Henan, what literally means ‘south of the river’, lies south of the Yellow River in the eastern center of China and is one of the most populous provinces. It is often called the “Cradle of Chinese Civilization” as somewhere along the Yellow River the first Chinese settlements took root. The cities Zhengzhou, Luoyang and Kaifeng each reigned as capital cities for different dynasties and despite of the turbulent Yellow River especially Kaifeng could keep some of it’s old architecture and outside wall. Also two of the most important sites for Buddhism are located in Henan: the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang with over one hundred thousand Buddha figures and Songshan Mountain’s famous Shaolin Temple, the origin of Chinese Kung Fu.