Damaidi, deep in Beishan Mountain, Weining County of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region , is anything but the literal meaning of its name-the Great Wheat Field. It was only known as a desert, sparsely populated by some hardy plants until 1988 when a geologist ran into this area accidentally and discovered a wealth of rock carvings.

Damaidi was only known as a desert.

This news drew the interest of archeologists, who organized an arduous trip to Damaidi for further exploration. Li Xiangshi, an expert with the rock art research center of the Second Northwest Institute for Ethnic Minorities, also embarked on an adventure westward into the desert with his younger brother in 1989. Armed with life necessities, they marched towards Damaidi in a jeep. Their journey was hard but rewarding. Not only did he feast his eyes on the abundant rock carvings, he took photos to bring back with him so others could do the same.

Li Xiangshi is among the first to study Damaidi rock art.	A photographer is taking pictures at Damaidi.

The rock carvings, having been here for thousands of years, bring to this desolate place liveliness and mystery. The density, number, scale and diversity of the rock carvings in Damaidi are rarely seen elsewhere in China and even in the world. More than 8,000 individual figures in over 3,000 groups carved into rocks have been found in an area of around 15 square kilometers.

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