Longmen Grottoes - Masterpiece of Chinese Stone Carving

Vairocana Buddha in Fengxian Temple 卢舍那大佛

Built in the Tang Dynasty, Fengxian Temple is a niche, 36 meters wide and 41 meters high. Being the largest grotto, Fengxian Temple is more to known as its distinctive Vairocana Buddha.

Vairocana Buddha, which means shining light, is 17.14 meters tall in total, and its head is 4 meters high and its ear has 1.9 meters long. With a plump face, wide forehead and chubby cheeks, long earlobes, crescent eye-brows and piercing eyes, this Buddha shows a vivid impression of elegance, solemnity, quietness and loftiness. Along the two sides, there are two disciples, two bodhisattvas, two heavenly kings and two warriors. All of them represent a superb carving skill through their different appearances. It is believed that Vairocana Buddha is built according to the image of Wu Zetian (AD 624-705) - the only female emperor in the history of China.

Binyang Cave 宾阳洞

Binyang cave, formerly known as Lingyan temple, is composed of Binyang Middle cave, Binyang North cave and Binyang South cave. Binyang cave was first excavated in the first year of Jingming period in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 500) with a history of more than 1500 years. It is the first royal cave, excavated to embalm the historical achievements of Emperor Xiaowen in moving the capital to Luoyang and carrying out the Chinesization reform. The construction of Binyang Cave lasted 24 years and employed more than 800000 people. However, only the middle Binyang cave was completed in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the south cave (built from AD 595-616) and north cave (built from AD 641-650) were completed successively in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Among all the Buddha statues, Amitābha in the middle cave is most famous because of its scissorhand gesture. It is dubbed “scissorhand Buddha” by many tourists. But actually, this is a rarely seen Buddhist hand gesture that conveys strong will.

Wanfo Cave 万佛洞

Located in the middle of West Hill, Wanfo Cave gets its name due to the 15,000 small sitting Buddhas engraved on its south and north walls. The main Buddha Amida sits cross-legged on the lotus Sumeru throne, wearing a wavy hair knot and having a chubby face. Behind the Buddha, there are 54 lotuses carved with 54 Bodhisattvas sit in different shapes. With various facial expressions and gestures of each Buddha, this splendid Wanfo Cave shows a harmony of Western Pure Land.

Guyang Cave 古阳洞

Built in AD 493, Guyang Cave is the oldest cave with the richest contents in Longmen Grottoes for over 1500 years history. With over 1,000 Buddhist niches of various kinds are carved on the walls and ceiling of the cave, attached with over 800 inscriptions of diverse shapes and patterns, Guyang Cave is the representative of highly graphic art and best preserved stele calligraphies during the Northern Wei period.

Lotus Cave (Lianhua Cave) 莲花洞

In the north side of Fengxian Temple, Lotus Cave is shaped from a nature karst cave and gets its name owing to a huge relief lotus on its ceiling. Standing for holiness and purity in Buddhism, the flower is surrounded on the south and north sides by three apsarases with beautiful postures, all of whom face the main statue, to embrace this holy lotus. Under the lotus, there is a vivid sermon scene about 5-meter main Gautama Buddha and his students in standing position. There are various small Buddha statues around them and join in this sermon.

Note: for better protection, Lotus Cave can be visited outside only. Tourists can take a flashlight or telescope to have a clearer view.

★ More about What to See in Longmen Grottoes >>

Longmen Grottoes follows a one-way visiting route as West Hill - East Hill - Xiangshan Temple - Baiyuan.

Before arriving the West Hill, it requires you to walk about 2 km to the ticket office and another 1 km to the main gate. So please wear comfortable shoes. Through main gate, you will start exploring those caves on the West Hill. Along the sidewalk, you can appreciate most of the significant Buddhist carvings here, such as the Binyang Cave, Wanfo Cave, Lotus Cave, the Vairocana Buddha in Fengxian Temple.

Crossing the bridge, the East Hill Grottoes with less caves but more nature sites offered, like Xiangshan Temple and the Bai Juyi’s Tomb. But if with limited time, you may take a quick viewing here.

✔ 3 Days Essence of Luoyang Tour

In order to provide a different travel experience to the tourists, Longmen Grottoes has opened night travel service to the public. But to ensure the safety of tourists traveling at night, and influenced by the current COVID-19 pandemic, all tourists need to make a reservation first and a Longmen Grottoes night tour is only available by being arranged by a travel agency.

Ticket: CNY 90 (ticket of Longmen Grottoes night travel is sold separately from the daytime ticket, which means the ticket you buy to travel Longmen Grottoes in the daytime can not be used for a night tour.)

Opening Hours: 19:00-23:00 (Caves on the West Hill close at 22:00, Xiangshan Temple closes at 23:00)

Visiting Route: Dashi Gate (Entrance) - West Hill - Manshui Bridge - Xiangshan Temple - Exit

Longmen Grottoes is located in Longmen Town, Luolong District, Luoyang City.

• 15 km away from Luoyang downtown, about 30 minutes' drive;
• 5 km away from Luoyang Longmen Railway Station, about 15 minutes' drive;
• 26 km away from Luoyang Beijiao Airport, about 45 minutes' drive;
• 26 km away from White Horse Temple, about 45 minutes' drive;
• 55 km away from Shaolin Temple, about 1.5 hours' drive.

How to Get to Luoyang: Many tourists choose to get to Luoyang first and then travel to Longmen Grottoes. Luoyang can be reached by a few international flights, some domestic flights and many high speed trains. If you are already in China, it is easy to take direct flights to Luoyang from Beijing (2h), Shanghai (2-2.5h), Chengdu (2h), Chongqing (1.5h), Guangzhou (2.5h), Shenzhen (2.5h), etc., and high speed trains from Beijing (4-4.5h), Xian (1.5-2h), Zhengzhou (40 min), Shanghai (5 ~ 9h), etc. All flights land on Luoyang Beijiao International Airport and all high speed trains arrive at Luoyang Longmen Railway Stations.

Luoyang to Longmen Grottoes:Luoyang is not equipped with metro at present. The most chosen way for independent travelers to get to Longmen Grottoes is by taxi. Buses are also available but too time-consuming. If you get to Luoyang by high speed train before noon, you can visit Longmen Grottoes directly; if by plane, according to your itinerary, you can choose to go there directly or stay a night in Luoyang downtown and start a Longmen Grottoes tour the next day. More about How to Get to Longmen Grottoes >>

Usually, it takes 2 ~ 3 days to have a Luoyang tour. The highlights of Luoyang include Longmen Grottoes which is known as the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art, 1900-year-old White Horse Temple (also China's first Buddhist temple), 2000-year-old burial site - Tianzi Jialiu Museum and beautiful Luoyang Museum with a lot of history to tell. Of course, you can't miss a Kung Fu exploration in Shaolin Temple (in Dengfeng city) if you visit Luoyang. It is only 55 km (about 1.5 hours' drive) away from Luoyang City.

√ 2 Days Luoyang Longmen Grottoes Tour
√ 3 Days Luoyang Kung Fu Tour

It's strongly recommended to extend your Luoyang tour to its attractive neighbors. After Shaolin Temple visit, you can spend 1 day exploring Zhengzhou or Kaifeng. If you are fond of nature, Mount Yuntai, Guoliang Village and Xiaolangdi Reservoir on Yellow River are recommended.

However, the best way to extend your Luoyang trip is starting a Xian Tour. Owning world-class treasures, Xian offers a lot to see and do. Taking a 1.5~2 hours high speed train, you can unveil an incredible experience of two old capital cities. It is quite popular to travel Beijing and Xian with Luoyang, because Luoyang is just located between them. Get inspired from our Xian Luoyang Tours now!

√ 6 Days Ancient Xian & Henan Tour （Xian / Luoyang / Dengfeng / Zhengzhou）
√ 8 Days China Ancient Capitals Tour (Beijing / Luoyang / Xian)
√ 10 Days China Culture Tour Plus Shaolin Kung Fu Experience (Beijing / Xian / Luoyang / Dengfeng / Zhengzhou / Shanghai)

Luoyang and nearby Shaolin Temple are very popular with our customers. Since 2012, we have helped thousands of customers visited the region successfully. With our fully-inclusive private tour packages, all of our customers enjoyed their trips to magnificent Longmen Grottoes, legendary Shaolin Temple, educational Luoyang Museum, beautiful Yuntain Mountain, etc. Some of them even had the rare opportunities to take part in the grand International Peony Festival in Luoyang. Many customers suggest visit Luoyang with Beijing, Xian, Pingyao and Shandong in northern China to explore authentic Chinese culture. Below are some inspiring travel stories:

★ Cultural Immersion Trip in Ancient Capitals of China （Beijing - Taiyuan - Pingyao - Xian - Luoyang - Dengfeng - Zhengzhou - Kaifeng - Qufu - Mount Tai - Beijing）
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