洛阳

The city lies north of the Luo River (洛), and 阳, the sunny side, means the north bank of a river, hence the name. The full administrative name 洛阳市 has its own entry.

One of China's great ancient capitals, home to the 龙门石窟 (Longmen Grottoes) and the White Horse Temple, traditionally the first Buddhist temple in China. The chengyu 洛阳纸贵 'paper is dear in Luoyang' recalls a Jin-dynasty rhapsody so popular that copying it drove up the price of paper, and is still said of a book that sells extremely well.