Longmen Grottoes, litrally meaning "Dragon Gate" are locatcd 12km south of Luoyang.They were first sculptured and chiseled around 493AD. The entire construction lasted more than four hundred years through the Northern Dynasties, Sui Dynasty,Tang Dynasty and up to Song Dynasty. Today, there arc still 2,345 caves and niches, 100,000 Buddhist images ranging in sizc from 2 cm to 17.14 meters,more than 2,800 inscribed tablets and 43 Buddhist pagodas remaining. Altogether 30 % date from Northern Wei Dynasty, 60% from Tang Dynasty and the rest 10% from other periods. In november 2000, the Longmen Grottoes was inscribed on world CullureHeritage List by UNESCO.