Dying heritage gets a new lifeline online

Thangka art, a traditional Buddhist painting form on cotton or silk done by Tibetans, is now being conserved in the virtual world.

A digital project by Baidu Baike, China's largest Web-based encyclopedia, went online earlier this month, aiming to protect this craftsmanship, which was designated as a national intangible cultural heritage form in 2006.

The 30-odd pieces of thangka works that have been digitally conserved include a gigapixel image of White Tara, depicting a Buddhist goddess.