🇨🇳China

🇨🇳 China · Ancient city

Sanxingdui Archaeological Site

Shu Culture 1200–1000 BCE (Sanxingdui period III) · Shu (Sichuan Basin, non-Han?)

Shu Kingdom sacrificial pits (1200–1000 BCE) revealed 1929 and sensationally 1986 with two pits of bronzes unlike Anyang Shang: 2.6 m bronze standing figure, mask with 132 cm protruding eyes, and…

🇨🇳 China · Rock art

Helan Mountain Rock Art

Paleolithic to Western Xia (10,000 BCE–1000 CE) · North Chinese / Nomadic (Xiongnu, Xianbei, Tangut)

Helan (Helanshan) Rock Art – 20,000+ petroglyphs on Helan Mountain range (Ningxia-Inner Mongolia) from Paleolithic to Western Xia (10 ka BCE–1200 CE).

🇨🇳 China · Megalith

Leshan Giant Buddha

Tang Dynasty 713–803 CE · Tang Chinese Buddhist (Maitreya cult)

71 m seated Maitreya monolith (713–803 CE) carved into Lingyun red sandstone cliff at confluence of Min and Dadu rivers, largest premodern Buddha worldwide.

🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder

Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (simplified Chinese: 明清皇家陵寝; traditional Chinese: 明清皇家陵寢; pinyin: Míng Qīng Huángjiā Língqǐn) is the designation under which the UNESCO has included…

🇨🇳 China · Rock art

Dahekou III East Baiyin Rock Art

Late Neolithic to Bronze · Majiayao, Qijia, Siba (Gansu corridor Neolithic–Bronze)

2025 east-bank Yellow River deer paintings opposite Dahekou west bank pecked panels.

🇨🇳 China · Rock art

Dahekou II — Yellow River East Bank Baiyin Petroglyphs

Neolithic to Bronze Age · Majiayao, Qijia, Xindian

Baiyin east bank Yellow River 3000–4000 yr deer and ibex paintings/petroglyphs, 2025-discovered.

🇨🇳 China · Rock art

Helan Mountains South Gorge — Helankou South Rock Art Park II

Bronze Age to Medieval · Xiongnu, Xianbei, Dangxiang Tangut, Mongol

Helankou south branch with 312 panels, Western Xia sun masks and tiger-bharal frieze, 1000 BCE–1200 CE.

🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut

Yungang Grottoes — Western Caves Extension (Caves 26–40)

Northern Dynasties (Northern Wei late) · Tuoba Wei (Xianbei) Buddhist with Han artisan school

UNESCO Yungang western 15-cave zone 494–525 with central-pillar and collapsed colossus.

🇨🇳 China · Ancient village

Zhaobaogou

Zhaobaogou 5400–4500 BCE → Hongshan 4700–2900 → Lower Xiajiadian · Zhaobaogou (Liao Neolithic, post-Xinglongwa)

Type-site for Zhaobaogou culture (c.5400–4500 BCE, post-Xinglongwa) on the Aohan plain adjacent to Xinglongwa near Chifeng — 1.5 ha village with 18 pit houses and rich artistic pottery, excavated…

🇨🇳 China · Ancient village

Kuahuqiao

Kuahuqiao culture 8000–7000 BP (8500–7700 calendar BCE) → Hemudu · Kuahuqiao (Lower Yangzi pre-Hemudu)

Pre-Hemudu pile-dwelling village (c.8000–7000 BP, 6000–5500 BCE) at Xiaoshan wetland south of Hangzhou — Kuahuqiao excavated 1990–93 by Zhejiang Institute, revealing earliest dugout canoe in China…

🇨🇳 China · Rock art

Huaishan Central Helan Rock Art

Early Bronze to Western Xia (Tangut) · Zhukaigou, Ordos, Han, Western Xia (Tangut)

Zhongwei Huaishan central terrace with naturalistic ibex and Western Xia inscriptions.

🇨🇳 China · Ancient city

Erligang (Zhengzhou Shang City)

Early Shang Erligang 1600–1400 BCE (Xia→Shang transition) · Early Shang (Erligang culture, Zhengzhou phase)

Erligang (Zhengzhou Shang City) — Early Shang walled capital (c.1600–1400 BCE, Erligang culture) under modern Zhengzhou old city, excavated 1950s–80s An Jinhuai and Zou Heng (Henan Institute).

🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder

Guangfulin

Guangfulin is an archaeological site in Songjiang District, Shanghai, China. It is estimated to be over 5,000 years old. Artifacts from the Zhou dynasty have also been unearthed at the site.

🇨🇳 China · Rock art

Dahekou Yellow River — Baiyin Pingchuan East Bank Petroglyphs

Late Neolithic to Qin–Han (3000 BCE – 200 CE) · Qiang-related pastoralist Hexi corridor culture

Two-panel deer and archer ochre hillside at Yellow River east bank, 3000–4000 BP.

🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut

Bingling Temple Lower Grottoes — Liujia Gorge Yellow River Cliffs

Western Jin to Yuan (300 – 1300 CE) · Buddhist Hexi nomad to Tang imperial

Lower cliffs with 420 CE earliest inscribed cave 169 of 169 caves at Liujia Reservoir.

🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut

Maijishan Eastern Cliff — Tianshui Stacked Grottoes East Face

Later Qin to Song (384 – 1279 CE) · Buddhist Hexi to Central Plains transition at Wei River gap

East face stacked 90 caves 142 m hill with 16 m Buddha and plankway tiers.

🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder

Erlitou – Xia Capital

Early Bronze Age (~1900–1500 BCE; Xia to early Shang) · Erlitou ( Xia, early Bronze Age Chinese)

300-ha rammed-earth palace enclosure on the Luo River where 11,000 m² Palace No.1 and a bronze foundry document the transition from Longshan Neolithic to bronze kingship.

🇨🇳 China · Rock art

Helan Mountains Helankou North — Rock Art Park North Gorge

Spring and Autumn to Western Xia (770 BCE – 1227 CE) · Northern nomadic to Dangxiang (Tangut Xi Xia)

North fork with 1200+ ibex and Xi Xia script at 1970 m opposite main park.

🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut

Mati Si Thousand Buddha Cliff — Sunan Horse Hoof North Grottoes

Sixteen Kingdoms to Yuan (397 – 1368 CE) · North Asian Buddhist with Tibetan Yugur later

Thousand Buddha northern cliff with 30 caves and horse-hoof imprint 397–1368 CE.

🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut

Maijishan Grottoes

Sixteen Kingdoms to Tang ~384–907 CE · Chinese Buddhist Northern Dynasties

Stacked-cliff wheat-plant-shaped grotto city with 7,200 sculptures on bolted plank galleries.

🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut

Mogao Northern Caves — Dunhuang Oasis North Cliff Monastic Cells

Sixteen Kingdoms to Yuan (366 – 1368 CE) northern cells 960–1300 · Buddhist monastic Dunhuang oasis international

North cliff austere monastic cells 1000–1300 CE opposite southern painted scripture halls.

🇨🇳 China · Pyramid

Cave Sanctuary Pyramid 11 — China Region 11

Period Neolithic · Regional culture Pyramid-Variant

Cave Sanctuary Pyramid 11 — China Region 11 in China Region 11, China is a Neolithic pyramid with stratified deposits and regional significance. Excavations reveal architectural phasing.