Longmen Grottoes
Longmen Grottoes
4.5
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Early Chinese Buddhist cave art is represented by well-preserved pagodas, carvings and statues.
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andaluciababe
New York City, NY132 contributions
May 2023 • Couples
We booked a day tour from Xian to Louyang and visited the Longmen Grottoes and White Horse Temple. Our guide Lisa from China Highlights picked us up from the train station and the private car ride to Longmen was very comfortable and relaxing. Lisa will explain every details of each sites very thoroughly and we can enjoy seeing the grottoes at a leisurely pace. She is also very flexible and accommodating and took us to a local restaurant for some really delicious local lunch. As we managed to finish visiting the two locations earlier, Lisa helped us to change our train tickets to return to Xian early.
Written June 1, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KodoDrummer
Buenos Aires, Argentina70,626 contributions
Apr 2024 • Friends
The beauty of China and its rich history continue to amaze me. I visited the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, China. The grottoes were carved on the mountain on both sides of the Yi River. The work on the grottoes began in 493 AD when the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang. After 400 years of expansion, the grottoes were carved into 97,000 Buddha statues, most of which are now damaged. Among them, the most well-preserved is the Lushena Buddha carved by Wu Zetian.
Written April 21, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Buddingtraveller83
Penang Island, Malaysia172 contributions
Jul 2020 • Family
Although we live in China, we only found out through following a photographer on Instagram. It is not one of the most famous ‘foreigner’ sites to visit but compared to those that are deemed ‘must do’ this is much better. Parts are over 1,600 years old. Only a 15 minute car journey from Luoyang station, it can take anywhere from 1-3+hrs depending on what you want to see and learn. The best is at the end (of course) but learning about the history is fantastic. We had a tour guide who was great. One tip- take the golf buggy from the ticket office (10¥) as it is one heck of a trek if you don’t. We stayed in Xi’an, visited there, and then did a day trip- start early, beat the crowds. Got an 8:10am train.
Written July 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AndrianiBg
London, UK86 contributions
Jan 2020 • Friends
Longmen Grottoes is located at Luoyang which is not far from Xian and was my highlight of the trip in China. Amazing place with thousands of Buddhas and spectacular view. Leave 2-3 hours it walk around.
Written July 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KodoDrummer
Buenos Aires, Argentina70,626 contributions
May 2019 • Friends
Very impressive, astonishing and sensational. Into the history of Luoyang, for her thousands of years of civilization and wonder at the grandeur of the Longmen Grottoes cut into the limestone cliffs. There are about 100,000 statues of various sizes, 40 pagodas, and 2345 caves. Most were made over 1,500 years ago. I viewed them up close and from a boat of the Yi River.
Written May 15, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Timothy R
46 contributions
May 2018 • Couples
Assuming your a solo traveller and not part of a group, starting from Luoyang.
Luoyang is still basically laid out in the ancient Chinese style of a rigid grid pattern. Because the river runs through it there are some distortions.
To get to the grottos you want the K81 Bus, (1.5 rmb per person each way).
Most of these buses are of a strange design and look, (made me think of an amphibious tram car). Dark green body, brown roof and orange curtains undercut body. However don't be concerned they are fully air conditioned and unusually for China have an automatic gearbox.
The bus runs from slightly west of centre along the ZhougZhou Middle road until it turns right onto the Ding Ding South Road heading towards the Luoyang bridge.
The intersection of these two roads occurs right by the replicas of the Empress Palace, ( built on the site of the originals).
Once you cross the Luoyang bridge it's basically a straight run of some 10Km until the bus stops at the Longman Grottos drop off terminal. Here there are signs for the ticket office. You can of course take a taxi, but this road gets heavily used and congested so the time difference isn't much and taxi fares vary from 15 to 50 rmb.
The tickets are 100Rmb with no apparent discounts for students or the 60/60+
The tickets seem to cover everything on the site.
It's about a kilometre down hill walk before you get to the good stuff.
There are electric 6 seat golf buggies etc if you feel the need.
There is a clear one way system in force, it's applied all the time but when quite they're pretty relaxed. The one way system goes along the west side, (under the Longman bridge), for about a kilometre then across another bridge, back on the east side to the Longman bridge.
Please note that the tours groups will all be jumping onto the golf buggies to get over the Longman bridge and back to the beginning and their coaches. Don't do this. The pick up bus stand for the K81 is about 200 meters further on, past the Longman Bridge on the right set back in a parking area. You will get guys pitching for you to take their "taxi", beware most are not registered, insured or competent and fares can be excessive.
The path past the Grottos follows the river, (upstream on the west, down on the east).
If you are only going to follow the path it's an easy stroll. But you won't because the grottos are all the way up the cliffs and there are steps and walkways. Occasionally you will find a walkway roped off, unless there is a safety issue the main reason for this appears to make sure you come down in time to pass the vendor stalls.
The grottos are located both sides of a river, the river runs almost exactly North to South, which means the valley bakes in the sun all day long. The previously baked rocks radiating heat even when they move into shade. This can create a 10 degree temperature differential between the day temperature and the centre of the valley. ie a day of 33 degrees can mean 43 degrees in the valley. TAKE water or buy ice cold when there. We went on a day of 30 degrees and devoured 3 litres each in 4 hours.
How long you need for this really depends on how much you want to see and how fit you are. We went slowly, saw everything and took a 5 relaxed hours.
Luoyang is still basically laid out in the ancient Chinese style of a rigid grid pattern. Because the river runs through it there are some distortions.
To get to the grottos you want the K81 Bus, (1.5 rmb per person each way).
Most of these buses are of a strange design and look, (made me think of an amphibious tram car). Dark green body, brown roof and orange curtains undercut body. However don't be concerned they are fully air conditioned and unusually for China have an automatic gearbox.
The bus runs from slightly west of centre along the ZhougZhou Middle road until it turns right onto the Ding Ding South Road heading towards the Luoyang bridge.
The intersection of these two roads occurs right by the replicas of the Empress Palace, ( built on the site of the originals).
Once you cross the Luoyang bridge it's basically a straight run of some 10Km until the bus stops at the Longman Grottos drop off terminal. Here there are signs for the ticket office. You can of course take a taxi, but this road gets heavily used and congested so the time difference isn't much and taxi fares vary from 15 to 50 rmb.
The tickets are 100Rmb with no apparent discounts for students or the 60/60+
The tickets seem to cover everything on the site.
It's about a kilometre down hill walk before you get to the good stuff.
There are electric 6 seat golf buggies etc if you feel the need.
There is a clear one way system in force, it's applied all the time but when quite they're pretty relaxed. The one way system goes along the west side, (under the Longman bridge), for about a kilometre then across another bridge, back on the east side to the Longman bridge.
Please note that the tours groups will all be jumping onto the golf buggies to get over the Longman bridge and back to the beginning and their coaches. Don't do this. The pick up bus stand for the K81 is about 200 meters further on, past the Longman Bridge on the right set back in a parking area. You will get guys pitching for you to take their "taxi", beware most are not registered, insured or competent and fares can be excessive.
The path past the Grottos follows the river, (upstream on the west, down on the east).
If you are only going to follow the path it's an easy stroll. But you won't because the grottos are all the way up the cliffs and there are steps and walkways. Occasionally you will find a walkway roped off, unless there is a safety issue the main reason for this appears to make sure you come down in time to pass the vendor stalls.
The grottos are located both sides of a river, the river runs almost exactly North to South, which means the valley bakes in the sun all day long. The previously baked rocks radiating heat even when they move into shade. This can create a 10 degree temperature differential between the day temperature and the centre of the valley. ie a day of 33 degrees can mean 43 degrees in the valley. TAKE water or buy ice cold when there. We went on a day of 30 degrees and devoured 3 litres each in 4 hours.
How long you need for this really depends on how much you want to see and how fit you are. We went slowly, saw everything and took a 5 relaxed hours.
Written May 31, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
UnderBigHill
George Town, Malaysia2,206 contributions
Oct 2016 • Friends
Longmen Grottoes is very large. If you intend to see this place in detail, you may need a few days. For us, we traveled from XiAn to LuoYang via high speed rail for a day trip so we decided to only cover the Western Hills Grottoes, XiangShan Temple (and Chiang Song villa), and the Bai Ju Yi cemetery.
First of all, do note that from the ticket office to the actual entrance of the grotto is a good distance. So don't save money on the battery cars. You need to save time and conserve energy.
There are more than 2345 caves and more than 100,000 statues. Frankly, I can not remember much. My favorite is the Buddha statue that sit in the middle of Bin Yang Cave. Warm and lovely smile. Full of joy. Some of the more impressive ones are the Buddha with "peace sign" in Bin Yang North Cave and Wan-fo-tung ("Cave of Ten Thousand Buddhas"). Of course, the more profound one is the famous Feng Xian Temple, the largest of all caves carved on the west hill.
We went in to Longmen Grottoes from the West Hill, cross the bridge to the East Hill, and complete a whole loop. However, we decided not to visit the caves at the Dongshan Grottoes, and went directly to Xiangshan Temple. The famous Tang Dynasty poet, Bai Ju Yi, spent his old age here and his cemetery is just beside XiangShan Temple, located in the White Garden.
Many people will encourage you to take LuoYang One Day Tour package which include Longmen Grottoes and some other famous temples. Don't do it. You can't even finish the grottoes in one day. How is it possible to visit other temples?
First of all, do note that from the ticket office to the actual entrance of the grotto is a good distance. So don't save money on the battery cars. You need to save time and conserve energy.
There are more than 2345 caves and more than 100,000 statues. Frankly, I can not remember much. My favorite is the Buddha statue that sit in the middle of Bin Yang Cave. Warm and lovely smile. Full of joy. Some of the more impressive ones are the Buddha with "peace sign" in Bin Yang North Cave and Wan-fo-tung ("Cave of Ten Thousand Buddhas"). Of course, the more profound one is the famous Feng Xian Temple, the largest of all caves carved on the west hill.
We went in to Longmen Grottoes from the West Hill, cross the bridge to the East Hill, and complete a whole loop. However, we decided not to visit the caves at the Dongshan Grottoes, and went directly to Xiangshan Temple. The famous Tang Dynasty poet, Bai Ju Yi, spent his old age here and his cemetery is just beside XiangShan Temple, located in the White Garden.
Many people will encourage you to take LuoYang One Day Tour package which include Longmen Grottoes and some other famous temples. Don't do it. You can't even finish the grottoes in one day. How is it possible to visit other temples?
Written February 4, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
apsara16
Sydney, Australia54 contributions
Dec 2018 • Family
My group of 6 family members took a high speed train from Xian to Luoyang Longmen for a one day Luoyang tour in Dec 2018. We hired Lisa, an English speaking guide who was amazing and made the visit an exceptional experience. She met us at the train station and her driver sent us to the Longmen Grotto first. Lisa's knowledge of the various buddhas and their history was enlightening. Our next destination was the Shaolin Temple. With her impeccable timing, we were able to not just view the Kungfu demonstration, but also took in all the other attractions within the temple grounds. Lunch was simple homecooked food at a local restaurant which grew their own vegetables. The dishes were delicious and the price was very reasonable. When we finished the 2 attractions at Luoyang, there was an hour or so before our scheduled high speed train back to Xian. Lisa helped us to change the tickets so that we could take the first available return train back. She took the initiative to also contact our local tour guide in Xian so that our driver could meet us at the updated time. Lisa's email is woaibaby0918@163.com. Her charges for the guide service and driver is reasonable. I would highly recommend her based on our one day Luoyang experience.
Written January 11, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JCheng
Singapore, Singapore189 contributions
Aug 2015 • Family
A nice day trip from Xian by high speed rail. Sadly, most of the statues have been vandalized. The must see -- pictured in the admission tickets -- is the Feng Xian cave.
Warning: previous reviewers recommended buses numbers 71 and 65. Apparently, these run only at particular times of the day. Better to take a taxi. Fare is around 20 yuan. Get taxis from the official taxi rank. Avoid the taxi touts hanging around the station and bus stop. Same on the return, take a taxi from the official taxi rank. It is the furthest from the pedestrian shopping street, across the bus bay.
Warning: previous reviewers recommended buses numbers 71 and 65. Apparently, these run only at particular times of the day. Better to take a taxi. Fare is around 20 yuan. Get taxis from the official taxi rank. Avoid the taxi touts hanging around the station and bus stop. Same on the return, take a taxi from the official taxi rank. It is the furthest from the pedestrian shopping street, across the bus bay.
Written August 20, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reiko K
7 contributions
Apr 2017 • Friends
We visited Longmen Grottoes on a beautiful day in April, getting off the high speed train at Luoyang on the way to Beijing from Xi'an. We checked in our luggage at the station, took a bus and spent several hours there before continuing our way to Beijing in the evening.
The site is big and just amazing. It is not a place you visit and see the view from far as some pictures may suggest... You walk a lot, which includes many stairs, (my phone showed I walked about 8 miles, I think) but I highly recommend it.
The site is big and just amazing. It is not a place you visit and see the view from far as some pictures may suggest... You walk a lot, which includes many stairs, (my phone showed I walked about 8 miles, I think) but I highly recommend it.
Written May 26, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
For best lighting, best time of the day to visit? Morning sun or afternoon sun ?
Written December 18, 2019
This is an excellent question, but one that deserves a vague answer. Actually, there is enough to see to spend part of the morning into the afternoon for the best of both!
Written December 19, 2019
Bonjour, nous serons à Xi'an en septembre et nous souhaitons savoir comment s'y rendre. Plutôt le matin ou l’après-midi ?(ensoleillement).
Merci de votre aide.
Cordialement
G. Pizzicara
Written July 25, 2019
Sorry I am totally ignorent about this language
Written September 22, 2019
Hey i’m travelling from xian to luoyang by speed train. is it advisable to buy tickets on spot at the counter, or book online in advance?
Written April 22, 2019
Many people use the efficient, inexpensive, and frequent high speed trains throughout China. It is true they sell out, but I have never had a problem getting a ticket the day of going anywhere. I think that would depend on when you are traveling. Do not go during a Chinese holiday, don't travel anywhere in China during a Chinese holiday. I am not sure about Xian to Luoyang, maybe Xian to Zhengzhou, but buying online is your best bet, do so in advance and make sure you are on time, or you won't get a refund. Our friends found that out the hard way. Longmen Grottoes are the most beautiful thing I've seen in China, and I've been to 15 Provinces and 5 SAE (including Hong Kong and Macau). Have fun!
Written April 23, 2019
Hello, How long should we plan for a visit of the grottoes - minimum / maximum?
Thank you,
Catherine
Written February 23, 2019
Anywhere between 2 & 4 hours depending how quickly you like to walk. Lots of stairs/steps up involved, so you need to rest once in a while
Written March 3, 2019
Hi,
Is it possible to cover Great wall of China from Xian? or What is the preferred and safe way to reach Beijing to and fro from Xian?
What are the interesting places to see near Great Wall of China?
Written November 13, 2018
Hi,
I am a solo traveller... Is it manageable at Terracota warriors museum and Longman cave without knowing Chinese language. Also planned to catch speed train to commute between Xian and Longmen Grottoes. Can we manage the railway station without knowing chinese language?
Written November 12, 2018
Terracotta is well known, just print a picture and show then you going here.
Written November 12, 2018
What would be the ideal season durind the year to visit this place?
Written November 11, 2018
I'd think either spring or autumn from a temperature perspective. It can get very crowded so you have to take that in to consideration as well.
Written November 17, 2018
How much time required to go through the sculptures.?
Written November 9, 2018
I'd agree, 3 to 4 hours if you find these kind of sculptures of major interest. The minimum would be an hour and a half, that's if you take the bus to the entrance (Not the visitors centre) and don't spend much time at each grouping of statues or the East bank. But I'd personally recommend leaving at least 3 hours.
Written November 9, 2018
Which is the nearest airport? I am planning to come from India. What is the right season to visit?
Written November 9, 2018
We went there via fast speed train from Xian.
Written November 9, 2018
Is it difficult to get the taxi back from Longman cave to the train station? Is there a lot of taxis waiting?
Written September 9, 2018
I had no problem getting a taxi. Yes there were a dozen taxis waiting.
Written September 10, 2018
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