Rock of ages

With creativity and originality, artisans back as far as the late 5th century sculpted richly colored, highly decorative motifs in Yungang's dozens of grotto temples, hailing intensified cultural exchanges in Datong, then called Pingcheng, a thriving city along the ancient Silk Road.

This vibrant musical scene is described as "the fine voices of China "by Hang Kan, dean of the Yungang Research Institute in Datong and an archaeology professor at Peking University. He says it gathers the majority of instruments that were in use in countries along the Silk Road at the time.

Stretching along a south-facing cliff, Yungang is among the country's best-preserved Buddhist grotto temple complexes and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Between the mid-5th and early 6th centuries, workers and artisans constructed dozens of cliffside caves and several hundred smaller niches. They then decorated those spaces with multicolored sculptures, patterns and architectural structures. Consequently, Yungang became an enduring legacy of history, art and culture.