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Binglingsi is located in smaller Jishi Mountain, 35 kilometers south-west of Yongjing county in Gansu province. "Bingling" means "thousand Buddhas" or "ten-thousand Buddhas" in the Tibetan language. The Grottoes carved into the cliffs of red sand-stones at both ends of Dasigou (valley) was first constructed in the Western Qin Dynasty, and continuously went on expansion on a massive scale through the dynasties of Northern and Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Shui, Tang, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. The Grottoes consist of three parts: Shangsi, Donggou, and Xiasi. Shangsi were ruined by fire and what remained are only a few statues of Buddhas. In Xiasi, there are 34 caves and 14 niches still existing. They contain 694 stone statues, 82 clay figures, 5 stone carvings and clay pagodas and 900 square meters of murals. Binglingsi is one of the ten largest Chinese grottoes.

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