With the support of UNESCO, the China National Silk Museum launched the Digital Archive of the Silk Roads Project on Monday with a webinar held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme.

The webinar brought together renowned international and domestic experts who have participated in and studied the Silk Roads Programme to share their knowledge and expertise.

The digital project will collect research materials and cultural resources about the ancient Silk Road from scholars and researchers at home and abroad, and store them in a digital archive, a form without deterioration, so as to inherit these resources for the future.

The museum is also hosting a special exhibition titled "The Silk Roads: Before and After Richthofen," which has drawn crowds to the silk museum in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.

It showcases precious national treasures excavated along the ancient Silk Road, telling stories about the cultural exchanges between China and countries along the ancient Silk Road.

The exhibition, which opened on June 19, allows visitors to explore the history and culture of the Silk Road sites and relics.

It is part of activities celebrating the first Silk Road Week, which ran from June 19 to June 24 this year. 

The Silk Road Week featured museum-led activities such as exhibitions, performances, reports, and seminars, celebrating the anniversary of the inscription of the Silk Road – from Chang'an to the Tianshan Corridor – onto UNESCO's list of World Heritage in June 2014.

"The history of the Silk Road tells us that the Silk Road is spontaneous and common knowledge for humanity. The East and the West also communicate with each other through it," said Zhao Feng, curator of the China National Silk Museum.

"What we are doing now, especially building the Belt and Road, has a clear historic and cultural background."

The exhibition will run through August 23.