Day 290: Luoyang Longmen Caves

Our highlight in Luoyang! The Luoyang Longmen Caves. We were advised by our friends in Dunhuang to come early and go straight to the Giant Buddha to beat the crowd. Very good advice! We had the place to ourselves for the very first hour!

Surrounded by a beautiful environment of green hills and a clean river, a lot or caves and niches are located on both cliffs, Just like a honeycomb. Longmen Grottoes was
inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

The carving work at Longmen began in Northern Wei Dynasty, when the Emperor moved his capita to Luoyang. From then
on, construction on caves had been carried on during Western Wei, Eastern
Wei, Northern Qi, Sui and Tang, Five Dynasties.Read more