Short answers, pulled from the story.
Luoyang sits in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River, in the west of Henan province, China. It borders the provincial capital Zhengzhou to the east, along with Pingdingshan, Nanyang, Sanmenxia, Jiyuan, and Jiaozuo.
Luoyang is among the oldest cities in China and the earliest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Its origins trace to 1036 BC, when the Duke of Zhou built the settlement of Chengzhou for the captured Shang nobility.
The name Luoyang comes from the city's position on the north, or sunny, side of the Luo River. Because the river flows west to east with the sun to the south, light always falls on its north bank, the yang side.
The Longmen Grottoes are rock-cut caves whose construction began under Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei after 493 AD. More than 30,000 Buddhist statues from this dynasty have been found in the caves, which were chapels dug into cliffs, and the site joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.
Many rulers made Luoyang a capital, including Emperor Guangwu of Han in 25 AD, Cao Pi of the Wei dynasty in 220 AD, and Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei in 493 AD. Empress Wu, the only female emperor in Chinese history, also moved her Zhou dynasty capital here and renamed it Shendu.
Luoyang is celebrated for cultivating peonies, its city flower, and has hosted the annual National Peony Fair since 1983, drawing more than 19 million tourists during the 2014 festival. It is also the birthplace of the Luoyang Water Banquet, a 24-course culinary tradition, and opened Line 1 of its subway on the 28th of March 2021.