Dengfeng Travel Guide

Dengfeng is located at the south base of Mt.Songshan, about 45 miles from the provincial capital, Zhengzhou, and 50 kilometers east of Luoyang. Dengfeng has an area of 1220 square kilometers and a population of 640,000. Dengfeng, renowned for a seat with the celebrated 1,000-year-old Shaolin temple, will hopefully become China's "kung fu capital".
 

History

In old days, Dengfeng was known as Yangcheng at one time, which was said to be the capital of the earliest dynasty in the area of China, the Xia Dynasty. The only female emperor Wu Zetian of Tang Dynasty climbed Songshan and gave the name Dengfeng to this city. It is one of China's centers for the development of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
 

Attractions

Dengfeng is famous for old and large temple buildings, religious sites and martial arts academies. In 2010, "The Centre of Heaven and Earth" in Dengfeng was added on the List of the World Heritage by UNESCO. The world heritage sites include Shaolin Temple, Ancient Songyang Academy, Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory, Pagoda Songyue Temple, Songshan Tower, ect.

Shaolin Temple is the most famed Buddhist temple in China with a 1000-year-old history. Ancient Songyang Academy is regarded as one of the top four Academies in Song Dynasty. Pagoda Songyue Temple hosts one of the oldest Buddhist Pagoda in China. Mt. Song, as one of China's Five Mountains, is also worth a visit.
 

Transportation

There is no airport in Dengfeng, so visitors can arrive here by taking bus or taxi from Zhengzhou Xinzheng or Luoyang. In Dengfeng city, there are four city bus lines- bus line 2. 3. 6. 8. Bus line 8 can serve you from Dengfeng Bus Station to Shaolin Temple directly. And the flag-fall fare of taxies in Dengfeng is CNY3 within 3 kilometers and CNY1 per kilometer thereafter. It takes 15 minutes and costs about CNY30 from Dengfeng to Shaolin Temple.
 

Climate

Belongs to temperate continental climate, Dengfeng has four distinct seasons with sufficient sunlight, moderate climate, appropriate rainfall. The annual average temperature is 14.3℃.
 

Food & Restaurants

Most of the food in Dengfeng is influenced by Buddhism, which means lots of vegetarian dishes. The most famous food in Dengfeng must be Hui Mian; in fact, it is a kind of cook noodles with mutton and vegetables. And Chinese style baked roll is also a popular snack among local people.

Here are some restaurants recommended:

Lao Cai Ji Restaurant: offers steamed dumplings and wonton.
Address: No.4 Dehua Dong Jie (Dehua East Road) 
Price: ¥15- ¥ 25
Tel: 0371- 66950885

Shaolin Restaurant: offers steamed dumplings and the vegetarian shaolibn luohan zhai.
Address: No. 89 Chengdong Road
Tel: 0371- 66318113

He Ji Noodle Restaurant: offers good noodles and Muslim dishes
Address: No.3 Renmin Road  
Price: ¥10- ¥20
Tel: 0371- 66228026

Xi Lan Pavilion Restaurant: offers Muslim and Henan cuisine – crispy leg of lamb and sweet and sour fish on a bed of noodles are quite delicious.
Address: No. 49 Beishun Jie
Price: ¥30- ¥50
Tel: 0371- 66257841

Shaolin Temple Vegetarian: offers various vegetarian dishes, and all the waiters here are Shaolin monks.
Address: inside the Shaolin Temple
 

Accommodation

Here are some restaurants listed

Sofitel Zhengzhou Hotel
Address: No. 289 Chengdonglu, Zhengzhou
Tel: 0371- 65950088
Web: www. Accorhotels.com/asia

Huanghe Hotel
Address: No.106 Zhongyuan Lu, Zhengzhou
Tel: 0371- 67971005
Wed: www.huanghehotel.net

Crown Plaza Zhengzhou
Address: No.115 Jinshui Lu, Zhengzhou
Tel: 0371- 69590055
Web: www.crowneplaza.con/hotel/cgcch
 

Shopping

Unlike some big cities like Beijing and Shanghai where full of shopping malls and supermarkets, Dengfeng offers traveler a totally different fun of finding some special local items. Famous specialties in Dengfeng are Shaolin Ginkgo Leaf Tea, Paulownia Lacquer ware, prayer beads, chestnuts, jujubes and Hericium erinaceus. These products can be found outside Shaolin Temple and nearby.
 

Tips：

1. Here are two post offices following:

Huayuan Lu Post Office

Address: No.7 Huayuan Lu

Tel: 0371- 65951347

Train Station Post Office

Address: No.80 Yima Lu

Tel: 0371- 66982586

2. The Fifth Zhengzhou People’s Hospital is located at No. 33 Huanghe Lu, and the telephone number is 0371- 63858367/63945120.

3. Travelers can take tourist bus line from Luoyang to Shaolin Temple, the bus station is in front of Luoyang railway station, and it will take around 2 hours to get to Shaolin Temple.

4. Spring and Autumn are the best seasons to visit Dengfeng.