The Bezeklik Thousand-Buddha Caves is situated at the north bank of Muzat River and about 7 km the south of Bezeklik Town between the Kuqa County and Baichen County. The best known are undoubtedly those at Bezeklik (some 50km/30 minutes 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.

We 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 art achievements of Bezeklik Thousand-Buddha Grottoes are reflected concentratively in two items: one is the beautiful fresco and the other is architecture of the grottoes. The artists of ancient Quici skillfully reflected the people and events, love and hate in real life through the paintings directly or indirectly. In a word, the special shape of Bezeklik Thousand-Buddha Grottoes, the theme of mural painting and its artistic style, mirrored the social pictures of the ancient Quici and provide valuable information for researching history, Buddhism, culture and art of the ancient Qiuci, and the relationship between ancient China and Western countries.

China tours inclusive of visiting Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, Turpan