Silk road tour(2)

By ma suqin
　　Ningxia hui autonomous region neighbors shaanxi and gansu provinces . the northern route of the old silk road crosses shaanxi to pingliang in gansu , then heads north through southern ningxia to guyuan ,then continues northwest through gansu to wuwei where it joins the main route .
　　The main attractions of the ningxia section of the silk road are concentrated around guyuan .its historic sites include the qin great wall of the warring states period and the sumeru grottoes.
Mount sumeru, 55 kilometers northwest of the county seat of guyuan, is separated into two halves by a river ,the grotesque rocks on the banks of the river look like two huge stone doors. On the norghern bank there are numerous caves the sumeru grottoes.

The sumeru grottoes

　　 Construction of the sumeru grottoes began in the middle to late northern wei dynasty (386-534),dating back 1,400 years .the caves ,which are scattered on the middle and bottom portions of eight cliffs ,stretch two kilometers from south to north or west . Begun in the northern wei dynasty , the project continued throughout several dynasties. By the tang dynasty (618-907) ,the large jingyun temple had appeared. The sumeru grottoes were dug into the red sandstone .because of exposure to the elements ,human damage and earthquakes, only about 20 of the 130 caves have well-preserved Buddhist sculptures. These include the great Buddha tower, descen-dantpalace,yuangyang temple,xiangguo temple andpeach blossom cave.cave 45 and 46 have the most sculptures ,with more than 40 statues larger than life-sized figures. Although cave 51 has suffered earthquake damage, people can still see its grand scale. The cave comprises a front chamber ,a main chamber and two side rooms on the left and right .the main chamber is 10 meters wide, 12.5 meters long and 20 meters high .the square tower shaed column in the center has niches on four sides .each niche contains a six-meter-tall Buddha flanked by two buddhisattvas .three six-meter-tall Buddha statues sit on a rectangular altar in the main chamber .they are rare masterpieces among Buddhist sculptures .a sitting maitreya on the second cliff if 19 meters high ,the largest cliff sculpture on sumeru.

　　 The sumeru grottoes also contain wall inscriptions from the tang dynasty(618-907) to the ming dynasty (1368-1644).stone tablets erected in the ming dynasty provide precious materials for those researching grotto art or the social and historic conditions of the times.

Ancient great wall
　　Ningxia is called the "museum of the creat wall",because dozens of parts of the great wall there were built during different dynasties.on the guyuan section of the old silk road ,one the guyuan section of the old silk road ,one section of the great wall was built during the qin dynasty,it wanders like a dragon over the mountains between ningxia's xiji and guyuan .it enters ningxia from gansu, stretches to jiangtai and Malian in southern xiji , then turns northeast surrounding the county seat of guyuan ,then enters gansu again, and finally links to the shaanxi section of the qin greatwall.

　　 The qin great wall was built of rammed earth ,after thousands of years, its height has dwindled to one to three meters.beacon towers for garrison officers and soldiers were built at important passes and peaks.on the inner side of the great wall are city ruins where tourists can find roof tiles and tile-ends with cloud patterns. Li xian's tomb of the northern zhou dynasty and gilded silver kettle In 1983,more than 700 artifacts were unearthed from the joined tombs of li xian ,a general of the northern zhou dynasty,and his wife .the burial objects include figurines,bowls ,and wells made of pottery ,and artifacts of gold ,silver ,bronze, iron,stone and jade.

　　 The well-preserved tomb passage and chambers contain 27 murals . among the objects excavated were a gilded silver kettle and glass bowl from the sassan dynasty of the Persian empire. The gilded silver kettle is the only one of its kinds ever found from the sassan dynasty. The two objects were called the "eyes"of a mobile exhibition of hundreds of cultural relics displayed in japan,where they caused quite a sensation.

　　 The relics unearthed from li xian's tomb are not only important discoveries since the founding of the people's republic in 1949,they also have filled in blanks in the tomb discoveries of the late northern dynasties and the painting of the northern zhou dynasty .the discovery of Persian relics is important to research on ancient cultural exchanges between east and west.
Guyuan's long history has left it with a rich cultural heritage. In the past ,because of its backward economy and poor transortation ,its tourism industry was underdevelopment of the new are.guyuan is no longer isolated .the operation of a local railway will greatly promote the tourism industry and attract more tourists to learn about guyuan's past ,present and future.