The Buddha figure in the Five Grottoes of Tan Yao. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It is interesting that the main builders of the grottoes were all ethnic minorities, who were eager to reinforce their rules and smooth over ethnic frictions with Buddhism.

During the Ming Dynasty, two defensive forts were built near the grottoes, named the Yungang Forts. The current name of the grottoes stems from the forts which were previously referred to as the Wuzhou Grottoes Temple for most of the time.

There are a total of 254 grottoes now, among which 45 are major ones, and they contain a total of around 51,000 statues. The highest one is 17 meters tall, and the smallest is only 2 centimeters high. The statues, together with the large areas of frescos, are a treasure trove of Buddhism legends and historical stories.

The grottoes came under the central government's protection in 1961. The then French president Georges Pompidou visited the grottoes, accompanied by former premier Zhou Enlai in 1973, which had initiated intensive repair and protection projects of the cultural heritage that have remained in place until this day.

The World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO inscribed the Yungang Grottoes on the World Heritage List in 2001, in recognition of its exceptional and universal value as a cultural site.

If you go

It may take a whole day for keen tourists to visit all the grottoes one by one. The administrative office of the grottoes provides an online audio introduction which is available to download onto a smartphone. Do not miss the Yungang Forts, the deserted barracks about 400 meters to the north of Wuzhou Hill, from which the grottoes took their name, as well as the only temple to the south of the hill, which was rebuilt on the ruins of a Qing Dynasty temple.