Digital tours help display Shanxi's ancient wonders

Joe Burns, a 32-year-old British photographer, stood in awe before the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda in Shanxi province, captivated by the millennium-old wooden architectural marvel. Visitors are not allowed to enter and ascend the pagoda as a means of preserving its structural integrity, yet digital immersive exhibitions have filled that gap.

"When ancient architecture intersects with digital technology, visitors can gain a more intuitive understanding of the relics while minimizing physical wear and protecting the pagoda," Burns said after the immersive tour.

Burns was among international artists invited to the 2026 Discovering Shanxi's Ancient Chinese Architecture — A Visual Journey Through Cultural Heritage, co-hosted by China Daily and Shanxi Daily from July 15 to 20.

Shanxi, often regarded as a treasure house of ancient Chinese architecture, has 28,027 surviving ancient buildings and 531 nationally protected cultural relic sites, both ranking first among China's provincial-level regions.

The province also boasts 518 wooden structures dating to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) or earlier, accounting for more than 80 percent of the national total.

Built in 1056, the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is the oldest and tallest all-timber pavilion-style structure in the world. "I have long known about the pagoda's reputation and viewed countless footage and pictures of it, yet standing at its foot and taking the digital immersive tour delivers a completely unique feeling," said Mian Abrar Hussain, head of news at Pakistan Today.

From his perspective, integrating VR, immersive light projection and other digital technologies into cultural heritage conservation and public exhibition has forged a "China Model" worthy of reference for the global cultural heritage community.

Today, digital technology is widely used in the preservation of ancient architecture and cave temples in Shanxi.

The digital exhibition of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi, has grown into an influential benchmark for global cultural exchange.

The Yungang Grottoes were first carved during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), making them China's first large-scale royal grotto complex built after the introduction of Buddhism.

The site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001. Digital data collection has been completed for 80 percent of the caves, with full digital archiving expected by 2030.

Fabio Nodari, an Italian photographer who regularly contributes to internationally renowned geographic magazines, visited Shanxi for the second time.

In his view, the Yungang Grottoes exemplify the integration of multiple ethnic groups and diverse civilizations. "The intricate details of Shanxi's ancient architecture are visually striking — and each shot captures centuries of history," Nodari said. "These images will serve as a window for overseas audiences to understand Shanxi, and I will specifically recommend this route in my travel column."

On the evening of July 15, as a supporting event of the International Cultural Heritage Protection Week, themed "unity for prosperity, heritage for eternity", Chinese and international guests gathered at the Wengcheng Site Park in Yuci Old Town to watch the Light of Yungang Grottoes, a large-scale 3D projection show.

The display projected classic artistic elements of the Yungang Grottoes — flying apsaras, celestial musicians and lotus patterns — onto the thousand-year-old city walls.

Earlier this year, during Spring Festival, the work was staged as Yungang Grottoes Light: Echo in Paris along the Seine River in France, stepping onto the global cultural arena.

Indonesian blogger Veldesen Yaputra recorded his Shanxi trip with watercolor sketches. "Digital technology allows us to recreate historical scenes while enabling audiences to truly appreciate how ancient craftsmen forged such architectural marvels," he said.

In recent years, Shanxi has steadily pushed forward digital exhibition and communication programs for ancient architectural heritage. Digital technology has been applied to Yongle Palace, Guangsheng Temple and the suspended sculptures of Xiaoxitian, making rare cultural relics accessible to broader groups of people.

Deng Jianguo, professor at Fudan University's School of Journalism, said: "Technology-driven cultural heritage conservation reinforces heritage safeguards while enriching tourist experiences. Cultural relics remain silent carriers of history, yet digital technology immerses audiences in genuine historical contexts — it does not merely display relics, but transports visitors back to the eras where these treasures originated."

Li Jialu contributed to this story.