UNESCO World Heritage SiteNational 5A Scenic AreaCentral China
Longmen Grottoes
龙门石窟 · Henan, Luoyang
Tens of thousands of Buddhist statues carved along a riverside cliff, including the 17-metre Vairocana Buddha.
The Longmen Grottoes stretch for a kilometre along the Yi River near Luoyang, with over 100,000 Buddhist statues carved into the limestone cliffs and more than 2,300 caves and niches. The grandest is the Fengxian Temple with its colossal Vairocana Buddha, a masterpiece of Tang-dynasty sculpture.
Carving began around 493 AD when the Northern Wei moved their capital to Luoyang, and continued through the Tang and into the Song, roughly 493–1127. Empress Wu Zetian patronised the great Fengxian sculptures in the 7th century. The grottoes were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.
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