Anyang Things to Do

Visiting Anyang means you want to see HISTORICAL SITES, you can take a local city bus cost you less than RMB10 at the bus station, to YinXu 《殷墟》20km, or take a taxi cost you less than 30. YinXu is World Heritage Site, full of early writings on turtle shell and many more artifacts. This site is not a hot spot, be expect much less tourists than other places. Entrance 100, senior free.

Another place you want to see is at TangYin, the name of the site is called You-Li-Cheng, taxi cost less than 20, bus cost 6 only. You-Li-Cheng entrace fee 50, China's oldest prison ruin and the inventer of Yi-Jing, he is Mr Zhou Wen Wang, non-Chinese need not waste time study Yi-Jing, not an easy book to read, similar to the book of Albert Einstein, the Theory of Relativity.

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Another place to visit while you are at Anyang is TangYin《汤阴》, take a local bus from the bus station (right side of railway station, approx 10 mins walk), the bus operate every 10-20 minutes, just hop on and pay 6yuan each, inform the bus conductor you want to visit ZhouWenWang Temple of TangYin《汤阴周文王庙》, the bus will drop you off at a roadside where you can see a huge stone-arch standing about 30ft in height, the name of the road is Wen Wang Road 《文王路》.

You walk straight 30mins until you see the ZhouWenWang Temple《汤阴周文王庙》, entrance fee is 60yuan, free if you are senior age over 70.

Coming back to Anyang is also very easy, walk back to where your bus drop you off, stand and wait, the bus will come in minutes, pay 6yuan to go back to Anyang.

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WenFeng Pagoda 《安阳文锋塔》 of Anyang built in year 952 is a view that you cannot miss because it is located in the center of Anyang City, which means the pagoda is a landmark also a guide for first time tourist like me. More info from Google

If you come by train, from the railway station walking to the pagoda is about 20 minutes, follow exactly the opposite the railway.

The pagoda is surrounded by modern buildings, mostly shopping malls and shops, the surrounding area is also the bustling area of the city, with the pedestrian street and an ancient wall.

Hiring a taxi should cost about 100 RMB, and it gives you more flexibility with the time. I waited about 1 hour for the bus that didn't come, and went out to get a taxi instead. Most travellers go to the museum thingy at the "fen1 shui3 zha2" which tells you quite a lot about the Red Flag Canal, but the scenery is hardly anything of note there. Oh, and the museum is about 10 RMB. Head on to the "Tai4 Hang2 Shan1 Da4 Xia2 Gu3" and surrounding area for better scenery. There's a waterfall with a name having something to do with peach blossoms... it was frozen over when I went and it was such fun slithering around on the ice! :P It's a bit dangerous though, so be careful. Also visit the "Bing1 Bing1 Bei4", a place where there's frozen ice in summer and blossoming flowers in winter. If you get a knowledgeable driver, he should know where to drive for the best spots.

Admission 30 RMB (ouch), no student price. Yin Dynasty was one of the earliest (perhaps the earliest) known dynasties of China. It's a bit boring, especially if you haven't read up on any of the relevant history. Be prepared for tons of skeletons and graves, if you're morbid it'll be right up your lane. Can be done easily in an afternoon.

AKA Yuan2 Lin2, admission costs 10 RMB for students and IIRC it's 20 RMB for the normal price. The tomb of the warlord who tried to crown himself emperor after the 1911 revolution which overthrew the Qing dynasty. Interesting mix of Eastern and Western styles of architecture used. Can be boring, but less so than the Yin Dynasty Museum. Easily done in an afternoon.