DUNHUANG, Gansu - A multi-media presentation offering a tour of Mogao grottoes is to replace a large part of the actual tour in 2012 to protect the site as part of China's cultural heritage, officials in Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu province announced.

The display of the grottoes is to be located in Taiyang village, 15 km away from the original site in Dunhuang, one of the largest heritage sites in China with its outstanding examples of ancient Buddhist art.

The tour project costs 261 million yuan ($38.17 million), Song Ming, director at Dunhuang Academy China, was quoted as saying by Guangzhou Daily.

Dunhuang Academy China is in charge of the academic research, administration and management of the grottoes.

According to Song, 70 percent of the cost of the project will be funded by the central government, with the local government providing the remaining 30 percent.

"The project will solve the conflict between conservation and utilization of Mogao grottoes," said Wang Xudong, deputy head of the academy.

The frescos on the walls of the Mogao grottoes are suffering from damp, excessive exposure to light and rising levels of carbon dioxide due to the large number of tourists who visit the site, he said.

A total of 6 million visitors from more than 80 countries have visited Mogao Caves since they opened to the public in the late 1970s.

A receptionist at the grottoes' visitors center said more than 390,000 people toured the caves in 2009. It is a modest number compared to the 500,000 tourists that visited the site two years ago, according to Guangzhou Daily.

Dunhuang officials said the multi-media display is intended not only to protect the site, but to also give visitors a clearer, more detailed impression of the caves, as well as of the frescos on the walls.

Bai Xinzhong, an official with the academy, said tourists can visit the real caves after watching the 40-minute multi-media display.

Only 10 of the 100 Mogao Caves are currently open to the public in Dunhuang and it has yet to be determined how many caves will be accessible to them in the future and for what period of time.

Despite it being commendable to save the fading frescos, prospective visitors are lukewarm over the idea of watching a multi-media display of the site.

"If I want to see something virtual, I'd rather stay at home and watch a DVD," said Wang Chonglian, a 37-year-old backpacker from Shanghai. "For me, a virtual tour means a faked scene."

China Daily

(China Daily 06/16/2010 page3)