Mogao Grottoes, also known as Thousand-Buddha Cave, is located at the east foot of the Singing Sand Mountains, which is 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province. First built in 366 AD, Mogao Grottoes has 735 grottoes in various types that have lasted more than 1,000 years, reflecting the splendid Buddhist culture and arts of dynasties from Northern Liang, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang to Five Dynasties. Of the total, 492 grottoes have frescoes and painted sculptures, with 45,000 square meters of frescoes, over 2,400 painted sculptures, and 5 wood-structure grottoes from the Tang and Song dynasties. In 1900, more than 50,000 pieces of documents in various types and paintings were found at the Sutra Cave (No. 17 Cave) of Dunhuang. The documents cover Buddhist sutra, history and other topics ranging from the period between Western Jin Dynasty and Song Dynasty.

Mogao Grottoes is a cultural treasure house of architecture, painted sculptures and frescoes, which cover a wide range of topics including arts, history, economy, culture, religion and education in ancient times. Therefore, the grottoes and the cultural relics are of great value of history, arts and science, are the treasures of the Chinese nation and the excellent cultural heritage of the human beings. Mogao Grottoes is the largest and best-preserved Buddhist art treasure worldwide and is praised as the "Oriental Pearl of Arts". In 1961, Mogao Grottoes was listed as a national-level key protection unit of cultural relics and in 1987; it was put on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.