A Stunning Night View at the Longmen Grottoes, An UNESCO Site - Luoyang, China

We were travelling in China at the beginning of 2025. After spending a few days in southern China, we continued our journey to Xi'an and then to s Luoyang. With only one full day in Luoyang, we wanted to make full use of the day. We spent a couple of hours enjoying breakfast with my friend and talking about everything, especially about how her family was doing.

After lunch, we went to the Longmen Grottoes, a UNESCO site. In order to more appreciate the significance of the Grottoes, we wished to hire an English speaking guide when touring this famous site.

Unfortunately, they did not have one available that day so we hired a Mandarin speaking guide instead. Therefore, we missed a few of the interesting stories the guide shared with us during this tour.

The Longmen Grottoes contain the largest and most impressive collection of Chinese art of the late Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties ( A.D. 316-907). These statutes were carved into the limestone cliffs over a one km stretch with more than 2300 caves and niches housing them.

Entirely devoted to the Buddhist religion, these carved pieces represent the high point of Chinese stone carving and there are over 110,000 statues at the Longmen Grottoes, amazing! Luckily, we had a fine day with dry ground but we still needed to trot carefully as we were walking up to the mountain with lots of people around us. The scenery was beautiful with the blue sky above us and fair weather that afternoon. We were delighted at being outside in the open air surrounded by mountains, lakes, ancient buildings, temples and pagodas reflecting in the agua lake water.

We purposely stayed a little later until darkness descended upon us when lights came on lighting up the grottoes like Christmas trees! The night view at the Longmen Grottoes was stunning!

As one of China’s state Priority Protected Sites, the Longmen Grottoes have received protection at national level under the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics. We were glad to know that this spectacular site will be well protected for the enjoyment of the future generations.

RT Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, China 022025