The charm of the Mysterious Tianshan Grand Canyon lies in its grandeur, precipices, seclusion, tranquility and mystique.

Lying beside the Duku Highway, about 70 kilometres away from downtown Kuqa, this canyon cuts through the Kezilaya Mountain, a branch range of the Tianshan Mountains. In the Uyghur language, "Kezilaya" means "red cliffs". After hundreds of millions of years of weathering and water erosion, the reddish-brown rocks have shaped the present-day Mysterious Grand Canyon. Standing at the bottom and looking up, you will feel that the steep mountain peaks are about to collapse at any moment, bringing on a sense of dizziness.

When you walk deep into the canyon amid the reddish-brown mountains, you will step into a quiet and cool world. The entrance is wide open, yet further inside, the path winds and turns. The gorge alternates between broad stretches and narrow passages, some of which are barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. The valley floor is mostly flat for leisurely strolling, flanked by towering stone cliffs with fine sand underfoot. Many sections are covered with shallow water topped by a thin layer of ice. Against the blue sky, countless oddly shaped rock formations come into view, including the Divine Hound Guarding the Valley, Sky-reaching Ancient Castle, Spiritual Manifestation Cave, Fairy Maiden Spring and Recumbent Camel Peak, all vividly lifelike.

The mysterious A'ai Grotto is less than two kilometres from the canyon entrance, hanging high on a sheer cliff. In the past, visitors could only climb up a hanging ladder over 30 metres long; now stone steps and boardwalks have been built alongside it. Research dates the grotto back to the early prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty. The cave is tiny, less than five metres deep and barely tall enough for one person, with an arched ceiling. Fragments of murals remain on three inner walls. Rarely seen among hundreds of other grottoes in the ancient Western Regions, Chinese characters appear on these paintings, offering solid evidence of the influence of Han culture.