Binglingsi Grottoes

The grottoes are located in the Kesser Hishi Mountains 35 kilometers southwest of the county seat of Yongjing in Linxia Prefecture. Travel 54 kilometers westward from the Liujiaxia hydroelectric dam by boat and you will reach there.

Bingling in Tibetan means a hundred thousand Buddhas or a thousand Buddhas. The grottoes are carved into the reddish sandstone cliffs of a high gorge. Built during the Western Qin Dynasty (385-431), they were extended by the following dynasties. The grottoes are concentrated at Shangsi, Donggou, and Xiasi on the cliffs. The grottoes at Shangsi were destroyed by fire and a cave hall has been built there to house a few Buddhist statues that have survived the fire. The total number of caves in Binglingsi is 183,34 at Donggou and 149 at Xiasi. They contain 694 stone statues, 82 clay statues, five stone and clay pagodas, and 900 square meters of wall paintings. They rank among the three best groups of grrotoese in Gansu and among the top ten treasure houses of cave art in China.

Binglingsi Grottoes Gansu

Gansu Bingling Temple Grottoes

Gansu Binglingsi Grottoes