Tiantishan Grottoes

On the Silk Road, The Tiantishan Grottoes is one of the most important caves in Guansu. The Tiantishan Grottoes are a series of rock cut Buddhist cave temples in the Liangzhou District of Wuwei, Gansu, northwest China. Excavated from the eastern cliffs of the Huangyang River in the Qilian Mountains from the time of the Northern Liang(about 1,600 years ago), carving, decoration and subsequent modification of the caves continued through the Northern Wei and Tang to the Qing dynasty. The complex is identified with the Liangzhou Caves opened during the time of Juqu Mengxun. The name Tiantishan consists of three Chinese characters (天梯山) that literally translate as "Ladder to Heaven Mountain".
The site is a honeycomb of 17 caves in three layers. The biggest cavern is 30 meters high, 19 meters wide and 16 meters deep. It houses a Sakyamuni statue that is 15 meters high and 10 meters wide, and smaller peripheral caves and murals. Experts have collected some of the site's relics for restoration. The local government built a 10-meter-high dam to protect the caves from water damage. Travelers can view the big Buddha statue from the top of the dam and take ladders down to the statue's feet.