I thought the Longmen Grottoes were impressive, until I visited Xiangtangshan!

Before setting off, I had just bought the complete works of Su Bai from Sanlian, and started reading 'Research on Chinese Grotto Temples'. Mr. Su Bai's business card only had one title: Professor at Peking University. Apart from a brief stint working at the Peking University Library in 1946, he truly spent his entire life teaching at Peking University, first in the Archaeology Group of the Arts Research Institute, and later in the Department of History specializing in archaeology. A pioneer of archaeology in New China, Mr. Su Bai is certainly worthy of this title. He once said, 'The epitome of Chinese grotto art is in Xiangtang'. The North Xiangtang and South Xiangtang grottoes, along with the Dunhuang, Longmen, and Yungang grottoes, were approved by the State Council in 1961 as part of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. The weather was particularly good that day, and the light shone through the holes in the walls into the caves. The giant Buddha, with a smile on its face, appeared highly serene and tranquil under the soft light. The flame patterns carved in the backlight part of the sculptures were still brightly colored, combined with the dragon and scroll patterns, dynamic and static, solemn and respectful. I went back and forth, looking at each cave, the severely damaged caves and the traces of large-scale destruction and theft, the history of rise and fall, glory and disgrace, still quietly echoed in the grotto mountains. The broken Buddha heads and pagoda tips, the lost Buddha hands and divine beasts, all flowed overseas with the looting and destruction. Xiangtangshan Grottoes, in addition to amazement, perhaps more is sorrow. - 🚙Transportation: About an hour's drive from Handan city center. 💴Ticket: South Xiangtang 15 yuan; North Xiangtang 60 yuan (round-trip electric car 40 yuan), climbing up and down the mountain is time-consuming and laborious, it is recommended to take the electric car. 🕒Visiting time: It is recommended to allocate one day for both North and South Xiangtangshan -