Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
4
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Monday
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Sunday
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
Top ways to experience Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
The area
Address
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Attractions
3 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.0
146 reviews
Excellent
34
Very good
61
Average
41
Poor
8
Terrible
2
Wsea3h
Asia4,342 contributions
Oct 2019
Time have passed and not much are left to be seen but I enjoyed walking there. I prefer this more than the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. In Bezeklik, some rooms were opened for visitors to view, some were locked. It was a very nice visit for the views around. Easy to go from Turpan town by taxi.
Written 11 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Michaela F
Shrewsbury, UK22 contributions
Nov 2015 • Friends
This may seem a little out of the way for those staying in Urumqi, but it's a great place to go if you're interested in gazing upon ancient artwork / murals. There are only a small number of caves open to the public, which are constantly guarded, so you don't need to spend a huge amount of time there and many of the murals have either been destroyed or defaced. However, some the images that they have managed to salvage are still so full of colour that when you walk through each one it is easy to imagine what they would have looked like in their full glory.
Plus, you get to journey through the infamous Flaming Mountain to get there - well worth it.
Plus, you get to journey through the infamous Flaming Mountain to get there - well worth it.
Written 12 December 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Timothy D
Suzhou, China692 contributions
Oct 2019
The drive alone up to the site is beautiful as the road meanders up a desert valley. Although many of the paintings were vandalized and destroyed in the caves, enough is still left to make the site interesting and worth a visit. I don’t have any pictures from inside the caves as photographs were not allowed there.
Written 6 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jollymonkey
Brighton, UK62 contributions
Sept 2019 • Couples
It’s a shame because a hundred years ago these would have been interesting but almost all the artwork has been stolen so they’re really more like holes than Buddha caves. My advice is to give this a miss and spend your time instead at the Mogao Caves a sleeper train away in Dunhuang which are a thousand times better (really just a much more impressive and better preserved version of the same thing). The Mogao Caves are a lot more expensive, but you’re really getting something for your money (including an English language tour).
Written 17 September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MarcelTraveller
Voorschoten, The Netherlands1,764 contributions
May 2018 • Couples
On the 17th of May 2018 we made a tour around Turpan (with tahirtour8@yahoo.com) visiting the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, Tuyoq Village, Kariz wells, Jiaohe Ancient City and finally the Emin Minaret.
1. We departed by car from our hotel at 9.30 (Beijing time) and arrived at 10.15 at the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves. Beziklik, by the way, means in Uygur: ‘place with paintings’. We departed at 11.15. On the way to the caves, you’ll see the film set – a small village – used for the movie ‘Journey to the West’.
2. An hour to visit the caves is sufficient. The best time for photo’s is in the morning, because later in the afternoon the entrance of the caves is in the shade.
3. You know you are at the site because of the parking area with busses with Chinese visitors. The caves are not visible, because you’ll have to go downstairs about 20 metres. They are located on a lower level. The location of the caves is in our opinion the most interesting of this site; the interior of the caves we have seen was mostly disappointing because of vanished colours and demolished paintings.
4. When we compare the caves we have seen (here in Turpan, near Kuqa and near Dunhuang) and have to divide 100 points, we would say Dunhuang (Magao caves) deserves 75, Turpan 15 and Kuqa 10 points. If you have to make a choice because of lack of time, it is clear what to choose.
5. My wife, who has visited the toilet at this location, advises, if possible, not to go and to visit a toilet on another location because you have no privacy in the (3) toilets at this location.
1. We departed by car from our hotel at 9.30 (Beijing time) and arrived at 10.15 at the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves. Beziklik, by the way, means in Uygur: ‘place with paintings’. We departed at 11.15. On the way to the caves, you’ll see the film set – a small village – used for the movie ‘Journey to the West’.
2. An hour to visit the caves is sufficient. The best time for photo’s is in the morning, because later in the afternoon the entrance of the caves is in the shade.
3. You know you are at the site because of the parking area with busses with Chinese visitors. The caves are not visible, because you’ll have to go downstairs about 20 metres. They are located on a lower level. The location of the caves is in our opinion the most interesting of this site; the interior of the caves we have seen was mostly disappointing because of vanished colours and demolished paintings.
4. When we compare the caves we have seen (here in Turpan, near Kuqa and near Dunhuang) and have to divide 100 points, we would say Dunhuang (Magao caves) deserves 75, Turpan 15 and Kuqa 10 points. If you have to make a choice because of lack of time, it is clear what to choose.
5. My wife, who has visited the toilet at this location, advises, if possible, not to go and to visit a toilet on another location because you have no privacy in the (3) toilets at this location.
Written 24 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Victorie42
Apeldoorn, The Netherlands19 contributions
Oct 2015 • Couples
The setting of the caves is astonishing and also the reddish color of the mudclay of the caves. It is a pity only a few were open to be visited. It was too dark to see it properly. Many shraped away faces at the murals. It also forbidden to take photos.
An old man was playing an ancient instrument outside of one of the caves, that was nice.
An old man was playing an ancient instrument outside of one of the caves, that was nice.
Written 15 December 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jane W
San Francisco, CA19 contributions
Sept 2018
True...the Beseklik Buddha Caves were notoriously robbed by the Great Game hunters...leaving comparative scraps of paintings behind. Nonetheless, I had a beutifully fine day here, as an artist. No photos allowed, so I had to resort to my ink pen and sketch book. How joyful to draw direct from what I saw on the cave walls! There’s no better way to study drawing than to learn direct from the hands of the masters. For me, it felt like studying direct from the monks of antiquity. As well, hardly a soul was there on this warm September day, I pretty much had each cave to myself. Seriously...how, er, cool is that?
Written 23 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ida B
Quezon City, Philippines52 contributions
Apr 2017 • Couples
Loved the view of the Flaming Mountains on the way to the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves. Also amazing were the caves and how they were ruined then preserved--so much history!
Written 5 April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
arnels0n
Jackson, WY71 contributions
Sept 2016 • Family
On my archaeological tour of Xinjiang this was a good if not absolutely imperative stop. The take away here was the clear historical relativist implication in the written material that the archaeologists who came in the early 1900's were little more than looters who took out some of the best frescoes only to have them destroyed when the Berlin Museums were bombed during the 2nd world war. On the other hand, the deliberate defacing of the Buddha images faces by subsequent Muslim people was a clear reminder of the Taliban's destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. The caves themselves were very interesting, and the remaining fresco work that had not been either taken out or defaced was great to see. I had the opportunity to play Rawap with an old guy sitting and playing the Uigher stringed instrument at the site.
Written 10 October 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FYL003
Chicago, IL1,050 contributions
Oct 2015 • Couples
Very few fresco remained in the caves opened for tourists. A lot has been destroyed. The caves were very dark and there was no internal lightning in order to protect the fresco. It was very difficult to see. However, the exterior structure of the site was the attraction,
Written 24 October 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JeanneGo11
Nevers, France
Hello, how to do Turpan —> Bezklik with bus?
Thank you.
Written 7 December 2017
We did not notice public buses at Bezeklik though there were many tourist buses. We hired a taxi and driver for two days for 300 yuan per day. He took us to Tuyoq Village and Bezeklik Caves, then Jiaohe ruins, Karez museums and the Emin Minaret. If you are arriving by bus from Urumqi, there are taxi drivers waiting at the bus station who will want to negotiate a price for these trips.
Written 8 December 2017
Showing results 1-1 of 1
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing