The Yungang Grottoes are situated on the southern slopes of Mount Wuzhou, 16 kilometres west of Datong City in northern China's Shanxi Province. Carved into the mountainside, the grottoes extend for one kilometre from east to west. They comprise 45 principal caves, 252 smaller caves and niches, and over 59,000 stone sculptures, making them one of China's largest ancient cave complexes. Alongside the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, the Longmen Caves in Luoyang, and the Maijishan Caves in Tianshui, they are collectively known as China's four great treasures of cave art.

Designated as one of China's first batch of Key Cultural Heritage Sites by the State Council in 1961, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 14 December 2001. On 8 May 2007, it was awarded the status of National 5A-level Tourist Attraction by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.