The Yungang Grottoes are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China. The others are Longmen and Mogao.
The site is located about 16 km south-west of the city of Datong, in the valley of Shi Li River at the base of Wuzhou shan Mountains. They are outstanding examples of the Chinese stone carvings from the 5th and 6th centuries.
All together the site is composed of 252 grottoes with more than 51000 Buddha statues and statuettes, in 2011 the Yungang Gorottoes were made an UNESCO World Heritage masterpiece of Chinese Buddhist cave art and central Asia with Chinese cultural traditions.
It is classified as a AAAAA scenic area by the China national Tourism Administration.
