Rock Paintings of Helan Mountains (), also known as Helanshan Rock Art, are images carved into the rocks of Helan Mountains, Ningxia.
Helanshan Rock Art is representative of rock paintings in northern China, with rich and concentrated subject matter. As of December 2020, tens of thousands of petroglyphs have been discovered, and they were created between 10,000 and 3,000 years ago.
The Helanshan Rock Art was first discovered by Li Daoyuan, a geographer of the Northern Wei dynasty, in the 5th century AD in Commentary on the Water Classic. In modern times, it was rediscovered by Li Xiangshi (æÂÂ祥ç³) in 1969.
The truly comprehensive and systematic studies and findings of Helanshan Rock Art have been made since China's reform and opening up.
The creation periods of Helanshan Rock Art can be roughly divided into three stages, the first stage is the Neolithic, the second stage is from the Qin dynasty to the Northern and Southern dynasties, and the third stage is from the Sui dynasty to the Western Xia.
In 1996, Helanshan Rock Art was included in the third batch of the list of Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in China. In 1997, it was inscribed on the Unofficial List of World Cultural Heritage (éÂÂæ£å¼Âä¸ÂçÂÂæÂÂÃ¥ÂÂéÂÂ产åÂÂå½Â) by the International Petroglyph Committee of UNESCO (èÂÂÃ¥ÂÂå½æÂÂç§ÂæÂÂç»Âç»Âå½é 岩ç»å§ÂÃ¥ÂÂä¼Â).