Longmen Grottoes is a great place to experience Chinese stone carving art and Buddhist culture.

Located in Luoyang, Henan Province, Longmen Grottoes covers an area of 31.7 square kilometers and is a cultural attraction. There are 2,345 existing niches, more than 100,000 statues, and more than 2,800 steles and inscriptions. It is the world's largest treasure trove of stone carving art with the most statues. It was rated as the "peak of Chinese stone carving art" by UNESCO and ranks first among all the grottoes in China. Longmen Grottoes was excavated before Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang (493 AD). Between 493 and 528 AD, Buddha statues with "elegant and clear" features that suited the aesthetics and culture of the Han people in the Central Plains were created, and Guyang Cave was built. During the Tang Dynasty, Buddha statues were built by four emperors, including Qianxi Temple and Binyang South Cave. [30] During the Song Dynasty, new caves and niches were excavated in Longmen Grottoes, and the Lushena statue was protected. During the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong visited Longmen and left the Imperial Stele Pavilion at Xiangshan Temple. In 1997, archaeological investigation and protection work was carried out at the Fengxian Temple site in Longmen. In 2001, the Arhat statue in Kanji Temple, which was collected by the National Gallery of Canada, was returned to the Longmen Grottoes Research Institute for permanent preservation. In 2007, the facial restoration project of the Lushena Buddha was completed, and the Buddha was dusted and cleaned, and the fine cracks on and around the Buddha were sealed. The Longmen Grottoes Scenic Area is mainly composed of four major attractions: Xishan Grottoes, Dongshan Grottoes, Baiyuan, and Xiangshan Temple. Most of the grottoes in the scenic area are royal grottoes. It was built over 1,400 years during more than 10 dynasties and is one of the longest-built grottoes in the world.