Changyuan cuisine is world-renowned for its long history, colorful dishes and excellent taste. It is rooted in the Spring and Autumn Period, developed in Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, flourished in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, and became more and more splendid in modern times. As early as more than 1,100 years ago, during the Northern Song Dynasty, Changyuan cuisine has formed five different systems: royal cuisine, official cuisine, market cuisine, temple cuisine and folk cuisine, while the main cooking crafts included deep-frying, quick-frying, frying, stir-frying, steaming, boiling, baking, roasting, etc. During the long history of cooking, Changyuan cuisine boasts about the numerous chefs and their outstanding skills. Changyuan has been the cradle of the largest number of famous chefs in China. According to statistics, currently, professional cooks in Changyuan are as many as 23,000, among whom, over 1,000 have gone abroad in 46 countries and regions. There are 4 national-class chefs and 16 provincial-class chefs. In February 2003, Zhang Shiyao, Chairman of the China Cuisine Association wrote a few words of commemoration for Chuangyuan: “Changyuan, cradle of chefs, shows the outstanding characters of Chinese cuisine.” In the same year, the China Cuisine Association issued an official document to give Changyuan the name of “the Cradle of Chefs in China” and held the awarding ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Leaders of China, such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, Dong Biwu, Peng Dehuai, Xu Shiyou, Luo Ruiqing, etc, all choose chefs from Changyuan as their special chefs or temporary cooks. The most outstanding representative of chefs from Changyuan is Hou Ruixuan, former Head Chef of Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and the modern cooking master. Mr. Hou has served Chinese national leaders of three generations, for more than 60 years, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin. He has designed and cooked for numerous state banquets, treating hundreds of heads of foreign states: Norodom Sihanouk, Queen Elizabeth II, Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, Emperor Akihito, Castro and so on. Mr. Hou's legendary cooking experience and wonderful achievement has been written into the Biography of World Celebrities. A saying put it this way, “Chefs from Changyuan could be found all over the world, and many of them are famous cooks. Their cuisine boasts about wonderful color, flavor, taste and shape, winning the praises of all the people”. It outlines a true picture of Changyuan, the “Cradle of Chefs in China”.

The Mausoleum of Prince Lu is the best preserved and the largest mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty. It is situated at the foot of Mountain Fenghuang (Phoenix) in the district of Fengquan of Xinxiang City. For nearly 400 years, it has attracted tourists from all over the world for its unique scenery, grand ancient architecture, delicate stone sculptures and fantastic folk tales. The Mausoleum was praised in ancient poems and compared with the imperial mausoleums of Qin and Han Dynasties.

The Mausoleum of Prince Lu is the grave of Lu Jian (Zhu Yimiu, 1568 A.D.-1614 A.D) of the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D.-1644 A.D.). Lu Jian is the 4th son of Emperor Muzong. The Mausoleum is made up of the Holy Path, the Grave of Prince Lu and the grave of his second concubine Zhao, with a total area of over 26 hectares. The layout of the Mausoleum of Prince Lu is almost similar to the Ming Tombs in Beijing which are characterized by magnificent and delicate stone carvings. It is of much significance to the research of tomb-building, craftsmanship in stone carving and architecture at the late period of the Ming Dynasty. The delicate stone carving craftsmanship and fantastic folk tales make it a great magnet to tourists from all over the world.

Admission fee: RMB ￥ 20 per person

The landscape of Jinghua Park Scenic Area vividly displays five thousand years of splendid Chinese civilization and the cultural framework of ancient temples, monasteries and palaces of many Chinese nationalities. It unfolds before us a beautiful picture of folk-customs integrated with Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.

The Scenic Area is a miniature of China with winding Great Wall model around it. In the Scenic Area, the Shanhaiguan pass, Jiayuguan Pass and Juyongguan Pass stand out majestically with the Yellow River and the Yangtze River flowing through; the Pearl Island, Taiwan is connected with the mainland by a ropeway. The 50-meter-tall “Palace of Heaven and Earth” is composed of “Palace Halls of Enlightened Emperors in Past Dynasties”, “Hall of Faithful Ministers and famous generals” and “House of celebrities on the central plains of China”. In particular, the “House of celebrities on the central plains of China”, as the first of its kind in China, reflects the splendid culture along the Yellow River. The architectural layout is arranged in terms of living area of each nationality, with antique flavor and varied styles. In the Park, you can see the high stilted wooden houses of the Miao nationality, the houses of the Uygur, Dai style houses and the yurts of the Mongolian nationality, Buddhist Pagodas and the dwellings of the Tujia, Zhuang, Korean, Zang and Bai nationalities. Inside each house are displayed the colorful national costumes. The display, dances and songs in the Park have increased cultural exchanges and promoted national unity. Other activities such as the water-splashing festival of the Dai nationality, Cultural Festivals of the northern Nationalities, and the Torch Festival of the Yi nationality are held at regular intervals, creating a lively and enjoyable atmosphere.

Jinghua Park, the essence of national classical gardens, is characterized with creativity and distinguishing features. The park, covered with grass, flowers and trees, is composed of several gardens, such as Garden of Pines, Garden of Bamboos, Garden of Chrysanthemums, Garden of Plum Blossoms, to name just a few. The buildings hide behind trees that are full of vitality and energy.

The Jinghuayuan Hotel is of elegant and ancient style. Inside the hotel, you can enjoy famous paintings, stone inscriptions and sculptures which make up the artistic and cultural gallery. Staying in the elegant, peaceful and pastoral hotel, you will have a good relaxation both for business and holiday.

Jinghua Mineral Spring Vacation Village and Jinghua Mineral Spring rest home are attached to the park. The mineral spring water with a composition of over 30 kinds of microelements, flows from underground, has obvious therapeutic effect. There are a variety of choices if you want to enjoy a bath, for example, tub bath, surfing bath and sauna.

Convenient travel routes for this scenic area are: first, the Shanhaiguan Pass. Then, you can visit the scenic spots in the style of Northern Nationalities. Next, pass through the Central Square, and go to the side of the Eastern Sea and the Palace of Heaven and Earth. From the Palace, walking straight towards the South, you can see the scenic spot in the style of Southern Nationalities. Then, you can visit the Pavilion of Buddha, Disneyland and Cosmo City. Finally, pass through the Jiayuguan Pass to finish your journey.

Admission fee: RMB ￥ 35 per person

Mountain Wanxian Scenic Area, situated at the central part of Mountain Taihang, lies 55 kilometers at the northwest of Huixian City.

Being famous for its four sky stairs, four caves, four pools, four fancy scenic spots and the Grand Canyon with Red Steep Cliffs, the scenic area boasts of fancy peaks, long pools, mysterious caves and dense forests. With temperate climate, Mountain Wanxian Scenic Area is an ideal summer tourist resort and a base for film-video creation and sketching. It enjoys a grand reputation as the Pearl of Mountain Taihang and a Wonder of China.

The extraordinary geomorphologic landscape, the Grand Canyon with Red Steep Cliffs is an ancient original physiognomy with a depth of 200 meters, 500 meters wide and over 20 kilometers long. It has a drop of over one thousand meters from the peak to the bottom of the canyon. At the narrowest place, it is only one meter wide. The cliffs composed of red rocks along the canyon, extend for as far as the eye can see which makes a majestic and grand scene. The surface features are perfectly preserved here, with layers from different geological ages of North China. As a typical geologic structure of North China, the area serves as an ideal instruction of geological science for tourists and students alike. It has been praised as “a Natural Geological Museum” by Chen Anze, a professor and expert of national scenic spots from the China Geological College.

Mountain Wanxian Scenic Area is like a world of stones. The stones resemble stone grinders and rolls, stone tables and stools as well as stone walls. For centuries, blocks for farmhouses and farmyards were built with stones. The 1200-meter-deep Guoliang Cavern in Mountain Wanxian Scenic Area was excavated by local people, which once made many Japanese visitors raise their eyebrows to exclaim that it is “the Eighth Wonder of the World”.

Mountain Wanxian Scenic Area is also a world of dissolved caverns, of which the Red Dragon cavern, the White Dragon cavern and the Yellow Dragon cavern are well known. In these caverns, the various overhanging stalactites are the highlights. With various forms, they are works of natural art.

There are numerous pools, waterfalls and streams in the canyon of Mountain Wanxian Scenic Area with the Black Dragon Pool Waterfall and the White Dragon Pool Waterfall being the most famous ones. Among all the waterfalls, the Dragon Pool Waterfall is very vivid with water spouting out of the cliff which resembles the mouth of a dragon. If you shout loudly at the side of the waterfall, the current will accelerate suddenly. The overhanging stalactites are really the work of art elaborately carved by God, with the magic shapes of stone curtains, stone waterfalls, stone people, stone Buddha or stone beast. It is really an amazing spectacle.

Admission fee: RMB ￥ 60 per person

Bi Gan, the minister of King Zhou, was regarded as “the most faithful minister in history” because of his loyalty to the Shang Dynasty, even at the cost of his own life. After King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty (1134 B.C.-771 B.C.) ascended the throne, he repaired Bi Gan's mausoleum. The Emperor, Xiaowen of the Southern Wei Dynasty (386 A.D.-534 A.D.), built the Temple of Bi Gan in honor of his faithfulness. The existing architectural complex was reconstructed in 1494 during the Ming Dynasty. It is called “the first temple under heaven” because the Temple of Bi Gan is a combination of graves and temples. Being spacious and magnificent, the complex, with a building area of 47,000 square meters, is composed of such main buildings as the holy path, the curtain wall, the main gate, the secondary gate, the corridor lined up with steles, the wooden memorial arch, the subordinate hall and the grand hall, to name just a few. In the temple, a number of invaluable historical relics are preserved, among which are ancient calligraphies, the engravings of which are of great historical value.

Now the Temple of Bi Gan is a resort that includes the grave, the temple and the valuable historical relics. The Grave of Bi Gan is regarded as “the first tomb under the heaven” because it is the first grave in the form of tomb on record, with a long history, proper layout, and rich in culture. In the Temple of Bi Gan stand 64 steles ranging from the stele carved by Confucius during the Spring and Autumn Period to the stele erected by Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, almost covering all the dynasties in Chinese history. Th e stele with the inscription “The Grave of Bi Gan of the Shang Dynasty” is the only existing handwriting of Confucius, carved by Confucius himself with a sword. Thus the stele is really worth the name “the first stele under heaven”. Another stele, the inscription being written by Emperor Xiaowen in the Southern Wei Dynasty, was carved by a celebrated calligrapher Cui Hao in the Southern and Northern Period and is among the most excellent calligraphic works. Other valuable steles, such as the stele from an emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and the stele erected by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty are well preserved here.

The Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once praised Bi Gan as a faithful and upright man. King Wu of the Western Zhou Dynasty granted him the surname of Lin, and since then he became the ancestor of those surnamed Lin. Memorial activities have been held in honor of Bi Gan's 3085 and 3090 anniversary since 1993. Hundreds of thousands of descendants with the surname Lin from over 60 groups in 26 countries and other tourists from home and abroad come here either to seek their roots or take in some sightseeing. The Temple of Bi Gan has become a holy place for the descendants of Bi Gan.

Admission fee: RMB ￥ 20 per person