Why has Luoyang, once known as the "Millennium Imperial Capital", now become a third-tier city?

Everyone knows that our country has a long history, and there are many ancient capitals. Especially in Henan, the province with the longest history, there are many forgotten ancient capitals besides Zhengzhou. There are relatively few cities that can be called "imperial capitals" in the true sense. Beijing, the capital that we all know, is one, and there is also a relatively unpopular city, which is also called the "thousand-year imperial capital".

As one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization, everyone should have heard of Luoyang. It is not only one of the four ancient capitals in China, but also a famous cultural city in the world. Luoyang is located in the west of Henan Province, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has a history of more than 1,500 years as a capital. It is the city with the longest and earliest capital history and the most dynasties in China. In total, more than 100 emperors have been here. Jiangshan, so Luoyang is also known as the "Thousand-Year Imperial Capital".

Luoyang is the most famous for its peonies. Peng Xi heard that Luoyang would hold a Peony Cultural Festival in April, so she took advantage of the craze and traveled to the city. Peng Xi learned through local citizens that Luoyang used to have many titles, such as Luoyi, Shendu, Xihao, etc., including the development of Chinese Taoism and law, which are inextricably related to the city of Luoyang.

However, judging from the current development situation, Luoyang is somewhat unsatisfactory. If compared with Xi'an, which is also an ancient capital, the city's prosperity and reputation are still far behind Xi'an. Although it is the "thousand-year imperial capital", Luoyang is still a third-tier city in the city rankings. But among all third-tier cities, Luoyang is particularly impressive. In terms of GDP index in the past two years, Luoyang has reached 434.3 billion yuan, making it the second largest economic city in Henan Province.

Peng Xi didn’t know until she arrived in Luoyang that Luoyang was also quite congested, especially during holidays. Maybe because Luoyang is an ancient cultural city, tourists from neighboring cities would drive to visit. However, Luoyang is also constantly improving its transportation facilities. I heard that a subway is still being built. There are 4 train stations in the city alone, including the airport.

This "Peony Flower City" not only attracts Chinese and foreign tourists with peonies, but also has countless tourist attractions. It is a classic tourist city. The locals also told Peng Xi: A visit to Luoyang City would be in vain if you did not visit Lijingmen. As the first gate of the ancient capital, Lijingmen is a good place worth visiting slowly. There are also Laojun Mountain, which is said to be the place where Laozi practiced cultivation, the White Horse Temple, the first ancient temple in China, the Jiguan Cave, the first cave in the North, the popular Guanxi Temple, etc. If you want to visit all these famous attractions, you won’t have to go there. It would be difficult to fully appreciate the unique charm of the ancient city of Luoyang after spending a week there.

Peng Xi feels that this ancient city, which has gone through thousands of years of vicissitudes, has now lost its aura as an "imperial capital" and has become a third-tier city, but if you think about it from another angle, this can also make it Being able to stay away from the hustle and bustle of first-tier big cities and preserve its precious "historical flavor" is also part of its charm. I don’t know what you think of Luoyang, please leave a message in the comment area.