Yungang Grottoes

Yungang Grottoes, a national key cultural relic protection unit, located in Datong City, Shanxi Province, has 252 grottoes and niches and more than 51,000 statues, representing the outstanding Chinese Buddhist grotto art from the 5 AD to 6 AD. Tan Yao Cave, the most outstanding of all, well-structured and strictly-designed, is a classical masterpieces in the first peak period of the Chinese Buddhist art.

Yungang Grottoes have a history of more than 1500 years, first built in 460 AD, at the time begun by the Buddhist monk Tan Yao who built the grottoes under the emperor's order. The existing Yungang Grottoes groups, are the first batch of national key cultural relic protection units declared by the State Council in 1961.