Located at Nanxun Town of Anyue County in Sichuan Province, the Lannigou Cliff Carvings contains four niches of the combination of Buddhism and Taoism, including statues of one Buddha with two disciples and two Bodhisattvas and two vajra warriors, Maitreya with attendants, the Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning in Taoism and Sakyamuni, and Laozi. They were mainly carved during the middle and late years of the Tang Dynasty, and of great value for improving sequence of development and evolution of Anyue Grottoes as well as researching types of buildings in front of these niches.

The Fabaosi Cliff Sculptures is located in Tianle Village, Wansheng Town, Dongpo District, Meishan City. There are 34 extant caves of Buddhist sculptures, mainly including statues of Three Buddhas, Three Worthies of Huayan School, Thousand-handed Avalokitesvara, White-robed Avalokitesvara, Wan Bodhisattva (Ten Thousand Bodhisattvas), Sixteen Arhats, Vaisramana, Dhritarashtra, Illustrations of Vimalakirti Sutra, Illustrations of Bhaisajyaguru, and Illustrations of Thousand-handed Avalokitesvara. Sculptures here can be divided into four groups. According to different characteristics and chronological records of each group, it is inferred that the carving was started from the middle and late Tang Dynasty to the Former and the Later Shu States. The Fabaosi Cliff Sculptures is of significant academic value in completing the system of grottoes in the Minjiang River Basin, and investigating the relationship between painted sculptures of Buddhist temples in Chengdu and their surrounding grottoes, and exploring the path of spreading Buddhist art within the Sichuan basin.

The Chenjiayan Grottoes is located in Group 6 of Tianhe Village at Jinshan Township in Dazu District of Chongqing Municipality. Mainly built from the Late Tang to the Song dynasties, it includes 4 niches and caves of Buddhist statues in total. The Cave 1 of the Chenjiayan Grottoes, a large square cave with a flat top, consists of rich fine statues, such as the Three Buddhas, the Twelve Bodhisattvas of Perfect Enlightenment and the Sudhanakumâra Visiting Fifty-three Kalyānamitra, etc., providing great values for the study of grottoes themed on similar subject matter in the Sichuan and Chongqing region.

The cave-temple complex at Bāmiyān lies in the Hindukush Mountains, about 230 km west of Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. Based on the reorganization of relevant literatures, archaeological discoveries and carbon-14 dating results and the mutual verification among them, the article considers that the age of building the cave-temple complex at Bāmiyān, especially the two giant standing Buddha statues, shall be around 600 CE, the time when they were built by the preceding king of the country as recorded by Xuan Zang. And the completion time of most niches and caves could be dated back to the period from the 7th to 8th centuries. Through analysing the shape and structure of niches and caves at Bāmiyān, the layout and combination, the rich contents of statues and frescoes, as well as historical documents, it also suggests that both Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna all prevailed during the 7th century in Bāmiyān. As Chinese Buddhist monk Yijing thought, these two schools remained rooted in the foundational teachings of the Buddha while different.

At the Chaoyuanguan Site in Jiangjin District of Chongqing City, there are five extant niches of statues in the Sanqingdian grottoes. With clear subject, these statues contain the Three Pristme Ones (三清), Confucius and Zhuangzi (庄子), Shakyamuni and Yinzi (尹子), the Five Sacred Emperors of the Five Sacred Mountains (五岳五天圣帝), and the Five Elders Deities (五老五炁天君). Based on the subjects, styles, architectural age of this site and inscriptions, these statues are dated to the Qing Dynasty. They serve as a reliable reference for identifying the subjects and dating statues in the Sichuan-Chongqing region during the Qing era. They also reflect the spread of the Complete Perfection Tradition (Quanzhen Dao 全真道), Dragon Gate Sect (Longmen Pai 龙门派) in the southwestern part of China, providing new material for studying the integration of the three major religions—Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism—during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The Shifugou Cliff Sculptures of Wuan comprise 18 extant niches, with inscriptions dated to the 2^nd year of the Xining era in the Northern Song Dynasty. The Baijiazhuang Cliff Sculptures feature 22 extant niches, including inscriptions from the 8^th year of the Jiayou era of the Northern Song Dynasty. The Cejingcun Cliff Sculptures contain 24 extant niches, including inscriptions from the 1^st and the 3^rd year of the Yuanfeng era of the Northern Song dynasty. These three sites show rich contents, including popular theme of the Northern Song Dynasty, such as the Three Sages of Huayan, the Sixteen Arhats, and the Water-Moon Avalokitesvara, which make them typical from the Northern Song period in southern Hebei. At the same time, the emergence of new iconography such as the combination of Water-Moon Avalokitesvara and animal imagery, and the depiction of Shelifu, reflects the secularization of Buddhism.

Previous studies on the construction chronology of the South and the North grotto temples in Longdong, Gansu, have primarily relied on historical documents. Through an in-depth on-site investigation of both grottoes, this study reveals that the South Grotto Temple exhibits significant flaws in geological conditions, design, and construction techniques. In contrast, the North Grotto Temple demonstrates more meticulous site selection and superior engineering execution. Comprehensive analysis suggests that the South Grotto Temple was excavated first. However, due to insufficient experience in construction procedures and project management, irreparable engineering defects emerged. Consequently, the patron opted to carve a new grotto at a more favorable location, leading to the later construction of the North Grotto Temple.