A secluded pond across the boulevard at the Yungang Grottoes remains as clear in my mind as its water was the day I left my group to sit peacefully beside the carp. Many of my group had lost sight of each other when we entered the Imperial Grotto Temple, fashioned like a fortress but lustered with gold-colored facsimiles of spiritual deities to please the mass of tourists making pilgrimages to Shanxi's famed site for prayer.

Its walkway of sandy stone pillars is spectacular. So too is the coal-black tree in its square, dappled with leaves that appear gold-plated. Still, as I waited for groups of eager travelers to stroll past its wonders, crossing the bridge that connected us to thousands of carved Buddhas in caves, the graying skyline formed a dome over the site and I discovered how serene and moving even attractions created less than 10 years earlier could be.

Strangely, it was these sites, not the miles of carved rock architecture ahead, which captivated me. Cool Spring Cave, Stone Drum Cave — the information plaques in Chinese and English identified the many grottoes for curious visitors. Tourists crowded closely behind each other just to squeeze in and take photos of giant Buddhas, of each other with the Buddhas, and even their dogs with the Buddhas. For me, an unripe traveler, it was Yungang's more overlooked territories that suited my pace.