The Buddhist deities depicted here have round faces, thick lips, deep-set eyes and high-bridged noses. Their physiques are strong and well-defined, yet their poses are fluid and graceful, almost dance-like. Draped in delicate, flowing garments, they embody the elegance and allure of iconic Indian beauty, she says.

"The Tianti Mountain Grottoes bear witness to Indian Buddhist art in its earliest, most unassimilated form upon reaching China," she adds.

Within the next century, local adaptation brought classical Chinese aesthetics, along with influences from Confucianism and Taoism. Figures became more slender, their garments more spacious, with flowing belts that added a sense of elegance and refinement.

In 439, the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) unified northern China by ending the control of the Hexi area by Northern Liang. Following their victory, the Northern Wei rulers relocated nearly all prominent families and artisans to their capital in modern-day Datong city, Shanxi province, about 1,100 km northeast of Wuwei. These craftsmen later contributed to the creation and decoration of Buddhist grottoes in the heartland of China, spreading what one prominent Chinese archaeologist dubbed "the Liangzhou Model".

It's worth noting that in world art history, this style of human statue-making, characterized with natural proportions, expressive faces and the contrapposto pose, are recognized as part of the tradition of Gandhara Art. Flourishing between the 1st century BC and 5th century in present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan, this style, which blended Greco-Roman realism with Indian traditions, emerged through Alexander the Great's invasion in the 4th century BC and the subsequent Greek rule in parts of India. It later received significant patronage under the Kushan Empire (1st-3rd centuries), whose founders are Rouzhi people who once occupied part of the Hexi Corridor and with whom Emperor Wudi of China's Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) had tried unsuccessfully to form an alliance against the Xiongnu raiders.

Keeping this in mind, it's equally intriguing to note that Juqu, the man behind the Tianti Mountain Grottoes, likely had both Rouzhi and Xiongnu blood, a fact that speaks as much about the complicated history of the Hexi Corridor as about the broader formation of Chinese civilization.

In fact, many scholars suggest that Juqu's efforts at Tianti Mountain were ultimately politically motivated. In a place like the Hexi Corridor, where consolidating power had been no easier than stabilizing sand, Buddhism served as a key unifying force that even a fierce ruler like Juqu would have needed to rely on to win hearts and minds.

And in that, Juqu, if he had lived a long life, would have found a like-minded person in a Mongol prince named Borjigin Godan (Kuoduan in Chinese), grandson to Genghis Khan and son to Ogedei Khan.

In 1247, Godan met with Sakya Pandita (commonly known as Sapan) in Wuwei. A revered Tibetan spiritual leader and Buddhist scholar, Sapan had spent two years traveling with his two young nephews, including 9-year-old Chogyal Phagpa. This meeting paved the way for the inclusion of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau into the rule of Yuan Dynasty, founded by Kublai Khan, another grandson of Genghis Khan, in 1271. One year before, Kublai made Phagpa, then 35, his imperial preceptor.

Today, the place to reflect on that history is Wuwei's Baita (White Tower) Temple, where Phagpa lived until his passing in 1251 at the age of 69. His cremated remains, known as sarira in Buddhism, were buried there within the base of a memorial tower built in his honor by Godan, who had adopted Tibetan Buddhism as his belief.

Staying true to its role as a cultural melting pot, the Hexi Corridor was where both Tibetan and Han Buddhism flourished. A notable site for Tibetan Buddhism is the Mati (Horse's Hoof) Temple Grottoes in Zhangye, famously linked to King Gesar, a legendary Tibetan figure whose mount is said to have left its footprint there.

Carved into steep cliffs where birds nest in wind-eroded cavities, these grottoes stretch 30 kilometers and comprise seven small grotto groups. Some are difficult to access — in one case, visitors may need to climb on all fours to navigate the extremely narrow staircases built inside the mountain. These staircases lead to all 21 interconnected caves, which rise in a seven-story pagoda-like formation.

However, no grotto-viewing journey in the Hexi region is truly complete without witnessing the world-renowned Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang — 735 caves carved into the northern face of Mingsha Mountain, stretching a total of 1,720 meters in an unbroken masterpiece of history and art.

The grottoes, very much like the ancient Silk Road, reached their heyday during the first half of the Tang rule from the early 7th to mid-8th centuries, when vision and valor combined to propel the Chinese dynasty to greatness, transforming its capital Chang'an (the modern-day Xi'an city in Shaanxi province) into a vibrant international metropolis.

The ingeniously constructed wooden temples and pagodas, the elaborate candleholders and incense burners, the divine music and mesmerizing dances once performed at court and in lavish banquets across Chang'an — all found their way into Dunhuang grotto paintings, converging into an ideal world resided by Buddhist immortals. The frescoes' historical value can never be overestimated given the fact that few Tang Dynasty paintings, and fewer pieces of architecture, have survived.

In Chinese, mingsha means singing sand. Whenever wind blows across the land, the countless sand grains that cover it rub against each other, producing a deep, resonant sound. Sometimes, it's a hum; other times, a roar.

"Ever-conscious of the Silk Road's perils, ancient travelers would sometimes commission the carving of a Buddhist grotto in Dunhuang before venturing into the unknown, offering prayers in exchange for divine protection," says Zhong Na, a veteran guide.

"In this way, the grottoes, which probably wouldn't have existed if not for the Silk Road, became its guardian, offering comfort and spiritual strength — gifts as vital to a traveler as water."

Today, visitors emerge from the shadows of the caves to watch dance performances inspired by the grotto paintings. With each twirl, the dancers seem to blur the passage of 1,000 years, dissolving the line between history and the present.

And the audience is left in wonder, unaware that they have become part of this eternal dance — a timeless cycle of culture, faith and discovery as enduring as the wind itself.

Tong Yunshan contributed to this story.