You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.

I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.

I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,

relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life. So one day I'll be

helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature, and the next looking at how

a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you. So if you like this podcast, check out some

others on BBC Sounds.

Long ago in northwestern China, near the oasis town of Dunwang, humans carved a series of caves deep into a mountainside.

An impressive feat of engineering sets in a dramatic landscape. A sacred place. There was a monk a thousand years ago, he went there and saw this, when the sunshine shining on the mountains and see the river that is running in front of the cliff face,

he found that, okay, this is such a good place, it's such a sacred place that he can do meditation.

This is why the first cave was carved

on this cliff face. Over time, Denguan, with its caves, 500 in total, became an important place

for pilgrims and also merchants and travelers. Sandwiched between the Himalayas and the

Mongolian steppe, it acted as a corridor for generations of people

who journeyed east and west.

The Morgal caves are the Buddhist sacred sites,

which is very related to Denghuan

because everybody that's come to Denghong, travel through Denghong,

they would pray here, they must visit here.

It's kind of just like a big band in London, so everybody would go there. They would pray here, they must visit here. It's kind of just like a

big band in London, so everybody would go there. One of these caves, now known as Cave 17,

was a library. How and why it was created remains a mystery, but it contained 50,000 items,

...