High in those cliffs are carved niches that housed Buddhist sculptures and frescoes. This temple was really high but there were steps leading up to it. The Chinese word means 'many' and there are many niches carved into these cliffs. In its original day there were no steps leading to these niches. The carvers hung from ropes from above to carve, sculpt and paint these niches. The whole place was so inaccessible that they escaped the punitive work of the communist red army. They remained well preserved. Today we can get to them by boats and walkways have been built so that we can view them. Though they are smaller than the caves in Dunhuang, a trip we embarked on last year, nevertheless they are still very impressive.
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