A relaxing discovery of Henan

Attraction 2

Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

Located 13 kilometers south of Luoyang, an ancient capital city in Henan province, the Longmen Grottoes are concentrated on the east and west cliffs of the Yishui River, and stretch for 1 km. Work started on the grottoes around the year 493, during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), and continued for the next 400 years.

Longmen consists of more than 2,300 grottoes with 110,000 Buddhist figures and images, more than 80 stupas and 2,800 inscribed tablets, all created between the Northern Wei and Song (960-1279) dynasties. Longmen Grottoes represent the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art.

Large numbers of memorial texts and inscribed stone tablets at the Longmen Grottoes, like the Twenty Gems of Longmen Calligraphy and Chu Suiliang's stone tablets, are considered rare treasures of Chinese calligraphy. It is open daily from 8am to 6pm.