The Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves

· Location: at the edge of Liujiaxia Reservoir, Yongjing County, Gansu Province
· Time needed: 2 hours
Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves
The Bingling Temple, also known as the Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves, is on a cliff at the side of the Yellow River. This means you will need to take a boat trip to reach the caves. You can enjoy seeing the Danxia landform alongside the river.
Unlike the construction of other caves, most parts of the Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves consist of niches. There are 183 caves and niches in total, with 694 stone sculptures and 82 clay statues. The beautiful mural paintings spread out across the 60-meter-high cliff for 200 meters.
The site has one of the biggest surviving carved statues of Buddha in China, hailing from the Tang Dynasty era (618–907). The statue measures about 27 meters, or 89 feet, tall. It is similar to bigger giant statues that were built about 250 years earlier in Central Asia, showing the cultural link with the region.
You can take photos and see the paintings up close in the ordinary caves and niches; however, you are not allowed to take photos in the special ones.