漯河市

Why this place

Luohe is a small agricultural and food-processing city in the central Henan plain — its meat-processing industry is genuinely large — and it holds the earliest known seven-tone bone flute, from a Neolithic tomb nearby.

What to see

• The Jiahu site, where the bone flutes were found — evidence of music nearly 9,000 years old
• Shali River and the Xiaoshang bridge
• The rice and wheat plain, which is the landscape here

What to eat

• Henan noodles and the local ham — Luohe's meat industry is famous in China
• Shaanxi-style liangpi and the local street food

Best time

April–May and September–October