 'external’ and 'internal’. The skills of Chinese martial arts consist of various forms of fighting. There are over hundreds of schools of Chinese Martial Arts and each school has its own individual style.

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