Palacio de los Diez Mil Budas (Pabellón de Arte Terroso del Desierto)

The Ten Thousand Buddha Palace, also called the Desert Clay Art Gallery (Wan Fo Gong / Damo Tuyi Guan), is a cultural park at the eastern end of the Flaming Mountains near Turpan, Xinjiang. Unlike the region's ancient archaeological sites, this is a modern complex of large-scale clay sculpture that presents episodes from the history, religion, and folklore of the Turpan oasis and the wider Silk Road.

The site is organized around a sequence of twenty sculptural groups. The largest set the tone at the entrance: a reconstructed Silk Road fort, a figure of the Karakhoja ruler, and dramatic scenes drawn from the "Journey to the West" cycle, including the Iron Fan Princess, the Tang monk Xuanzang preaching, and a seated Maitreya. Subsequent halls address Buddhist iconography, Uyghur folk narrative, and the vernacular life of the oasis, with each group modeled in painted clay in a style that consciously echoes the mural and statuary traditions of the Turpan Basin.

The park is best understood as an interpretive installation rather than a museum in the strict sense. The works are contemporary rather than ancient, and they are intended to give visitors a single, visually dense overview of the historical and cultural themes they will encounter at the nearby primary sites: the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, the ancient cities of Gaochang and Jiaohe, and the collections of the Turpan Museum. The approach is accessible and theatrical, aimed primarily at domestic group tourism.

For international travelers, the value of the site depends on the rest of the itinerary. Those who plan to visit Bezeklik and the ancient ruins in depth may find the sculpture park redundant, while those traveling with children or looking for a single-stop visual orientation to the history of the oasis often find it useful. It also serves as a rest stop on the eastern Turpan circuit, with shaded indoor halls that provide relief from midday heat.

A visit typically takes about an hour. The site is usually combined with the nearby Flaming Mountains scenic stop, the Gaochang ruins, and Bezeklik on an eastern day loop from Turpan. Photography is permitted throughout, and English signage is limited, so a guide app or pre-reading on the "Journey to the West" cycle enriches the experience considerably.