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Yungang Caves are China's greatest single venue of Buddhist statues. They were carved 1500 years ago.
Yungang Caves consist of 53 caves and 51,000 statues depicting Buddha and his life. Statues height ranges in extremes from thumb size to 17 meters (55 feet). The cave complex and statuary were created by 40,000 workers.
Most of the significant caves were carved out in the 5th century. Then, the serious carving was suddenly ceased as the realm moved its imperial seat to a distant city. The grottoes and statues were physically easy to carve out because sandstone rock is a relatively soft stone, a sculptor's dream. Few of the statues are free standing. Most were carved directly into the cave walls (the hollows created niches for the statues).
Be sure to reserve ample time for these:
Once, thousands of Buddhist monks lived within the Yungang Caves complex.
The Yungang Caves lie 16 kilometers (10 miles) west of Datong in Shanxi province. See map below for general location of that province.
Yungang: yoo'ng-gahng

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