Dunhuang treasures: an infinite appeal for visitors

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The longest running exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts, is still getting five thousand visitors a day. The Lights of Dunhuang opened in late January. Attendance at the exhibition swelled to over ten thousand a day during the Spring Festival. The Lights of Dunhuang exerts an appeal equal to what a shrine holds for pilgrims.

The longest running exhibition at the National Museum  of Fine Arts, is still getting five thousand visitors a day.

Mr. Yuan is among the early birds at the National Museum of Fine Arts. Coming from the Zhuozhou prefecture three hundred kilometers south of Beijing, the photographer has brought his entire kit for the exhibition.

Mr. Yuan, visitor, said, "I've been to Dunhuang twice, in 1976 and 1983. The arts hold a timeless appeal".

Yuan is among the lucky ones to get early admission to the Museum. At ten, one hour after opening hour, a queue zigzags more than a hundred meters from the ticket booth.

Staff at the Museum recall the crush of visitors during the holiday season. More than forty thousand visitors went through the exhibition during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday. The number remains at five to seven thousand per day, now that the festival is over.

The sheer size and quality of the collection, the chronological sweep and the breadth of the artworks are unprecedented.

Artfully arranged throughout the entire first floor, the exhibits include ten vividly-recreated caves, thirteen replicas of ancient sculptures, nine originals and one hundred mural copies, all from the Mogao Grottoes.