Destination : YUNGANG GROTTOES, China
The Yungang Grottoes are ancient Buddhist Temples that are great examples of rock-cut architecture. It is one of the three famous ancient sculptural Buddhist site in China. Longmen and Mogao are the other temples.
The Yungang Grottoes can be found near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi.
The Yungang Grottoes were included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 and considered as a’masterpiece of early Chinese Buddhist cave art.’ The stone carvings are from the 5th and 6th centuries China that is composed of 252 grottoes and more than 51,000 Buddha statues.
When the Jin Dynasty’s reign declined, China made Datong as its capital. Northern China already adopted Buddhism and made it as their official religion.
The imperial court supervised and supported the construction of the grottoes from 465 AD to 525 AD.
Through the years, Yungang Grottoes saw minor to major reconstruction due to change of weather primarily sandstorms, and added wooden building construction in the 1600s.
Today, as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage, tourists are flocking the Yungang Grottoes as one of the favorite destination in China and marvel with ancient treasure man has ever made.
Iloilo, Philippines’ City of Love P188 on Domestic Flights for 2013 from Cebu Pacific