When booking your private tour, choose from five departure times, which range from the morning to the afternoon. After meeting your guide upon hotel pickup, hop into your vehicle and set off on your exciting tour.  The grottoes and niches of Longmen contain the largest and most impressive collection of Chinese art of the late Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties (316-907). These works, entirely devoted to the Buddhist religion, represent the high point of Chinese stone carving.These contain almost 110,000 Buddhist stone statues, more than 60 stupas and 2,800 inscriptions carved on steles. The grottoes are formed in 1 km of the stretch of Yi river and were carved on both banks, in limestone formations creating the Longmen Caves. Most of the work was done on the western bank, while the eastern bank caves, of smaller numbers, served as residences for the large groups of monks.