The site is located about 16 km west of the city of Datong, in the valley of the Shi Li river at the base of the Wuzhou Shan mountains.

The Yungang Grottoes are considered by UNESCO to be a "masterpiece of early Chinese Buddhist cave art... [and] ...represent the successful fusion of Buddhist religious symbolic art from south and central Asia with Chinese cultural traditions, starting in the 5th century CE under Imperial auspices.

Since the 1950s, cracks in the sandstone have been sealed by grouting, and forestation has been implemented in an effort to reduce the weathering due to sandstorms.

[6] During the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards damaged many of the carvings, and bullet marks are still visible to observers.

During April and May 1991, Caltech personnel conducted air pollutant measurement experiments in the Yungang Grottoes.

The walls of the upper stories are host to carvings of standing Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and monks among other celestial figures.

All of the carvings were painted, but because the caves have been repainted evidently up to twelve times, determining the original scheme is difficult.

[8] The site was heavily featured, as was the rest of Shanxi province, in the settings visited by the character The Destined One from the globally renowned AAA game Black Myth: Wukong.

Shanxi has promoted it, in comparison with the game visuals very heavily, as seen in its 2024 tourism council advertisements to great results.