Her grandma and aunt wave goodbye bittersweetly as we look back at them through the back window. It feels like a scene straight out of The Farewell; we don't know when we will be back, and the distance from Dongyang to Melbourne feels fleetingly far.
Our train leaves at 7.38am, but we have to be at the terminal ready to board by 7.20am.
We arrive in the carpark at 7am and rush to the terminal. At 7.05am outside the terminal, we see the dozens of machines that Michelle, her Mum and other Chinese citizens and residents where they can purchase and print a ticket from in a matter of second. But my foreign Australian passport means having to queue up in one line to purchase a ticket, in an office another few hundred metres away.
Michelle's Dad barges through the queue and demands they serve me immediately. Simultaneously an Arabic businessman tries pushing past me and demands immediate service. Other foreigners in line stage protest, but soon enough despite feeling flabberghasted by the whole ordeal, I receive my ticket and join the others in the terminal with minutes to spare.
I catch up on lost sleep during the train ride, and waste a couple of hours during the middle to read and play long-form online chess. The instant meals are impressive and cheap for train cart food.
We pass through the big cities of Hangzhou (provincial capital) and Nanjing (the former Chinese capital), but I am too exhausted to even process what I see looking out the window. Read part one of my trip here.
After the train ride, we're inside a huge Soviet-style railway station and meet another uncle, before he guides us to the misty haze of Luoyang 洛阳.
Until travelling there, I had never heard of Luoyang despite it being one of Four Ancient Capitals in China, having been the capital city various times throughout history spanning from 25 AD until 1949.
It is now a city of around 2 million people, so it is much smaller and less modern compared to the grand megatropolises of Beijing or Guangzhou. But Luoyang retains its own charm, filled with archaelogical wonders (including the Shaolin temple!), grand gardens and a sense of "real, everyday China", one that is rarely seen behind the propaganda and all the headlines of China's growing power.
On a more personal note, Luoyang is the city where Michelle spent her early childhood, filled with some of her earliest and happiest memories.
She was born into a "4-2-1" typical family under China's One Child Policy: four grandparents, two parents and one child. Michelle was raised by her grandparents, so I felt honoured to have a precious peek into what life growing up for her was really like.
I happily spend the afternoon browsing through dozens of albums of her adorable old photos, before another evening of eating and drinking too much food.
The next day, we travel to the UNESCO World Heritage listed Longmen Caves 龙门石窟, featuring over 100,000 statues and sculptures of Buddha within thousands of caves, commissioned by previous emperors to be hand-carved into the side of Mount Longmen over 1500 years ago.
The statues inscribed into the mountain range from 2cm tall to over 17m, with other details such as lotus flowers and seeds painted on the walls or roof, or other Buddhist figures. Most of the caves are an offering of worship to ancestors, parents and Buddha.
Set besides the wide banks of the Yi River, the beautiful grounds bring out the full spectrum of autumn colours.
We arrive early, just before the rush of school and tourist groups at 10am. As with any popular tourist destination especially in China, you'll compete with crowds of smartphone cameras and group photos. But this time it doesn't feel too congested, and I am in awe as I slowly learn more about the caves.
Housed within Fengxian Si Cave 奉先寺, the giant buddha and six other larger-than-life figures, were commissioned by Wu Zetian, China's first and only female emperor between 672-676 AD. They have survived over a millenia despite countless civil wars, Japanese occupation and the Cultural Revolution.
After a few minutes, a group of university students also reach the top and start posing like the figures.
As the sun reaches it peak and starts shining through the haze, we walk across to the other side of the river bank and see the unbelievable scale of the caves.
With time not on our side, and Michelle's elderly Grandma with us, we skip the caves and temples on the Eastern side for next time. While many tourists overlook these, they are home to a thriving Buddhist presence, continuing the legacies of these caves.
But we spend a few minutes in the lovely humble tomb of Bai Juyi 白居易, a famous Tang dynasty poet and official who wrote about everyday life. Michelle and I try tricking the fish for the camera, before exploring the rest of the garden. His poems are engraved on large stones, and Michelle tries to translate them into layman's terms for me.
Heading out of Longmen Caves, Michelle spontaneously decides to take me to the Museum of the Royal Eastern Zhou Chariot and Horse Pits, one of her favourite spots in Luoyang.
We ride a strange-looking European Tram Bus, which takes us into the heart of town before finding the museum, located underneath a majestic statue of six royal horses in the middle of a park.
I won't post photos of what's inside the museum, but imagine seeing the bodies of 2000 year old horses which have been preserved in pristine condition from a royal tomb? Not to mention that there are three or four chariots in-tact, and a dog who was trying to escape the burial. Such a stupendous archaelogical discovery less than twenty years ago has been a boon for rebirthing Luoyang's economy.
We are starving after a day of walking around, so we start looking for streetfood options. Being vegan in China does limit your options, but we stumble across a streetfood stall called 豆腐串夹馍, which roughly translates to Chinese Tofu Hamburger.
And for 10 RMB (roughly $2 AUD), we eat two of the most delicious tofu burgers. The bun is crunchy on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside, and the "burger" is filled with spicy braised tofu and onion. I rate it 11/10, one of the best meals on this trip.
We also try a bowl of Liangpi noodles 凉皮 two doors down, which are cold, spicy rice noodles mixed with cucumber and sesame. I rate them 9/10.
Next time we travel to China, we hope there will be more time for streetfood.
We go to Michelle's grandparents favourite new park in Luoyang. The facades of the pagodas are grand having been modelled off the old Luoyang city, but it just a facade.
The sun sets quickly, with the humid smog quickly turning into an icy haze. We sneak in a few portraits of the family, before it's time to say goodbye at dinner.
There's another early flight to catch in the morning. Time for another round of emotional farewells.
I am extremely grateful and thankful to Michelle and her family for warmly welcoming me. Our visits were too short given the travel required, and they ended up being stressful as everyone wanted to please each other, but didn't know how.
The 40 hours we spent in Luoyang were some of my favourite moments throughout the trip.
This was part two of five from Michelle and I's trip last year. Subscribe here or down below if you haven't yet already to stay up to date on the rest of my travels and thoughts. Hope you're all doing okay in self-isolation and are starting to build some kind of healthy routine.
Love,
Thomas
© 2026 Thomas Feng
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