The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves

· Location: Mutougou Valley, Turpan, Xinjiang Province
· Time needed: 2–3 hours
Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves are located in the red-colored mountains that are known as the Flaming Mountains. Unlike visiting other caves where you need to climb up stairs, you walk down some stairs to visit the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves.
There are 83 caves, but only 40 of them have retained mural paintings and these cover a total area of 1,200 square meters. Not all of the caves are open to the public but you will have the chance to go into dozens of them to see the relics inside.
The 33rd cave is the most famous cave with a painting of the Buddha's nirvana. The highlight of the painting is the Buddha's disciples' different expressions, such as being happy or sad.
Most of the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves were badly destroyed, including the eyes of figures having been dug out. Many paintings fell off the walls and you can only see part of them. Only with the surviving paintings can you imagine how fantastic the caves looked before.
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