18 sites · 9 provinces
Buddhist caves and cliff carvings cut over centuries along the routes the religion travelled.
18 of them here, grouped by region. 7 carry a UNESCO listing. Chinese addresses are given as they are written, which is the form to show a driver. See all seven kinds, or the background on which dynasty carved what, and where.
3 sites
North China (华北)
| Site | Period | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Tianlongshan Grottoes (天龙山石窟)A royal grotto site whose Tang sculptures were ranked with any in China until most of the heads were removed in the 1920s. The first head returned from Japan in 2021, and the site became the emblem of the restitution campaign.(山西 太原 晋源区 天龙山) | Eastern Wei / Northern Qi / Tang | 2h · Best Apr-Oct |
| Yungang Grottoes (云冈石窟)UNESCO59,000 statues carved by a nomadic empire, the earliest major Buddhist grottoes in China, with Greek-Indian Gandhara style faces that show the Silk Road’s artistic fusion.(山西 大同 云冈区 武周山南麓) | Northern Wei | 3h · Best Apr-Oct |
| Xiangtangshan Grottoes (响堂山石窟)The only surviving artistic legacy of the 27-year Northern Qi Dynasty, exquisite cave temples that bridge the slender Wei style and the plump Tang style, with many heads now in American museums.(河北 邯郸 峰峰矿区 鼓山) | Northern Qi | 2h · Best Apr-Oct |
3 sites
East China (华东)
| Site | Period | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Xumishan Grottoes (须弥山石窟)A forgotten Silk Road grotto site with a 20-meter Tang Dynasty Buddha and exquisite Northern Zhou carvings, in a city most foreign travelers have never heard of, with almost no visitors.(宁夏 固原 原州区 须弥山东麓) | Northern Wei / Northern Zhou / Tang | 2h · Best May-Oct |
| Bezeklik Caves (柏孜克里克石窟)Buddhist grottoes in the Flaming Mountains of Journey to the West fame, the royal temple of the Uyghur Buddhist kingdom, with murals of Uyghur nobles that were mostly stripped by German explorers a century ago.(新疆 吐鲁番 高昌区 火焰山) | Uyghur Gaochang / Tang | 1.5h · Best Apr-Oct |
| Kizil Caves (克孜尔石窟（克孜尔千佛洞）)Recorded as China’s oldest Buddhist grottoes, a century older than Dunhuang and the first stop of Buddhism entering China, with Persian-influenced murals stripped by European expeditions a century ago.(新疆 阿克苏 拜城 克孜尔镇 明屋塔格山) | Kucha Kingdom / Tang | 2h · Best May-Oct |
1 site
Central China (华中)
| Site | Period | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Longmen Grottoes (龙门石窟)UNESCO100,000 Buddhist statues carved along a river, including the 17-meter Vairocana Buddha whose smile is called the “Eastern Mona Lisa” and was supposedly modeled on Empress Wu Zetian.(河南 洛阳 洛龙区 伊水两岸) | Northern Wei / Tang | 3-4h · Best Mar-Nov |
4 sites
Southwest China (西南)
| Site | Period | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Shizhongshan Grottoes (Jianchuan) (石钟山石窟（剑川石窟）)The only grottoes of the Nanzhao Kingdom, a lost empire that rivaled Tang China, with royal portraits of its kings and China’s only fertility-carving of female genitalia in a Buddhist cave.(云南 大理 剑川 石宝山) | Nanzhao / Dali Kingdom | 2-3h · Best Mar-Nov |
| Anyue Rock Carvings (安岳石刻)100,000 carvings scattered across a county’s fields and hills, including a three-metre seated Guanyin known as the Eastern Venus, and a reclining Buddha recorded as China’s largest from the Tang.(四川 资阳 安岳县) | Tang / Song | Best Mar-Nov |
| Leshan Giant Buddha (乐山大佛)UNESCORecorded as the world’s largest stone Buddha, 71 metres tall, cut straight from the cliff where three rivers meet, with an invisible 1,200-year-old drainage system keeping it intact.(四川 乐山 市中区 岷江、青衣江、大渡河三江汇流处) | Tang | 2-3h · Best Mar-Nov |
| Dazu Rock Carvings (大足石刻)UNESCOChina’s last great Buddhist carving site, where Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius share the same cliff, and the carvings tell vivid stories of reincarnation, hell, and parental love instead of just static icons.(重庆 大足区) | Tang / Song | Best Mar-Nov |
7 sites
Northwest China (西北)
| Site | Period | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Bingling Temple Grottoes (炳灵寺石窟)UNESCOGrottoes carved into red cliffs above the Yellow River, reachable only by boat, with China’s earliest dated cave inscription (420 AD) and a 27-meter Tang Buddha.(甘肃 临夏 永靖 小积石山 黄河北岸) | Western Qin / Tang | Best May-Oct |
| Maijishan Grottoes (麦积山石窟)UNESCO“China’s Sculpture Gallery”, 7,800 clay statues clinging to an 80-meter cliff, accessible only by hanging wooden walkways, with 1,500-year-old Buddhas wearing the calm expression this period is known for.(甘肃 天水 麦积区 麦积山) | 12 dynasties | 2-3h · Best May-Oct |
| Mati Temple Grottoes (马蹄寺石窟群)Twenty-one caves cut inside a vertical cliff and linked by internal stair tunnels, the only grottoes in China built that way. The high-relief apsaras here predate Dunhuang by 300 years.(甘肃 张掖 肃南裕固族自治县 马蹄藏族乡（张掖市区南约 65 公里，祁连山北麓）) | Northern Liang founded / multi-dynasty | Best May-Oct |
| Mogao Caves (莫高窟)UNESCO45,000 square metres of Buddhist murals painted over a thousand years in a desert cliff, described as the largest gallery of medieval Buddhist art anywhere, with a discovery story as dramatic as the art.(甘肃 酒泉 敦煌 鸣沙山东麓) | 10 dynasties (366-1368) | 3-4h · Best May-Oct |
| North Grotto Temple (Beishikusi) (北石窟寺)A forgotten grotto site in eastern Gansu, described as holding one of the largest Northern Wei caves in China, a 15-metre hall of seven Buddhas, visited by almost nobody.(甘肃 庆阳 西峰区 覆钟山) | Northern Wei / Tang | 1.5h · Best Apr-Oct |
| Tiantishan Grottoes (Liangzhou Grottoes) (天梯山石窟（凉州石窟 / 大佛寺）)The “ancestor of all Chinese grottoes”, a 5th-century Northern Liang royal cave site whose art style directly inspired Yungang and Longmen, with a 15-meter Tang Buddha preserved beside a reservoir.(甘肃 武威 凉州区 张义镇灯山村 7 组（武威城南约 50 公里，黄羊河水库旁）) | Northern Liang founded / Tang main statue | 1-1.5h · Best May-Oct |
| Yulin Caves (榆林窟)Dunhuang’s quieter sister, run by the same academy and with a fraction of the crowds. It holds what is listed as the largest body of Western Xia painting at any cave site, including the Water-Moon Guanyin.(甘肃 酒泉 瓜州 踏实河两岸) | Northern Wei / Tang / Western Xia | 1.5-2h · Best May-Oct |
Which of These Are Worth the Detour
Some of these sit inside cities and take two hours; others are a half day off the expressway and worth it only if the period interests you. Tell our local team your route and they will say which ones fit and which are better left.