A researcher from the Dunhuang Research Institute takes digital pictures of murals in No. 256 grotto of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province , Sept. 5. The digital center, co-founded by the institute and the Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust of the United States, has finished the digitization of 22 of the 735 grottoes, in an attempt to preserve the precious murals and statues in the Mogao Grottoes. Dating back to 336 AD, the endangered Mogao Grottoes have been listed as a world heritage by the UNESCO.

  
  
A staff member of the Dunhuang Research Institute shows three-dimensional digital pictures of murals and statues in No. 45 grotto of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 5.