Quli Thousand Buddha Cave Grottoes: The Most Obscure Grottoes I've Ever Seen

These Quli Thousand Buddha Cave Grottoes are probably the most obscure grottoes I've ever seen. The online information actually shows that Quli Village is under the jurisdiction of Quwo County, Shanxi Province, but the Quli Village I went to is indeed under the jurisdiction of Handan, and there is also a clear location on the navigation. To see these grottoes, you must first climb a mountain road, and the mountain road is quite difficult to walk, giving you a real sense of "seeing the mountain and thinking you'll reach it soon, but never getting there." The flags in front of the grottoes flutter in the distance, but you just can't reach them. The grottoes are not large. The heads of the main Buddha and Bodhisattva statues, as well as the small statues on the cave walls, have been damaged. The current large heads should have been re-carved and installed later. Before going, I saw online that they were said to have been carved in the Ming Dynasty, but the introduction column near the grottoes showed that they were carved in the Tang Dynasty. Judging from the style of the heads, they do violate the characteristics of Tang Dynasty statues. So, I was a little confused. I need to take my time to study it. The funniest thing is that I encountered four or five black goats while climbing the mountain. They kept staring at me, as if they hadn't seen any other living things in the mountains for a long time. When I approached them, they immediately showed a dazed and cute look, which made me, the uninvited guest, also feel at a loss. ☀️Useful Tips 1️⃣ The stone tablet erected by the cultural relics protection unit is inscribed with "Quli Thousand Buddha Cave Grottoes." Navigate to Quli Village in Handan. 2️⃣ Then, when you see the sign for the "Forest Fire Prevention Check Station" on the left side of Y219 Highway, turn into the small road and drive along the road for about three kilometers to reach the foot of the Thousand Buddha Cave Mountain. 3️⃣ Then climb along the mountain road for about half an hour to see a small temple. 4️⃣ Then climb along the small road on the right side of the temple for 5–8 mins to reach the Thousand Buddha Cave on the hillside.