Maiji Shan 麦积山石窟, Tianshui CHINA.
June 2012.

We were in Maijishan in the summer of 2012, after traveling through Urumqi, Turpan and Dunhuang. We stayed at Tianshui and took a morning bus to Maijishan.

The Maijishan Grottoes are a series of 194 caves cut in the sides of Maiji Shan and contains more than 7 000 Buddhist sculptures. Many have equate Maiji Shan to the three great grottoes (Yungang, Mogao, and Longmen) of China, and in fact has labelled Maijishan as China's fourth.

The mountain is formed of purplish red sandstone.

The ticket office and entrance to the hill complex is about three kilometers away from the foot of the hill. Since the road is at an incline, it would be a good idea to go to the foot of the hill from the entrance gate by an electric-powered car (return CNY 10). The through ticket, which allows one to climb the hill and explore the caves, is CNY70 per person; The ticket excluding Maiji Caves is CNY20 per person.





Bodhisattva sculptures at Maijishan

If you have a serious case of vertigo, then climbing these stairs would present a great challenge; they are actually over-hanging from the cliffs. Here's another picture to make you feel dizzy and constrict the groin ...

So, what's the reward for braving the dizzying over-hanging walkways and the steep kneecap-breaking steps? And not forgetting having to fork out CNY70 to boot for it?... Here's what you get ...

this ...

...  this

... and this, a bailaor look-alike deity, and another restrained ...

 

... plus the soothing greenery below...

and this feeling of tantric calm ...

Worth the vertigo stricken spins and broken knee-caps? Harharhar...just joking, for the fact is, after the climb you'd feel much fitter. Believe me. 

As a reward for a calorifically good climb, and to refill the empty spaces caused by the burning of the body fats, we decided to indulge ourselves in our usual past-times ...

Pork-ribs

... the ubiquitous greens ...

...and braised mutton