Dunhuang, the oasis city in Gansu province and home to the magnificent Mogao Caves, filled with extraordinary Buddhist sculpture and paintings, may be less accessible in the future.  That, at least is what I get from this story:

China plans huge investment to protect Mogao Grottoes

08:30, February 14, 2008

China has approved a 36-million-U.S.
dollar protection scheme for the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, a listed
World Heritage Site in the northwest Gansu Province.

The
plan, approved by the National Development and Reform Commission,
includes the construction of a digital display hall that can hold 800
visitors and facilities for consolidation, erosion prevention, security
and visitor services, the Gansu Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau
said.

    Around 70 percent of the investment will come from the central government and the rest from the province.

The 1,600-year-old Mogao Grottoes boast more than 2,000 colored
sculptures and 45,000 square meters of frescoes. The site received
World Heritage designation in 1987.

"The completion of the
service facilities is expected to help reduce the stay time of visitors
inside the grottoes," said Wang Xudong, vice president of the Dunhuang
Academy, the sole institute authorized to protect, research and manage
the Dunhuang grotto treasures.

    Vapor and carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors can erode the frescoes and sculptures, according to experts.

    The number of domestic and overseas tourists to the Dunhuang grottoes has reached 500,000 annually and continues to rise.

"The small grottoes are often packed with visitors, which poses a
severe threat to the preservation of the frescoes and sculptures
inside," Wang said.

     It is probably right and good that they come up with better ways of viewing the caves, but being able to stand in them and see their beauty up close is breath-taking.  If you haven’t been there, I would urge you to go as soon as possible, before the new digital display hall is used as a means to limit access to the caves themselves.

     Nowhere in China offers a better contrast with the flat and uninspired art of Qin Shi Huangdi.  The devotional pursuits of thousands of monks over hundreds of years produced much greater beauty than the hapless minions enslaved by Qin to manufacture his army for the next life.   Give me Dunhuang any day….

     The International Dunhuang Project has a page of links.  This one has some photos of cave paintings.