A digital odyssey through Dunhuang with Fan Jinshi

The magnificence of Dunhuang and the Mogao Caves should be seen by the world. The issue has always been how to show them to more people, but still protect the delicate thousand-year-old treasures at the same time.

Finding a solution to that particular quandary has been a life-time task for Fan Jinshi, honorary director of the Dunhuang Academy. As a result, she has been on the frontline of the historical landmark’s digital preservation.

During an exclusive interview with China Daily, Fan, dubbed the "daughter of Dunhuang", shared stories from the digital odyssey undertaken to catalog and present the awe-inspiring content of the Mogao Caves, from film camera to 8K UHD full-dome movies. She hopes that, through the efforts of generations of researchers, their magnificence can be admired long into the future.