Not sure whether to put this under "Lijing Gate" or this attraction, as the reviews more or less describe the same thing, although the Lijing Gate is a specific complex of buildings. In any case, most of the reviews under this plus the Lijing gate describe the Luoyang 'old town' area. It worth visiting for a few hours. The easiest way to figure out what area is covered by the 'old town' description is to look at the Tripadvisor map of attractions (or at Google maps). Once you locate the Lijing gate, you will see a square area about 2 km on each side surrounded by a canal or moat, with the Lijing gate on the western side of the square. This area surrounded by the moat is the 'old town'. Anything within this area is at least somewhat worth exploring. The most interesting parts of the area are the shopping areas, as there are a lot of small shops selling quite a variety of things. One of the most interesting shopping streets starts at the Lijing Gate and heads eastward from there, but there are many other shopping streets as well. I didn't experience any pressure to buy; shopowners were generally happy to let people browse. The architecture is also interesting. Having a better acquaintance with the area now, if I were to return I would likely also visit the Drum Tower and the Louyi Ancient City (also shown on the Tripadvisor map, in the southeastern part of the 'old town'), as they are quite close to the main shopping streets and look interesting.

Feel like eating crunchy locusts or scorpions? Do you prefer these sweet little candied apples - or are these quinces? Do you feel more like this tasty tofu or is it to spicy? This market, in the early evening enjoyably crowded, is a sensational, vibrant and exciting experience, it was one of the highlights of this journey that touched many highly rated Chinese highlights. The only western faces we saw was a group of tourists, hunted by their stressing guide - a common image in China, btw.