🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
Gaochang to Yuan 500–1300 CE · Uyghur Buddhist (ancient Uyghur–Tocharian)
Turpan depression Uyghur Buddhist cliff with 77 donor-portrait caves below sea level.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Kizil Caves (Bezeklik precursor)
Six Dynasties to Tang ~300–800 CE · Tocharian Kuchean Buddhist with Gandharan influence
Kucha's 236 lapis-blue Jataka caves - China's earliest Buddhist grottoes on the Silk Road.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Bingling Temple Lower Grottoes — Liujia Gorge Yellow River Cliffs
Western Jin to Yuan (300 – 1300 CE) · Buddhist Hexi nomad to Tang imperial
Lower cliffs with 420 CE earliest inscribed cave 169 of 169 caves at Liujia Reservoir.
🇨🇳 China · Pyramid
Goguryeo Pyramidal Tombs – Jian (Ji'an)
Goguryeo Kingdom 37 BCE–668 CE (pyramids 3–7 c CE peak) · Goguryeo (Korean–Chinese proto-state)
Eastern Asia's largest tumulus pyramid cluster: 7,000+ stone step-pyramids and earthen mounds 3 Kingdoms Goguryeo (37 BCE–668 CE) across Ji'an (Tonggou, Guonei) and DPRK Pyongyang cluster.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains
Tang → Yuan → Ming Yongle peak → Qing · Taoist (Zhenwu / Xuanwu school)
Taoist sacred mountain complex on 72 peaks 800–1612 m, 9 palaces, 36 convents and 72 cliff temples built primarily 1412–1424 under Ming Yongle emperor (200,000 artisans) as political legitimation…
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Bingling Temple Grottoes
Sixteen Kingdoms → Qing 420–1911 · Buddhist (Hexi Silk Road)
Yellow River gorge sanctuary of 183 caves and 694 statues cut into 60 m yellow sandstone cliff above reservoir since 420 CE (Western Qin) to Qing, famous for 27 m Maitreya Buddha (Tang) carved from…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Maijishan Eastern Cliff — Tianshui Stacked Grottoes East Face
Later Qin to Song (384 – 1279 CE) · Buddhist Hexi to Central Plains transition at Wei River gap
East face stacked 90 caves 142 m hill with 16 m Buddha and plankway tiers.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Kizil Central Cave — Kuqa Muzat River Diamond Pattern Sanctuary
Eastern Han to Tang (200 – 800 CE) · Tocharian Buddhist Kucha with Gandhara influence
Central 30–80 of 339 Kizil caves with 3.2 m diamond-vault Buddha of Tocharian Kucha 3rd–8th c.
🇨🇳 China · Pyramid
Maoling Pyramid – Tomb of Emperor Wu of Han
Western Han (Han Wudi reign 141–87 BCE; tomb built 139–87 BCE) · Han Chinese (Western Han)
Largest pyramidal tomb in China for Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che (156–87 BCE, 54-year reign, Han zenith): rammed-earth truncated pyramid 222 × 217 m base, 46.5 m high (originally 46.5 from 24 m…
🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Zuojiang Huashan Ningming — Luoyue Serpent Cliff
Warring States to Eastern Han (403 BCE – 220 CE) · Luoyue (proto-Zhuang) Boyue culture
Serpent-bend cliff with dragon and drum motifs 8 km upstream from main panel.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Dazu Rock Carvings
Tang to Southern Song ~650–1252 CE · Chinese esoteric Buddhist (Tang–Song)
50,000 Tantric cliff sculptures — China's last Buddhist rock-cut synthesis at Baoding.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Mati Si Thousand Buddha Cliff — Sunan Horse Hoof North Grottoes
Sixteen Kingdoms to Yuan (397 – 1368 CE) · North Asian Buddhist with Tibetan Yugur later
Thousand Buddha northern cliff with 30 caves and horse-hoof imprint 397–1368 CE.
🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder
Badaling Great Wall
Ming Dynasty 1505 (Jiajing) rebuild over Northern Qi core · Ming Han Chinese
Best-preserved Ming Great Wall pass (1505) at 1,015 m Juyongguan defile north of Beijing, 7.8 m high crenellated brick-stone ramparts with 19 watchtowers, widened for five horses abreast and beacon…
🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder
Forbidden City (Imperial Palace, Beijing)
Ming to Qing 1406–1420 construction, occupied 1420–1912 CE · Ming / Qing Chinese imperial
Ming-Qing imperial palace (1420–1912, 961 buildings, 9,999 rooms) occupying 72 ha within Beijing's inner city, the world's largest wooden palace ensemble.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Longmen Grottoes
Northern Wei to Tang 493–907 CE (peak Northern Wei 493–534, Tang 618–907) · Chinese Buddhist (Wei-Tang)
1-km limestone gorge with 1345 caves and niches, 2,345 caves total? Actually 1,345 caves, 43 pagodas and 100,000+ Buddhist images (largest Vairocana 17.14 m) carved 493–907 CE from Northern Wei…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Maijishan Grottoes
Sixteen Kingdoms to Tang ~384–907 CE · Chinese Buddhist Northern Dynasties
Stacked-cliff wheat-plant-shaped grotto city with 7,200 sculptures on bolted plank galleries.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Tianlongshan Cave 8 — Manshan Pavilion Buddha Sanctuary
Eastern Wei to Tang (534 – 750 CE) · Buddhist Northern dynasties under Gao Qi and Tang
Cave 8 Manshan Buddha 3.6 m of Northern Qi–Tang on western slope.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Mogao Northern Caves — Dunhuang Oasis North Cliff Monastic Cells
Sixteen Kingdoms to Yuan (366 – 1368 CE) northern cells 960–1300 · Buddhist monastic Dunhuang oasis international
North cliff austere monastic cells 1000–1300 CE opposite southern painted scripture halls.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Bingling (Binglingsi) Grottoes
Sixteen Kingdoms to Ming ~420–1644 CE · Northwestern Chinese Buddhist (Western Qin to Tibetan)
Yellow River cliff grotto accessible only by boat, bearing China's earliest dated 420 CE inscription.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Yungang Western Cliffs — Datong Grottoes West End Caves
Northern Wei to Liao (453 – 525 CE peak) · Buddhist Tanyao imperial under Emperor Wencheng
Western 5 caves 40–45 with Tanyao Buddhas 15 m of Northern Wei Pingcheng capital.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Longmen Binyang Central Cave — Mt Long Gate Middle Grotto Sanctuary
Northern Wei to Tang (493 – 750 CE) · Buddhist imperial Luoyang under Empress Dowager Hu
Central Binyang 11 m Buddha of Northern Wei Emperor Xuanwu at Yi Gorge.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Yungang Grottoes
Northern Wei 460–525 CE (Tanyao 460–465, later sinicized 471–524) · Xianbei Northern Wei Buddhist
45 major caves on 1-km sandstone cliff with 51,000 statues (460–524 CE) of Northern Wei before capital moved to Luoyang.
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City
Liangzhu Culture 3400–2250 BCE (county late Neolithic) · Liangzhu (proto-Chinese Yangtze)
Neolithic Liangzhu culture capital (3400–2250 BCE) on Yangtze, covering 14.3 ha walled city with 6.3 km rectilinear earthen walls, hydraulic system with three dams and 26 km artificial canals to…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Dazu Beishan Rock Carvings — Chongqing Northern Mountain Gallery
Late Tang to Southern Song (892 – 1178 CE) · Chinese Buddhist with Song gentry patron
Beishan 264 caves with 10k slender Song statues 892–1178 at Dazu north hill.