Mogao Grottoes

Carved out of the cliffs 25 km southeast of Dunhuang, Gansu province, Mogao Grottoes lay at a strategic point on the ancient Silk Road, where religion, culture and commerce between East and West intersected for 1,000 years from the 4th century until the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

There are 492 caves, 2,415 sculptures and 45,000 sq m of murals at the site, which spans 1,600 m from north to south.

The Mogao Grottoes gained international fame in 1900, when a local monk broke through the wall of a cave and found 50,000 cultural relics from the 4th to 14th centuries. He found Buddhist scriptures, embroidery, paintings, letters, works of literature, contracts and account books written in many languages.