Yungang Grottoes

The Yungang Grottoes are a UNESCO World Heritage site carved into the sandstone cliffs of the Wuzhou Mountains in Yungang Town, about 16 km west of central Datong in northern Shanxi, China. Excavation began around 460 CE under the Northern Wei dynasty and produced roughly 250 caves and tens of thousands of Buddhist statues stretched along about one kilometre of cliff face. Visitors walk a paved path past the main cave fronts, entering a handful of the larger chambers. The earliest and most famous are the Tanyao Five Caves (Caves 16 to 20), where colossal seated Buddhas, the tallest of them in Cave 20 standing open to the sky after its front wall collapsed, show clear influences from Central Asian and Indian sculpture. Later caves, such as Caves 5 and 6, are densely covered with painted reliefs, pagoda pillars, flying apsaras and scenes from the life of the Buddha, and preserve traces of original pigment. Cave 12 is known for its musician figures, and the many tiny niches high on the walls show the scale of the project. A full visit takes two to three hours, with the main caves in the central section and a museum and visitor centre near the entrance. Morning light at opening hits the cave fronts at a useful angle for photography, and the open-air Buddha of Cave 20 is best photographed from the path in front. Crowds from tour groups build from about 10:00 AM, especially on weekends and national holidays, so a weekday arrival at opening gives the quietest conditions. Photography is restricted inside some caves, and flash is not permitted. Datong is the practical base, reached by bus 603 or a short taxi ride from the old city, and many visitors combine the grottoes with the Hanging Monastery and the Datong city wall on a two-day itinerary.