Subash Buddhist Temple, also known as Zhaohuli Grand Temple, is a major cultural relic protected at the autonomous regional level. It is situated on the southern foot of the Qierdag Mountain, 23 kilometres northeast of downtown Kuqa, and is a Buddhist temple ruin dating back to the Wei and Jin dynasties.

The temple is divided into an eastern section and a western section on the east and west banks of the river. The East Temple was built against the mountain, housing ruins of dwellings and pagoda temples entirely constructed with adobe bricks; some walls still stand over 10 metres high. Three tall pagodas once stood inside the compound. The northernmost pagoda rises halfway up the mountain, commanding a full view of the entire temple site. The West Temple is square-shaped with a perimeter of about 318 metres and 10-metre-high walls. Dense ruined foundations inside the enclosure mark the former monks’ quarters.

Several tall pagoda foundations remain on the site. To the north lies a cluster of Buddhist caves carved with Kucha scripts and Buddhist figures on the inner walls. Archaeological finds unearthed here include bronze, iron, pottery and wooden artefacts, murals, clay statues, as well as wooden slips and fragments of paper inscribed with ancient ethnic scripts.

The ancient city stands roughly 7 kilometres northeast of Kuqa, on a Gobi highland called Mingtianada between the Wuqia River and Isubash River. The main surviving relics date mostly from the Tang Dynasty and continued into the Uyghur period.

The city consists of an inner city and an outer city. The rectangular inner city stretches 150 metres from east to west and 72 metres from north to south, with rammed-earth city walls. Two rammed-earth platforms remain inside the inner city, and another 17 rammed-earth foundations are scattered outside the southwestern wall, some of which were bases for pagodas and temples. Only the northern and eastern walls of the outer city are still partially preserved, built with adobe bricks. The remaining northern wall runs about 240 metres, while the eastern wall stretches 1,825 metres, with traces of a city gate on the northern wall. In addition, one adobe building measuring 20 metres square stands along the inner side of the northern outer wall, and seven such buildings line the eastern outer wall. Unearthed relics include fragments of Chinese Buddhist scriptures, Chinese official documents, scraps of paper with Chinese on the front and Uyghur script on the reverse, moulded Buddha statues, mother-and-son patterned bricks, broken pottery and wooden items. This city was likely a garrison for Tang troops defending the Kucha capital and the Anxi Protectorate.

Subash Ancient City is 23 kilometres from the county seat. No public buses run here, so visitors need to take a taxi.