Luoyang

Located 240 miles east of Xian, the ancient Chinese capital of Luoyang is one of the richest historical sites in China, and is considered by some scholars to be the starting point of the Silk Road. Luoyang's greater fame, however, lies in its world-renowned Longmen Grottoes. Carved between 494 and the seventh century AD, Longmen's 1,352 grottoes contain more than 100,000 images of Buddha and his disciples carved into the cliff walls. Along with the famous caves at Dunhuang and Datong, the Longmen Grottoes mark the pinnacle of Buddhist art in China.