Longmen Grottoes

Longmen Grottoes, one of the three greatest grottoes in China, has command of more than 2,000 niches, 100,000 stone sculptures and 3,600 inscriptions, which takes over 400 years to complete. The amount of the stone inscriptions ranks first at the Chinese four famous grottoes (apart from Longmen Grottoes, the others are Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi, Mogao Grottoes in Gansu and Maijishan Grottoes in Gansu), among which the works of calligraphy are the essence parts and the carvings concerning the Buddhist cultures reflect the greatest stone-carving period in Chinese history.

Spanning over 1,000 meters in length, the caves were chiseled on the cliffs of both banks of the Yi River. The scene of Longmen and its surroundings is very beautiful, because the "Longmen Mountain scene" ranks first place of the "Eight Scenic Spots of Luoyang". The caves were first sculptured and chiseled around the year when Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang in Northern Wei Dynasty.

As one of the three great Buddhist treasures, the Buddhist statues in Longmen Caves are exquisitely caved and beautifully shaped, all presenting a vivid appearance of a dignified manner and delicate look. The Buddhist statues in Longmen Caves are an embodiment of a peculiar and extraordinary style of sculpture of Buddhist. Statues of the Chinese people also occupied a very important place in the Chinese art of sculpture. What's more, with broad breadth of spirit, profound implication and beautiful workmanship, the Longmen Caves is a bright pearl in the artistic treasure house of sculpture of the world.

Scattered about the various caves are carved figures of Flying Apsaras, with some of them, light and graceful, riding clouds and mist dexterously, some dancing in the air, holding a plateful of fruits in the hand, some playing music and singing, and others casting flowers and fish about. Longmen is not only renowned for the caves, but also endowed with lush mountains and ridges, springs and waterfalls. The two mountains are covered with green pines and cypresses. Towers and pavilions set each other off. It's a unique scenery area.

Opening Hours:
07:30 -- 18:30 (in spring, summer and autumn)
07:30 -- 17:40 (in winter)

Ticket Price:
120 CNY
Half for students, teaches and the people between 60-69 years
Free for the kids below 1.4 meter, the disabled, the retired, the soldiers, the people over 70 years

Location: 12 km away from Luoyang City

Transportation: Bus No. 53, 60 and 81 will bring you here directly (1 CNY and 40 minutes).