When the writing is on the wall

Li Sen goes about his work with all the care of a surgeon, and the reward is seeing ailing pieces of history come back to life

In the basement of a five-star hotel in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, the battle to restore a mural painting from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) is in full swing.

Li Sen, wearing a white coat and gloves, is busy safeguarding this cultural heritage, which was saved from an abandoned temple of a small village in Fengxiang county in the west of Shaanxi province in 2014.