The Western Thousand Buddha Cave Travel Guide

The Western Thousand-Buddha Cave, which is situated to the west of Mogao Caves, is set into a cliff on the bank of the Dang River, 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) from Dunhuang City. Because the frescoes in this cave are similar in structure and artistic style to those found in Mogao Caves, the Western Thousand-Buddha Cave is considered Duahuang Buddhist art.

Although the exact ages of the caves are not known, there is speculation that this cave may have emerged earlier than the Mogao Caves did.There are 16 caverns, over 800 square meters (about 8,611 square feet) of murals and 34 painted clay statues. Some of the caverns were made in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) and others in the Wei Dynasty (386 - 534). Unfortunately, some of the caverns have collapsed, but ten of them are open to tourists.