The Helan Mountain rock art site is located in the Helan Mountains in the northwest of Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, On November 20, 1996, the Helan Mountain Rock art were designated as the fourth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council of the People's Republic of China.In January 2006, they were included in the first batch of China's National Natural and Cultural Heritage Tentative List.

Helan Mountain rock art stretches for more than 250 kilometers along the eastern foothills of the mountains. The site was discovered in the middle of the 20th century, and the main distribution area is from Shizui Mountain in the north to the Zhongwei area in the south. More than 20 dense rock art sites and more than 40,000 single rock paintings have been discovered. Among them, the most concentrated and representative rock paintings are located in Helankou in the middle of Helan Mountain, where the number of paintings is nearly 6,000, including 712 human face petroglyphs, which is the proportion of rock paintings with a high proportion of human face portraits distributed in the world. These rock carvings were created between 10,000 and 3,000 years ago and were carved by early ancient ancestors to later nomadic tribes such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei and Qiang tribes. They created petroglyphs using simple stone or metal tools carved and carved on steep cliff faces to capture scenes of daily life, rituals, and mythology, which are important testimonies of human development. The primary motifs of the rock paintings include animals such as deer, horses, sheep, and tigers. These figures are typically depicted in dynamic poses, portraying scenes of hunting or herding activities. Figures appear in groups, engaged in dances, battles, or some kind of religious ritual. An iconic work, the "Sun God," depicts a human-like face radiating light, symbolizing sun worship and nomadic reverence for the forces of nature.

Yinchuan World Rock Art Museum

Yinchuan World Rock Art Museum located in the helan mountain rock art site area that currently the only and richest rock art museum in China, focusing on the display of 600 movable boutique rock paintings, rock art catalogues, rubbings oil painting imitations, and stone tools produced at the same time as rock paintings in 31 countries and more than 200 regions around the world. The rock art catalogue information collected, stored and displayed in the museum covers the new achievements of rock art research in the world in recent years, provides a platform for in-depth understanding of rock paintings from different angles and levels, and is a base for rock art researchers to learn, communicate and research.

Representative works of Helan Mountain rock art "Sun God,"

Animal images 

Rubbings of Animal image

Human face 

Robert Bednarik is an Australian prehistorian and cognitive archeologist and Editor-in-Chief of the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO) :“The Helan Mountain rock art is one of China's most cherished examples of rock art. It deserves to be introduced to the rock art-rich country of South Africa.”Dr Siyakha Mguni, Senior Lecturer, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town: “Helan Mountain rock art glimpse into the ancient artistic and spiritual life of early civilizations in China. The rich Helan Mountain rock art stands alongside South African examples as a testament to human creativity, resilience, and the enduring desire to communicate through the ages.”

Zhang Jianguo, director of the Helan Mountain Rock Art Museum: Although the rock paintings of Helan Mountain in China and the rock paintings in South Africa are thousands of miles apart and belong to different cultural systems, they are both important forms of visual expression in the early human period, and together show the similar wisdom and creativity of human beings in observing the world, understanding nature, and expressing emotions in childhood.In the vast galaxy of human civilization, each culture has its beauty; to share it creates harmony. Through rock art, we can better understand the diversity and unity of human culture and the profound heritage of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Prof Tang Huisheng, Chinese rock art expert: “South Africa is a magical country, home to an abundance of rock art and a living tradition of rock art among the San people that continues to thrive today. Particularly significant is the introduction of the works of Lewis-Williams, a renowned South African rock art scholar, along with his neuropsychological theories on rock art research, to China—an influence that has profoundly impacted the study of Chinese rock art. Both China and South Africa rank among the world’s top ten countries in terms of rock art abundance. I believe that collaboration between our two nations in rock art research will not only strengthen mutual exchange and friendship but also significantly advance cooperation and development in this field.”Zhang Jiaxin, from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: Similar to Helan rock carvings, San art depicts hunting scenes, animals such as antelopes, lions, and elephants, and dances where shamans enter a trance state to connect with the spirit world. The Helan Mountain petroglyphs tell the same spiritual and survival stories as those found in the Drakensberg paintings. Both originated from people in the hunter-gatherer era, and both describe the harmony between man and nature, the exploration of the unknown, and the common survival wisdom of mankind. It reminds us that despite being thousands of miles apart, humanity's earliest expressions transcended borders.”

The Helan Mountain rock art will be exchanged and exhibited in Africa.Promote mutual understanding of early civilizations between China and Africa among the public.China and the Rock Art Research Institute(RARI) at the University of the Witwatersrand have maintained exchanges for many years in the research, conservation, and promotion of rock art. China rock art will also rely on RARI to conduct more comparative studies on early civilizations and rock paintings in China and Africa."Promote international exchanges of Helan Mountain rock art proposal is supported by the International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO), a federation of 60 national and regional organisations promoting the study and protection of rock art throughout the world. IFRAO facilitates international co-operation in the field of rock art research and preservation (Prof. Robert G. Bednarik, Convener of IFRAO)."