Mogao Caves
• Every traveler is allowed to visit only 10 caves.
• It’s better to visit in the morning, because there is a limit to the number of visitors every day.
• Photography is not allowed in the caves.
Listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987
Location: Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, northwest China
Best Time to Visit: Anytime, but autumn is the peak tourist season
Mogao Caves are one of the largest, most richly endowed, and longest used treasure houses of Buddhist art in the world. First constructed in 366, they represent the great achievements of Buddhist art from the fourth to the 14th century. Carved into the cliffs above the Dachuan River, Gansu Province, the caves hold an unrivaled collection of Buddhist manuscripts, murals, sculptures, paintings and textiles spanning more than 1,000 years.
A total of 492 caves have been preserved up to now and house about 45,000 square meters of murals and more than 2,000 painted sculptures, reflecting the splendid culture and history of different Chinese dynasties. The biggest cave is 40 meters high and 30 meters wide.
Located 25 km from the city center of Dunhuang, a major place of intercultural exchanges on the ancient Silk Road, Mogao Caves draw influence from multiple sources, including Han Chinese, ancient Tibetans and other Chinese ethnic minorities, as well as Indians.
The artworks in the caves show various aspects of medieval politics, economics, culture, arts, religion and ethnic relations. Cave 302, dating from the Sui Dynasty (581-618), contains one of the oldest and most vivid scenes of cultural exchanges along the Silk Road, depicting a camel pulling a cart typical of trade missions of that period. In Cave 61, the celebrated landscape of Wutai Mountain is an early example of artistic Chinese cartography, where nothing has been left out - mountains, rivers, cities, temples, roads and caravans are all depicted.
In 1900, a total of 4,500 valuable cultural relics dating from 256 to 1002, including paintings and manuscripts, were found in the Library Cave, in what was to be known as the world’s greatest discovery of ancient oriental culture.
However, the treasures in the caves remain vulnerable to natural factors. Humid air, sunshine and weathering could all cause irreversible damage to the murals and other artworks. To protect the arts, only a few of the caves are still open to visitors. Each cave is locked behind a door to ensure complete darkness. Only flashlights are allowed in the cave, which adds to the mystery and awe of the statues.