🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Zuojiang Huashan Ningming — Luoyue Serpent Cliff
Warring States to Eastern Han (403 BCE – 220 CE) · Luoyue (proto-Zhuang) Boyue culture
Serpent-bend cliff with dragon and drum motifs 8 km upstream from main panel.
🇨🇳 China · Pyramid
Geoglyph Panel Pyramid 29 — China Region 5
Period Medieval · Regional culture Pyramid-Variant
Geoglyph Panel Pyramid 29 — China Region 5 in China Region 5, China is a Bronze Age pyramid with stratified deposits and regional significance. Excavations reveal architectural phasing.
🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Kangjiashimenzi Rock Art - Tianshan Corridor
Bronze Age c.1500–1000 BCE · Eurasian Steppe (Andronovo-Cherkaskul?)
Kangjiashimenzi – Bronze Age (c.1500–1000 BCE) 120m-long reddish sandstone cliff with 300+ dancing ithyphallic figures linked to shamanic fertility ritual.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Dazu Beishan Rock Carvings — Chongqing Northern Mountain Gallery
Late Tang to Southern Song (892 – 1178 CE) · Chinese Buddhist with Song gentry patron
Beishan 264 caves with 10k slender Song statues 892–1178 at Dazu north hill.
🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder
Jiayuguan Pass (First Strategic Pass Under Heaven)
Ming Dynasty 1372–1540 CE (major 1484 rebuild) · Ming Han Chinese
Ming western gateway fortress (1372–1540) on Hexi Corridor terminus of Great Wall, 33,500 m² bastioned rammed-earth and brick rectangle abutting Qilian foothills and Black Mountain gorge.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Mogao Caves (Caves of the Thousand Buddhas)
Sixteen Kingdoms to Yuan 366–1368 CE (peak Tang 618–907) · Multi-ethnic Buddhist (Han, Tibetan, Uyghur, Sogdian)
492 temple caves on 1.7 km Mingsha cliff with 2,000 painted sculptures and 45,000 m² murals spanning 366–1368 CE (Sixteen Kingdoms to Yuan).
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Taosi
Late Longshan Taosi phase 2300–1900 BCE → Erlitou transition · Longshan (Taosi culture) → Early Xia? (Yao/Shun legend)
Late Longshan (Taosi phase) walled regional capital (c.2300–1900 BCE) at Tao Temple basin near Linfen, Shanxi — 280 ha enclosure (largest Longshan city in Yellow River basin) with rammed-earth outer…
🇨🇳 China · Hydraulic works
Turpan Karez Extension (Flaming Mountains North Piedmont)
Imperial Chinese (Ming-Qing) on Han antecedent · Turpan Uyghur / Han frontier
Eastern extension (30 m asl, 42°57′04″N 89°11′22″E Turpan municipal 42.9512,89.1895; Flaming Mountains 100 km E-W 42.98,89.20 500-850 m) of Turpan-Hami Silk Road karez water system UNESCO 1442 Silk…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient village
Pengtoushan
Pengtoushan culture 7500–6000 BCE → Zaoshi → Tangjiagang → Chengtoushan · Pengtoushan (Middle Yangzi earliest Neolithic)
Type-site for Pengtoushan culture (c.7500–6000 BCE, 9000–8000 BP) on the Li River plain near Li County — earliest permanent village in the Middle Yangzi (Hunan), contemporary with Peiligang and…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient village
Bashidang
Pengtoushan late 7000–5000 BCE → Zaoshi 5800–5000 BCE · Pengtoushan (Middle Yangzi late) → Zaoshi transitional
Moated Neolithic town (c.7000–5000 BCE, Pengtoushan culture late phase) at Bashidang on the Li River swamp south of Pengtoushan — 3 ha circular settlement with earthen wall and ditch, excavated…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Panlongcheng Archaeological Site
Early Shang Erligang phase 1600–1300 BCE · Shang (Erligang) colonists over indigenous Yangtze
Earliest Shang walled town south of the Yellow River (c.1600–1300 BCE) at Panlong Lake north of Wuhan, proving Early Shang (Erligang phase) military–resource colonization 800 km south to control…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
Gaochang to Yuan 500–1300 CE · Uyghur Buddhist (ancient Uyghur–Tocharian)
Turpan depression Uyghur Buddhist cliff with 77 donor-portrait caves below sea level.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains
Tang → Yuan → Ming Yongle peak → Qing · Taoist (Zhenwu / Xuanwu school)
Taoist sacred mountain complex on 72 peaks 800–1612 m, 9 palaces, 36 convents and 72 cliff temples built primarily 1412–1424 under Ming Yongle emperor (200,000 artisans) as political legitimation…
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Bingling Temple Grottoes
Sixteen Kingdoms → Qing 420–1911 · Buddhist (Hexi Silk Road)
Yellow River gorge sanctuary of 183 caves and 694 statues cut into 60 m yellow sandstone cliff above reservoir since 420 CE (Western Qin) to Qing, famous for 27 m Maitreya Buddha (Tang) carved from…
🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder
Badaling Great Wall
Ming Dynasty 1505 (Jiajing) rebuild over Northern Qi core · Ming Han Chinese
Best-preserved Ming Great Wall pass (1505) at 1,015 m Juyongguan defile north of Beijing, 7.8 m high crenellated brick-stone ramparts with 19 watchtowers, widened for five horses abreast and beacon…
🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Huaishan Rock Petroglyphs — Zhongwei
Bronze Age to Mongol (Xixia 1038–1227 peak) · Northern nomads (Proto-Mongolic, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Xixia Tangut, Mongol)
Helan southernmost Huaishan 800 ibex and shaman faces on Yellow River Tengger bend, Bronze–Xixia patina.
🇨🇳 China · Ancient village
Shangshan
Shangshan culture 9000–7000 BCE → Kuahuqiao (8500–7700) → Hemudu · Shangshan (Lower Yangzi earliest Neolithic, Pre-Yangshao)
Type-site for Shangshan culture (c.11000–9000 BP, 9000–7000 BCE) at Huangzhai near Pujiang, Zhejiang — earliest Neolithic in the Lower Yangzi (currently oldest pottery in Zhejiang), excavated 2001–06…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Chengtoushan
Daxi (5500–3300) → Qujialing → Shijiahe 5500–2300 BCE · Daxi → Qujialing → Shijiahe (Middle Yangzi walled cities)
Earliest walled rice city in China (c.5500–3000 BCE) at Chengtoushan plateau on the Liyang Plain near Li County — 8 ha fortified town with 3 m rammed-earth wall 800 m diameter and outer moat,…
🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Helan Mountains Suyukou South Rock Art
Early Bronze to Yuan · Qiang, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Mongol (Helan corridor pastoralists)
South Suyukou gully 4 km south of Helankou with 600 shamanic mask petroglyphs.
🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Zuojiang Huashan West Chongzuo Rock Art
Bronze Age to Han · Luoyue / Lạc Việt (ancient Zhuang ancestors), Dian periphery
West bank cliff opposite main Hua Mountain with bronze-drum anthropomorph sequence.
🇨🇳 China · Hydraulic works
Turpan Shengjinkou Karez Gorge Head (Shengjinkou Gorge Karez System)
Han to Qing continuum (200 BCE–1900 CE) karez re-use · Gaochang / Uyghur oasis
Gorge-head karez at Shengjinkou Yardang Gorge mouth northwest Turpan Depression (−45 m, below sea level, unique globally).
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Kangla Grottoes (Minhe) — Yellow River Tibetan Fringe
Northern Dynasties to Qing (Western Wei to 19th c.) · Han-Tibetan Buddhist communities of Longxi
Yellow River Tibetan fringe 5-cave scarp Western Wei 540 CE seated Buddha with Tibetan repaint.
🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Huaishan Rock Art — Lantian Blue Mountain Petroglyphs
Neolithic Longshan to Zhou (3000 BCE – 770 BCE) · Yangshao–Longshan farmer to Zhou frontier pastoral
Qinling foothill gorge with 30+ ibex and rayed humans of Longshan era.
🇨🇳 China · Rock art
Yinshan Wulashan Table Mountain — Southern Scarp Petroglyphs
Neolithic to Xiongnu–Han (3000 BCE – 200 BCE) · Hetao farming to steppe nomad Xiongnu transition
South scarp with 800+ vehicle and mask panels above Hetao bend at 1850 m.