The grottoes and niches of Longmen contain the largest and most impressive collection of Chinese art of the late Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties. These works, entirely devoted to the Buddhist religion, represent the high point of Chinese stone carving.

Grottoes are one of the three most famous ancient sculptural sites in China. There are over 2100 niches, more than 100,000 statues, some 40 pagodas and 3600 tablets and steles in the caves of Guyang, Binyang and Lianhua.

The area was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in November 2000.