The Dunhuang murals are helping to revive travel on the old Silk Road

The Dunhuangmurals， colourful sculptures in a 3D virtual environment and the use of digital technology have helpedrevitalisethe ancient Silk Road.

Since the Han Dynasty， Dunhuang has been the passage that connects the Central Kingdom with the Western Regions. Dunhuang was a famous town on the Silk Road， and in 1987 the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes were listed as a world cultural heritage.

“Dunhuang has rich， colourful historical and cultural relics， and I am here to find Nepalese art elements from my hometown，” said Kumar Khadka， an international student from Nepal. It was his first time to Dunhuang， as part of the ancient Silk Road tour， initiated by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

The event began in Beijing on 28 August 2018， and on 1 to 2 September Dunhuang was its third stop. The first two were Beijing and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The event covers nine stations in China， Kazakhstan， Uzbekistan， Poland， the Czech Republic， France and the Netherlands.

Speaking about the event， Zhang Xiantang， the deputy director of the Dunhuang Academy China， said, “Dunhuang was born out of a desert， but it is closely related to the ancient Silk Road.”

The Mogao Grottoes were built in 366. And although they have been eroded by nature and disfigured by humans over time， 492 caves areintactwith preserved murals and colourful paintings.

The 2，499 painted sculptures and the 484，380 sq ft of painted murals are the largest collection of Buddhist art treasures in the world. Although the Mogao Grottoes area is large and the caves are numerous， the size of each cave is extremely small.

More than 85 per cent of the caves are less than 270 sq ft. And many of the coloured sculptures and murals are made offragilematerials such as dirt， wood and wheat straw. So if 15 people remain in a cave for more than 10 minutes， the temperature in the cave will increase by 5 degrees， and theconcentrationof carbon dioxide increases greatly.

This means that a large number of tourists will inevitably accelerate the ageing of the murals and colourful sculptures.

The Mogao Grottoes are the highlight of Dunhuang， but Dunhuang has more to offer.

Seven years ago， with the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative， Dunhuang once again became the focus of the Silk Road， and more tourists began to visit it. Zhang said that the focus on Dunhuang will help jog the common memory of the countries along the ancient Belt and Road route.

Language Study

Word bank

1. mural /ɪmjʊərəl/ n. 壁画

2. revitalise /'riːɪvaɪtəlaɪz/ v. 使复兴；使恢复生机（或元气）

3. intact /ɪnɪtækt/ adj. 完整无缺的

4. fragile /ɪfrædʒaɪl/ adj. 易损坏的；易碎的

5. concentration /'kɒnsnɪtreɪʃn/ n. 浓度

Critical Thinking

Apart from the reasons mentioned in the text, why is Dunhuang able to help to revive travel on the old Silk Road apart from its historical and cultural relics in your eyes?