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Dazu Rock Carvings are authentic historical and cultural heritage sites. Please respect the relics and follow site regulations during your visit.
Daily 8:30–18:00 (last ticket sale 16:00, last entry 16:10)
Important tips
Wear comfortable shoes – there are many stone steps
No flash photography – to protect the ancient carvings
Professional guide is highly recommended – to fully appreciate the stories behind the stones
try local cuisine – Youting Crucian Carp, Dingjiapo Potatoes
Book tickets in advance during holidays
Listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1999, Dazu Rock Carvings represent the crowning achievement of late-period Chinese cave art. With over 50,000 statues and 100,000 characters of inscriptions across 75 protected sites, they form a monumental artistic legacy. Together with Dunhuang, Yungang, and Longmen, they complete the historical tapestry of Chinese grotto art, earning the title “the last monument in the history of Chinese grotto art”
Unlike earlier grottoes that focused primarily on Buddhist themes, Dazu Rock Carvings present a rare and sophisticated synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. The Shizhuanshan site features the country’s earliest “three religions in one niche” composition . What makes Dazu truly unique, however, is its deep connection to daily life: the “Repaying Parents’ Kindness” relief depicts a son leaving home while an elderly mother holds back tears – a scene as moving today as it was a thousand years ago. Figures like the “Flute-Playing Girl” and “Chicken-Raising Girl” radiate warmth and vitality, bridging the distance between the divine and the mortal
Walking through Baodingshan’s horseshoe-shaped Great Buddha Bay is like flipping through a Song Dynasty comic book carved in stone. Nineteen large-scale tableaux follow one another seamlessly, each telling a complete storey. The 30-meter-long “Ox-Herding” series illustrates Zen Buddhist spiritual cultivation through ten pastoral scenes – ox and herder gradually find inner peace. The 7.7-meter-tall “Avalokitesvara with a Thousand Arms and Eyes” – China’s largest example of its kind – dazzles with its golden splendour and sheer artistic ambition .
