All countries / China / Luoyang vs Hangzhou

Luoyang vs Hangzhou

The short answer

Luoyang is the cheaper trip, by roughly 35% a day — $30–55 against $45–85 mid-range per person. Both are at their best in Apr, Sep–Oct, so one trip can take in both.

Side by side

Mid-range, per person, in US dollars. Both guides were costed the same way — see how we work these out.

	🇨🇳 Luoyang	🇨🇳 Hangzhou
Daily budgetmid-range, per person	$30–55cheaper	$45–85
Cheap meallocal staple	$1.50–3.50cheaper	$2–5
Mid-range hotelper night	$35–65cheaper	$55–110
Transit ridesingle trip	$0.25–0.50cheaper	$0.30–0.55
Avg. monthly salarylocal, for context	≈ $850	≈ $1,450

When to go

Filled months are the ones each guide recommends; hollow ones it warns off.

Luoyang

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Apr, Sep–Oct

Hangzhou

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Mar–May, Sep–Nov

What you'd actually do

A few of each guide's picks, one per category before seconds — the full lists are on the guides themselves.

🇨🇳 Luoyang

Ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, home to the cliffside Buddhist carvings of the Longmen Grottoes and China's self-declared 'City of Peonies.'

Zhenbutong Restaurant$$Restaurants
Shizi Street$Night markets & street food
Yingtianmen night show$Theater & shows

Full Luoyang guide →

🇨🇳 Hangzhou

The city Marco Polo called 'the finest and most splendid in the world,' built around the UNESCO-listed West Lake and now doubling as the tech-money capital of the Alibaba era.

Nanshan Road$$Nightlife
Zhiweiguan$$Restaurants
Impression West Lake$$$Theater & shows
Grandma's Home (Waipojia)$Restaurants

Full Hangzhou guide →

Practicalities

	Luoyang	Hangzhou
Language	Mandarin Chinese with a Henan accent. English is rare outside hotels — a translation app is essential.	Mandarin Chinese; the local Wu-family Hangzhou dialect is common among older residents. English is more common than in Xi'an or Luoyang, thanks to the tech industry, but still limited outside hotels.

The same in both:

Currency: Renminbi / yuan (¥ or RMB). US$1 ≈ ¥7.2
Time zone: CST (UTC+8), one zone nationwide, no daylight saving
Power: Type A/C/I plugs, 220V
Tap water: Don't drink it — bottled or boiled water everywhere
Emergency: 110 police · 120 ambulance · 119 fire