Thousand Buddha Caves of Bezeklik Baizikelike Qianfodong
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Near Turpan lie the Thousand Buddha Caves.
The best known are undoubtedly those at Bezeklik (some 50km/30mi northeast of Turpan), a collection of retreats once inhabited by Buddhist monks. Many of the important wall-paintings, a testimony to the heyday of Chinese Buddhism, were discovered by European archaeologists, many of them German, prior to the First World War.
In all visitors can see 57 caves, all numbered, which contain fragments of frescos from the 6th to the 14th C portraying Buddhist themes.
In Cave No. 39 can be seen a group of mourners accompanied by thirteen disciples of Buddha.
The north wall of Cave No. 37 shows a painting of a bodhisattva, dressed in red and with blue eyes and a long, straight nose. The explanatory inscriptions are almost all in Chinese and Uigur; this suggests that at this time the cultures of China and Asia Minor complemented and influenced one another.
At the approach to the Bezeklik Caves is a mini leisure park where the history of the Silk Road is vividly presented.
The best known are undoubtedly those at Bezeklik (some 50km/30mi northeast of Turpan), a collection of retreats once inhabited by Buddhist monks. Many of the important wall-paintings, a testimony to the heyday of Chinese Buddhism, were discovered by European archaeologists, many of them German, prior to the First World War.
In all visitors can see 57 caves, all numbered, which contain fragments of frescos from the 6th to the 14th C portraying Buddhist themes.
In Cave No. 39 can be seen a group of mourners accompanied by thirteen disciples of Buddha.
The north wall of Cave No. 37 shows a painting of a bodhisattva, dressed in red and with blue eyes and a long, straight nose. The explanatory inscriptions are almost all in Chinese and Uigur; this suggests that at this time the cultures of China and Asia Minor complemented and influenced one another.
At the approach to the Bezeklik Caves is a mini leisure park where the history of the Silk Road is vividly presented.
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