Located on the southern part of Mount Wuzhou (武州山), and extends 1km from east to west. There are 45 caves left with more than 51,000 statues of various sizes. The earliest caves (Nos. 16-20) were performed by a monk named Tan Yao (曇曜) around 460AD during the Northern Wei Dynasty (北魏和平). The rest were completed before Emperor Xiaowen (北魏太和十八年孝文帝) moved the capital to Luoyang (洛陽) in 494AD. Therefore, the carvings are at least 1,500 years old.

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The official carving of Yungang ended when Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, but the people took over and started the carvings on the west wall of Yungang.

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This seated statue of Sakyamuni (釋迦) is 17 metres tall, and is the largest Buddha in the Yungang Caves.

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Excerpt from dome.mit.edu:

Cave 6 interior, carved horizontal bands with jātakas, detail of death of the Buddha; The Yungang Grottoes are located 16 km west of Datong and comprise about 53 caves and 51,000 statues. The site stretches about 1 kilometer from east to west and was hollowed from the sandstone cliffs of the Wuzhou Mountains during the 5th century CE under the patronage of the Northern Wei dynasty. Founded by the Tuoba or Toba people, who ruled northern China during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period (310-589 CE), the Wei dynasty adopted Buddhism as its state religion. Work was begun at Yungang by the emperor Wenchengdi (reigned 452-465). The caves range in width from 23 m to a few metres. In 494, the Wei moved their capital from Datong to Luoyang and the Yungang Grottoes slowly fell into decay. The Grottoes have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2001. The sculptural style of the late 5th-century caves 5 and 6 conform more closely to Chinese taste and were among the last to be commissioned before the removal of the capital from Pingcheng (now Datong) to Luoyang in 494. Cave 6 has a large square central pillar carved in the shape of a wooden pagoda. Niches containing elaborately carved images of Buddha, bodhisattvas and apsarasas are organized in horizontal bands along the walls, and oblong reliefs in the lower register illustrate jātakas. During the early Qing Dynasty (ca. 1621), 4-storey wooden temple facades were built that still can be seen in front of the caves 5 and 6.

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