Kuqa Mysterious Grand Canyon

The Tianshan Mysterious Canyon or Kizilia (“Red Cliffs” in Uyghur), lies north of Kuqa in Xinjiang’s Aksu Prefecture. Carved by millions of years of wind and water erosion, its red sandstone walls conceal traces of an older human past. According to local accounts, the A’ai Grottoes, a group of cliffside Buddhist caves, were rediscovered in 1999 by a farmer seeking shelter from rain. Archaeological study has since dated them to the Tang dynasty, when Kuqa was a thriving Buddhist kingdom on the Silk Road. The murals and carvings found within blend Chinese and Central Asian artistic styles, with inscriptions in both Chinese and Kucha scripts, reflecting the cultural exchange that flourished along this frontier of empire and faith.