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Tech: 3-D printed Buddhist statues displayed in Shandong

Thanks to 3-D printing technology, three reproductions of Buddhist statues in the Yungang Grottoes, a 1,500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site, are on display in Qingdao, Shandong province. The grottoes' art gallery, which opened to the public on Saturday, is showing the three full-size replicas of Buddhist statues from the caves in Shanxi province. The middle one stands 10 meters high, while those beside it are 6 meters high. Researchers built 3-D models of the three statues, then used 3-D printers to reproduce them. Reproduction programs of two other caves in the grottoes are underway.