Religious site · SHANXI · UNESCO
Yungang Grottoes
云冈石窟 · Yúngāng Shíkū
About
UNESCO-listed Buddhist cliff carvings 16 km west of Datong, carved 460–525 CE under the Northern Wei. 252 caves, 51,000 statues.
The Yungang Grottoes are a complex of Buddhist cliff carvings extending along more than one kilometre of sandstone cliff face at Wuzhou Mountain, 16 kilometres west of Datong, carved primarily between 460 and 525 CE under the Northern Wei dynasty. The Northern Wei were a Tuoba clan of the Xianbei people — one of the nomadic confederacies that dominated northern China after the Han collapse — who converted to Buddhism and used monumental cave carving as a means of state-sponsored religious legitimacy, linking themselves to the tradition of the great Indian and Central Asian rock-cut monasteries of Gandhara and Bamiyan.
The 252 surviving caves contain approximately 51,000 statues ranging from a few centimetres to 17 metres in height — the 17-metre figure in Cave 19 being the largest. The earliest carved caves, commissioned by the monk Tanyao in 460 CE and known as the Tan Yao Five (Caves 16–20), are the most architecturally monumental and show the clearest Indian and Gandharan influence: the faces of the Buddha figures, with their curled hair, strong noses, and heavy-lidded eyes, share characteristics with statues carved a century earlier along the Silk Road through what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. The later caves — produced from around 480 CE — shift toward a distinctly Chinese aesthetic, with elongated figures, simpler drapery, and decorative programmes incorporating dragons, musicians, and apsaras in the Chinese rather than Indian visual tradition. This stylistic transition is one of the most readable examples in stone of how Buddhism absorbed and transformed as it moved eastward.
UNESCO listed the grottoes in 2001. A large visitor complex built around the cliff entrance provides context and manages the flow through the cave sequence. Allow three to four hours for the full linear circuit.
How to get there
Bus 3-1 from Datong New South Bus Station, or taxi.
When to visit
Weekday morning. Avoid Chinese summer holidays.
UNESCO inscription
“The Yungang Grottoes, in Datong city, Shanxi Province, with their 252 caves and 51,000 statues, represent the outstanding achievement of Buddhist cave art in China in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Five Caves created by Tan Yao, with their strict unity of layout and design, constitute a classical masterpiece of the first peak of Chinese Buddhist art.”
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Itineraries featuring this site
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Frequently asked questions
- How much does Yungang Grottoes cost to visit?
- Adult entry to Yungang Grottoes is ¥120, ¥60 for children.
- When is Yungang Grottoes open?
- Yungang Grottoes opening hours: 8:30am–5:30pm Apr–Oct; 8:30am–5pm Nov–Mar.
- How long do you need at Yungang Grottoes?
- Allow 3–4 hours for Yungang Grottoes. Add buffer time if you plan to visit at peak season or include nearby sights in the same trip.
- When is the best time to visit Yungang Grottoes?
- Weekday morning. Avoid Chinese summer holidays.
- How do you get to Yungang Grottoes?
- Bus 3-1 from Datong New South Bus Station, or taxi.
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