Binxian Huaguoshan Grottoes in Shaanxi

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Buddhism was introduced to China along the Silk Road, leaving a group of Buddhist grottoes here, known as 'Nine Bends and Eighteen Caves'. Tang Xuanzang passed by here on his journey to the west, and later generations attached the 'Journey to the West' story, calling this place the hometown of Sun Wukong, and sculpting characters from the Journey to the West, spreading the story of the Journey to the West. To celebrate peace and pray for a good year, in the first year of Longqing in the Ming Dynasty, another lamp mountain grotto was carved on Huaguoshan; every year on the Yuanxiao Festival, local people would light thousands of open-air grotto lamps, lasting for three days, in order to pray for favorable weather and a good harvest. The Lamp Mountain Grottoes have more than 3,000 large stone nests, each of which can hold a bowl of clear oil. When lit at night, they look like a string of pearls, resembling flying pavilions, forming patterns such as temples, Leifeng Tower, Big Dipper, sedan top, and archway.