Atlas of China
Xumishan Grottoes 须弥山石窟Xūmí Shān Shíkū
4A scenic area · National heritage site · Guyuan, Ningxia
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Days to budget
- Half a day
- City
- Guyuan
- Region
- Ningxia
- Type
- Heritage
- Listed as
- 4A scenic area, National heritage site
About Xumishan Grottoes
More than 130 Buddhist cave temples cut into the red sandstone hills of Mount Xumi from the late Northern Wei to the Tang dynasty, spread over about 1.5 km in groups such as Dafolou, Zisungong, Yuanguangsi, Xiangguosi and Taohuadong. The best-known figure is the seated Tang Maitreya Buddha of Cave 5, about 20.6 m high, while the Yuanguangsi group, mostly Northern Zhou, holds the richest carving. Many caves were damaged by the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake, erosion and the Cultural Revolution, and the scenic area has a museum on the Silk Road and Buddhist cave art.
How to get to Xumishan Grottoes
About 55 km north-west of Guyuan by road, roughly an hour's drive.
On the map
Open Xumishan Grottoes on the illustrated map to see the terrain around it and what else is close, and to add it to a trip.
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