Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China 11 Feb 2025

Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China

What do 51,000 ancient statues have in common? They all call the Yungang Grottoes in China home! This masterpiece of early Buddhist art is near Datong in Shanxi province, northeastern China. Carved into sandstone cliffs over 1,500 years ago during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534/535 CE), the grottoes contain 254 caves. The highlight is the massive Buddha in Cave 5, which is over 15 metres tall. But don"t stop there—each cave offers something unique. Some are like ancient storyboards, depicting tales from Buddhist scriptures, while others showcase detailed carvings of monks, deities, musicians and even scenes of daily life under Wei rule.

© Eric Yang/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

A sky full of stars
11 Feb 2024Folegandros Island, Cyclades, Greece
11 Feb 2026Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, California, USA

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Spring is coming
3 Aug 2024Three Natural Bridges, Wulong National Park, China
Aug 29, 2023American bison, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
17 Mar 2025Happy St Patricks Day!
A bridge that holds up history
7 Apr 2026International Beaver Day
Ablaze with colour
Swedish wilderness
16 Jul 2024Festival of British Archaeology
19 Jun 2025Cinque Torri, Dolomites, Italy
4 Oct 2024World Space Week begins
11 Feb 2025Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China
14 Jan 2025Village of Zahara de la Sierra, Cadiz, Spain
30 Oct 2023Common raven
The dog days of summer
Magnificent moss, magnified
16 Jan 2026Leopard at Etosha National Park, Namibia
15 Dec 2023SantaPark, Lapland, Finland
Bungle beehives
24 Sep 2025Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming, United States
25 Aug 2024Glacier National Park, Montana, USA
24 Nov 2023Green Friday
6 Oct 2023Taughannock Falls State Park, New York
In the running
8 Feb 2024Mount Hood, Oregon, USA
18 Jan 2025National Winnie-the-Pooh Day
10 Dec 2023Sand dunes in the Sahara, Algeria
Nature’s blue wonder
Let’s protect our turtles
22 Dec 2023December solstice