Brief information on Dazu Grottoes  

Dazu Grottoes, located in Dazu County, about 120 km from Chongqing, is the generic term for the 76 carved statues located there, and there are a total of 60,000 carving there in all the grottoes, situated on Beishan Hill and Baoding Hill are the largest in scale, richest in content and most refined in terms of artistic skill. The site was added to the World Cultural Heritage list in 1961.The carving of Dazu Grottoes was initiated at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, reaching the peak at Song Dynasty, and continued until Ming and Qing dynasties. Now, it enjoys equal fame with the Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi Province and Longmen Grottoes in Henan province.

More than 50,000 carvings are dotted around in Dazu, including statues of Buddha, monarchs, ministers, military officers, high and low-ranking officials, jailers, executioners, monks, rich and poor people, and folk art performers as well as 100,000 inscriptions in Chinese characters.

Some of the carvings in Dazu mirror various religious doctrines while others reflect Confucian values, specifically filial piety, since the carvings not only want to demonstrate the masterful and exquisite skill of the art of carving, but also to provide a permanent lesson from the Buddhist doctrine. As a result, Dazu Grottoes is now renowned as the ’Holy Palace of Art’.  

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Dazu Grottoes if you plan to visit Dazu Grottoes and have language problems.

   

Address: Dazu County, Chongqing
Ticket Price: CNY 120 (including Baodingshan and Beishan) 
                  CNY 80 for Baodingshan 
                  CNY 60 for Beishan
How to Get to: Take a bus at the Caiyuan Ba, Chongqing Municipal to the Dazu County Bus Station (CNY 45). After arrival at Long-Distanced Bus Station of the Dazu County two hours later, you may hire a rickshaw (CNY 2) to the Short-Distanced Bus Station. Then take a bus to the Baodingshan (CNY 3). You will arrive at the entrance of this spot twenty minutes later.