Rock painting is a way of artful expression developed by Chinese ancestors who painted and carved pictures and graphs in rocks to record different aspects of ancient human society. China is a country with the most widespread and richest rock paintings in the world discovered as early as 1,500 years ago. The Helan Mountains are just one area featuring a wealth of such wonders.

Located 17 km northwest of Yinchuan City in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region , the grand Helan Mountains, located over 3,550 meters above sea level, have traditionally served as a natural barricade against desert winds and foreign invaders.

Many ethnic groups have lived near the mountains since ancient times: There is proof of human activity here from as far back as the New Stone Age. In the Shang and Zhou dynasties (16th century-221BC), Qiang, Rong and other ethnic groups moved to the area for grazing purposes, and in the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC), counties were set up and the area was officially brought under the administration of the central regions.

Over the past 2,000 years, the Huns, Xianbei, Qiang, Rouran, Tujue, Tubo, Dangxiang and Mongolian groups led a nomadic life here in succession. They worked hard with the Han people, and left behind many wonderful rock paintings reflecting the culture of ancient nomadic groups.

Hailed as a major wonder of ancient Chinese civilization, the rock paintings discovered in the Helan Mountains number in the tens of thousands and span over thousands of years, stretching over hundreds of miles. The rock paintings faithfully record the natural environment and production of northern nomadic groups, revealing their social conditions, way of life and religious beliefs.

Archeological research in recent years has found that rock paintings are dispersed throughout the northern and southern parts of the Helan Mountains, mainly in the Shulin Entrance, Heishi Hill, Chaqi Entrance, Helan Entrance, Huihui Gorge, etc. In the hinterland of the Helan Mountains alone that stretches over more than 200 km from south to north, over 20 rock paintings were discovered.

Rock paintings in the Helan Mountains include portraits, totems, geniality signs, and scenes of hunting, grazing, war and dance. There is something genuinely uninhibited and unaffected about them.

Rock Paintings at Helan Entrance

Rock paintings at the Helan Entrance are representative pieces of rock paintings in the Helan Mountains, with 2,194 rock paintings recording the life and production of China's northern nomadic people. These paintings have been deemed as a cultural treasure for researching the history of Chinese culture, religion and primitive art.

The Helan Entrance is located in Jinshan Village of Helan County in the middle of the Helan Mountains, and is more than 50 km away from the City of Yinchuan. With its steep cliffs, the Helan Entrance is located 1,448 meters above sea level.

Featuring quiet and beautiful scenery, overlapping ridges and peaks, and loquacious mountain springs , the Helan Entrance boasts many rock paintings that span over 600 meters.

Among the rock paintings at the Helan Entrance, human faces are most prevalent, followed by images of oxen, horses, donkeys, birds, wolves and other animals.

The human rock paintings appear simple yet bizarre -- some with horns on their heads, some with feathers and others wearing either pointed or rounded hats. As for the female images, some have headdresses, while others wear their hair in a bob, looking elegant and beautiful, and suggesting that the pursuit for beauty dates back thousands of years.

patterns on the rocks are crude in composition but vivid in imagery. There are images of running deer, bharals with protruding tornados, galloping coursers, dogs swaying tails, flying birds and beasts of prey, as well as images of human hands and the sun, and scenes of primitive religious activities.

According to the graphs on the rock paintings and inscriptions, most of the paintings at the Helan Entrance were done by northern nomads in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770-221BC), while others date back to the Western Xia (21st - 16th century BC) and other dynasties.

Bid for World Heritage Status

On April 24, 2004 the government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region officially approved that the rock paintings in the Helan Mountains bid to enter the World Cultural Heritage of the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

As early as 1997, rock paintings in the Helan Mountains have been listed by the UNESCO as an informal world cultural heritage. In July of that year, a committee was set up for the bidding of the rock paintings in the Helan Mountains for the formal world cultural heritage, kicking off the preparatory work. The bidding institution conducted the most detailed and professional investigation into the rock paintings, which amounted to over 5,000 pieces in 2,000 groups; they also discovered more than 20 relics and other sites pertaining to northern nomadic ethnic groups.

Creating an international bidding document was another important task. After two years, the bidding institution successfully completed a high-quality document to facilitate the bidding process.