Longmen Grottoes Tickets: What the ¥90 Ticket Covers — and the "Guide Combo" That Officially Doesn't Exist
On this page
- What the ¥90 ticket includes
- Free and discounted entry: read the fine print
- The "ticket + guide combo" that officially does not exist
- The three things you pay for separately
- What you are actually looking at
- Half a day or a whole day?
- Hours, crowd caps and refunds
- Where a guided tour fits
- FAQ
- How much is a Longmen Grottoes ticket?
- Does the ticket include a guide?
- Can I visit at night?
- Do foreign visitors get free or discounted entry?
- How long should I allow?
- Can I get a refund?
- Check dates and availability
Five kilometres south of central Luoyang, two limestone cliffs face each other across the Yi River. The gap had a name long before anyone carved into it: Yi Que, the "gate of Yi," because the hills frame the water like a natural doorway.
Longmen was cut into those cliffs. Work began around the time Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei moved his capital to Luoyang in the late 5th century, and continued across seven more dynasties — more than 400 years. What survives is 2,345 caves and niches, over 100,000 statues and roughly 2,800 inscriptions. UNESCO listed it in 2000, and its citation calls this the high point of Chinese stone carving.
It is also one of the easier big sites in China to reach: the high-speed rail station serving Luoyang is named after it, and the grottoes are a short taxi ride from the city. This guide covers what the ticket includes, what costs extra, how to avoid the unofficial packages, and whether to give Longmen half a day or a whole one.
What the ¥90 ticket includes
Full price ¥90, half price ¥45 — and one ticket covers four separate areas, not just the caves.
| Area | What you are there for |
|---|---|
| West Hill Grottoes | The main event: Fengxian Temple and its 17 m Vairocana Buddha, plus Guyang, Binyang, Wanfo and Lotus caves |
| East Hill Grottoes | Quieter, with the 29 arhat reliefs of Kanjing Temple |
| Xiangshan Temple | A temple above the river, first built more than 1,400 years ago |
| Bai Garden | The tomb of the Tang poet Bai Juyi, on Pipa Peak |
The part foreign visitors miss most is the last two. Both are already paid for; people run out of time on the caves and skip them. Bai Garden sits up more than 150 steps, which is one reason it gets dropped.
Free and discounted entry: read the fine print
The site lists 14 free-admission categories and 4 half-price categories. With a single exception, these apply to Chinese citizens only. That exception is children under 1.4 metres, who enter free regardless of nationality.
The practical result: on a foreign passport, budget for the full price and treat any discount as a bonus. Do not assume a companion qualifies just because a category sounds universal.
The "ticket + guide combo" that officially does not exist
The site's own position is that there is no "ticket plus guide" combination product, and that no third party has been authorised to sell one under that name. Tickets and guide services are booked and paid for separately, through official channels.
In practice, the many "ticket + guide" listings you will find online are therefore not products of the site. Some may be legitimate tour-operator packages — the point is that the site does not sell or endorse them. Read what any listing actually includes before you pay.
The three things you pay for separately
Everything else is included. These three are not:
- Night visit. Sold separately, covering only West Hill Grottoes and Xiangshan Temple — East Hill and Bai Garden are not included. Sales 17:30–19:30, entry 18:00–20:00, site clears 21:00 (running since 30 March 2026).
- Electric cart. ¥10 per person, one way. The northeast service area is a 25-minute walk from the core zone, the northwest 20 minutes — worth buying if walking distance is a concern.
- Guide service. Bought on its own, separate from the ticket.
What you are actually looking at
Fengxian Temple is the reason to come. The Vairocana Buddha is 17.14 metres tall, with a 4-metre head and 1.9-metre ears; the two attendants beside it are around 13 metres. The group is nine figures — a Buddha, two disciples, two bodhisattvas, two heavenly kings and two guardians — in an open, horseshoe-shaped niche, and standing at the base you come up to the Buddha's knee. No photograph carries that proportion.
Guyang Cave is among the earliest at Longmen: 11.2 metres high, 7.27 wide and 11.83 deep, with over 1,500 niches and 800 inscriptions. Nineteen of the "Twenty Masterpieces of Longmen" calligraphy works are in this one cave.
Binyang Middle Cave took about 24 years and 802,366 workdays (500–523) — a figure recorded inside the cave itself. Its reliefs of an emperor and empress worshipping the Buddha were cut out long ago; the scars remain.
Wanfo Cave holds roughly 15,000 small Buddhas, and an inscription dates its completion to the 30th day of the 11th month of 680.
On the east bank, Kanjing Temple is the largest cave on that side, its 29 arhat reliefs among the best-preserved Tang arhat groups. Yaofang Cave holds the earliest stone-carved medical prescriptions in China, some later recorded in Japan's ancient Ishinpo.
Half a day or a whole day?
A full day, if you want all four areas. The route follows the river: West Hill first, taking in Fengxian, Guyang, Binyang and Wanfo; then East Hill for Kanjing Temple; then south to Xiangshan Temple and Bai Garden. The areas are linked by electric cart or on foot.
With only half a day, West Hill is the part you cannot skip; treat the rest as what you are consciously leaving out.
Hours, crowd caps and refunds
Opening hours move between two seasons:
- 1 March – 31 October: gates open 08:00, ticket sales stop 17:30, entry closes 18:00, site clears 19:00.
- 1 November – 28 February: gates open 08:00, sales stop 16:30, entry closes 17:00, site clears 18:00.
The site caps attendance at 68,900 a day, with a maximum of 21,550 on site at any one moment. Those are not theoretical numbers: in early October 2026 the grottoes came close to capacity on 3–4 October and both online and on-site ticket sales were briefly suspended, resuming on 6–7 October. If your dates fall in a Chinese public holiday, go at opening or pick a weekday.
Two other rules matter. Pets and drones are not allowed. And unused orders can be refunded within six months, processed in 3–5 business days — once used, no refund, so do not lock in a date too early.
Where a guided tour fits
The site's guide service is bought separately from the ticket, and the signage and annotations on site are primarily in Chinese. That is the gap a guided tour fills — an English-speaking guide who can explain what you are looking at and handle the walking order across four areas and a river.
No operator can change the ticket structure: entry is priced and issued per person, and since the site's own line is that no "ticket + guide" package is authorised, a tour you book is that operator's product, not the site's. So read the list against the official rules above — entry ticket, transport, English-speaking guide — and check which of the three the price actually covers.
FAQ
How much is a Longmen Grottoes ticket?
¥90 full price, ¥45 half price. One ticket covers all four areas: West Hill Grottoes, East Hill Grottoes, Xiangshan Temple and Bai Garden.
Does the ticket include a guide?
No — guide service is bought separately. The site states there is no combined "ticket + guide" product and that no third party is authorised to sell one under that name.
Can I visit at night?
Yes, on a separate night-visit ticket covering only West Hill Grottoes and Xiangshan Temple. Sales 17:30–19:30, entry 18:00–20:00, site clears 21:00.
Do foreign visitors get free or discounted entry?
Generally not. Most of the 14 free and 4 half-price categories apply to Chinese citizens. The exception is children under 1.4 metres, who enter free whatever their nationality.
How long should I allow?
A full day for all four areas, most of a day for the caves alone. Half a day only works if you concentrate on West Hill; weekdays and the hour after opening are quietest.
Can I get a refund?
Unused orders can be refunded within six months, processed in 3–5 business days. Used tickets are non-refundable.
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Check dates and availability
Entry is priced and issued per person, so compare the inclusions line by line — entry ticket, transport, an English-speaking guide, or a combination:
👉 Check dates and availability
Disclosure: This article includes an affiliate link. I may earn a commission if you book through it, at no extra cost to you. This guide describes publicly listed information only — I have not personally taken these tours.
Image sources: stock/library photos, credited where required.