The Beijing detour where I lost a staring competition with Buddha

How can something carved from rock look so alive? Something so old feel so present? Why, although there are so many other people here, does it feel like it's staring just at me?

I stare back. It doesn't flinch. What did I expect from an enormous stone Buddha... especially one that's been here for 1500 years? But this isn't a staring competition. I'm taking my time taking it in because there's so much to admire.

I've come out to the Yungang Grottoes in China not really knowing what I'd find. The lure of a World Heritage Site was enough. Beyond that, all the information I'd seen was that it's a series of caves dug into the rocky side of a mountain. In other words, I'd only read the cliff notes.

Now that I'm here, I see why UNESCO describes the Yungang Grottoes as "one of the great treasure houses of ancient statuary in the world". Officially there are 252 caves and niches stretching over a one kilometre length, but the focus is on the 20 largest caverns, each hand-carved in just a short 60-year span from 460 to 520 AD. Within them is an enormous collection of Buddhist statues - more than 51,000 in total!

It's a bright day outside but, stepping into Cave 5 (none of them have names more imaginative than that), only a sliver of that light manages to get through the doorway chiselled into the sandstone. Inside, lightbulbs illuminate the hundreds of small statues carved into the walls of the cavern, creating dark shadows that contrast with the earthy paints of red and orange. And in the centre, with vibrant blue hair, is a 17-metre-high seated Buddha towering over the crowd of visitors beneath. Peaceful. Powerful. Imagine creating this by hand all those centuries ago.

Not every grotto has a giant statue, although there are several, including the 14-metre-high Buddha of Cave 20 that looks like it's carved right into the cliff because the cave's facade has collapsed. Instead, each grotto presents its own unique art gallery, with different sculptures, different styles, different colours. Walking into each for a few minutes and looking at all the details, I'm not sure what is more impressive - the quantity, the scale, or the fact they've all been so well preserved over the years.

What's also impressive is that the Yungang Grottoes is not the only World Heritage-listed Buddhist rock carvings in China. The most famous is probably the Leshan Giant Buddha, a single statue 71 metres high cut into red sandstone in Sichuan Province in the 8th century. And the biggest collection is the Longmen Grottoes, founded in the 5th century and now with over 100,000 statues in more than 2300 caves.

But the Yungang Grottoes is particularly noteworthy as one of the easiest to visit. You can even do it as a day trip from Beijing, with China's high-speed rail network covering the 340 kilometres to the nearby city of Datong in under two hours! But if you have time, I would recommend staying overnight, because there are other things worth seeing here.

Don't be fooled by your arrival in Datong. The country's high-speed trains may be impressive but their arena-like stations often need to be built on the outskirts. So, you'll have to make your way through soulless blocks of apartment buildings until you reach the historic centre, which bursts with character. Centuries ago, Datong was a rich and powerful capital, and the ancient city is still laid out as a perfect square surrounded by a seven-kilometre Ming Dynasty wall and a wide defensive moat.

Even before I cross the moat, I've become a bit defensive because I've noticed a man stalking me. He's dressed like he should be out on a power walk, but he's clearly trying to get closer without it seeming intentional. As I stop to take some photos, he senses his opportunity and pounces, armed with... a whole lot of interesting information about the ancient city. He is (as you may have guessed) just a proud local who once lived in Sydney and wants to tell a tourist (he doesn't see many from Australia) about Datong's history.

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Those landmarks beyond the gate I've been pointed towards? Well, they come from later periods but are also magnificent. The sprawling Huayan Temple, about a thousand years old, has landscaped gardens between its dozens of wooden buildings that are filled with golden statues and ornately painted walls. Not far away, the Nine Dragon Screen Wall, one of the city's icons, is a 45-metre-long decorative wall made of colourful glazed tiles that was rescued from an imperial mansion.

At the moment, Datong is not one of the best-known cities in China, but expect that to gradually change as people discover how easy it is to visit from Beijing. As tourist numbers to China increase with relaxed entry requirements, people will be looking for new and different experiences beyond the obvious. The Yungang Grottoes, with their decorated caves and majestic statues, definitely fills that niche.