Mogao Grottoes, known as a “treasure house of ancient Chinese art”, were first cut in 366 on Singing Sand Mountain southeast of Dunhuang county, Gansu province. The honeycomb-like grottoes, running 1,600 meters in length and 50 meters in height, include 700 caves. Some 492 of the caves have superb murals and colored statues executed through 11 dynasties and kingdoms including the Northern Wei (386-534), Western Wei (535-536), Northern Zhou (557-581), Sui (581-618), Tang (618-907), Five Dynasties (907-960), Northern Song (960-1127), Western Xia (1038-1227) and Yuan (1271-1368). The gorgeous murals of totaling 45,000 square meters and the over 2,500 life-like sculptures capture various aspects of ancient Chinese life such as hunting, farming, cloth spinning and weaving, transportation and communication, battles, dance and music, house construction, weddings and funerals. They embody both traditional Chinese styles and the characteristics of Indian and Persian art.