Asia

The Longmen Grottoes (Dragon Gate Grottoes), which are situated near present day Luoyang, in Henan Province, are one of the three most famous grottoes in China, the other two being the Yungang Caves near Datong in Shanxi Province and the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in Gansu Province. These grottoes comprise of over 2,300 caves and niches carved into a stretch steep limestone cliffs that is over 1km in length. Incredibly, these caves and niches contain almost 110,000 Buddhist stone statues, over 60 stupas (mound-like structures containing Buddhist relics) and 2,800 inscriptions carved on steles. Work on the Longmen Grottoes began during the Northern Wei dynasty in A.D. 493, when the Emperor Xiowen moved his capital from Datong to Luoyang. By