When it was first listed as one of China’s National Cultural Heritage sites in 1961, no expert on the State Council panel who drew up the list had ever visited Guge. Almost fifty years later, it has proven to be a foresighted decision.
The Guge Kingdom - an extraordinary Christian and Himalayan Buddhist civilization rich with art and culture - flourished for seven hundred years and then vanished mysteriously in the 17th century. Until now, archaeologists have been unable to understand the mystery of Guge’s demise, but a recent discovery may unlock the enigma of the Guge people and what happened to them almost 400 years ago.