Dadiwan Site is in Zhangshaodian Village to the northeast of Qinan County in Tianshui City. It is a Neolithic site belonging showing the relics of the Yangshao Culture. The site reflects how the Chinese ancestors made a living about 4,800 to 7,800 years ago. Its excavation work has shocked Chinese people due to its large scale and rich connotation.

The unearthed 238 sites of houses are in a large and complicated construction. One house site of the late Yaoshao Culture Period covers an area of 323 square yards. Its floor was painted with patterns of human and animals, which provided very important information of the study of China ancient painting history. The restituted house has a four-framed roof and three doors, and its wooden frame and mud wall structure reflect the development of architectural technology and improvement of productivity.

In addition, Dadiwan Site also unearthed a large amount of art treasures and implements of production such as stone wares, earthen wares, mussel decorations, stone knives, stone axes and potteries and kilns used for storing articles, which has lead scientists to believe that people in that remote period had already lived a settled life with farming as their major production activity.

Water Curtain Cave (Shuilian Dong)

 
Throughout sixteen miles in the valleys in Zhonglou Mountain northeast of Wushan County in Tianshui City, there is a fairyland which holds undulating hills, fragrant flowers, twittering birds and murmuring brooks. This secluded spot also houses the Water Curtain Cave Complex which is composed of five grottos known individually as Water Curtain Cave, Thousand-Buddha Cave, Lashao Temple, Xiansheng Pond, and Sanqing Cave. They are important grottos and temples on the eastern line of the Silk Road.

Building of the Water Curtain Cave Complex was started in the "Sixteen Kingdoms Periods" during the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420). The construction work went on for several dynasties that followed. Water Curtain Cave is located in the cliffs east of Shifu Mountain. When the rainy season comes, rains from the top of the mountain cascade down like a water curtain, thus giving the cave its name. It is a natural, arch shaped cave that measures 98 feet high and 22 yards deep. On its cliffs, there are many huge Buddhist murals which were painted in the Northern Wei (386 - 534), Sui (581 - 618), Tang (618 - 907) and the Yuan (1271 - 1368) Dynasties. Several halls are inside the cave. Kwan-yin Temple, Sisheng Palace, and Bodhisattva Hall are some of them.

The painted murals, sculptures and cliffside inscriptions in the Thousand-Buddha Cave and Lashao Temple are also very valuable. Due to these historical treasures and the beautiful natural landscape, Water Curtain Cave is a good place to see when traveling to Tianshui in Gansu Province.