The Dunhuang Academy released its latest digital achievement – a digitalized version of the Library Cave – on Tuesday, which is also the International Day of Monuments and Sites.

As the 17th cave of the Mogao Grottoes, the Library Cave was discovered in 1900 in Dunhuang City, northwest China's Gansu Province, with around 60,000 rare cultural relics unearthed. Since then, about 40,000 pieces have been lost to more than 10 countries including Britain, France, Russia and Japan.

To protect these relics, digital technology is used to recreate the cave when it stored over 60,000 volumes of cultural relics a hundred years ago, said the academy.

It carried out three-dimensional modeling of 21 cultural relics with high definition, according to the academy, adding that it also "reproduced" some of the relics that have been lost overseas.  

By visiting the website "Digital Dunhuang" or its WeChat mini-program, visitors can be immersed in the images of mural in the cave.

The academy said it will launch English, Japanese and South Korean versions to promote exchanges and mutual learning. 

The Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes, are a 1,600-year-old UNESCO world heritage site. It is located at a cultural and religious crossroads on the ancient Silk Road.

Read more: Treasures unearthed in Gansu shine light on Dunhuang culture

The idea of digitalizing Dunhuang was first put forward in the late 1980s. The subsequent decades have seen much development and numerous achievements in digital preservation.

Read more: China protects cultural heritage with digitalization

Currently, the "digital Dunhuang project" had completed the digital collection of over 300 grottoes. And its online resource database has been accessed by users in 78 countries, with 16.8 million times of visits.

Moreover, its digital platform, launched at the end of 2022, shares 6,500 pieces of high-definition digital renderings with people around the world.

(With input from Xinhua)