Patterns from Dunhuang have been adopted in the building of many landmark structures in China. Music and dance have been composed according to the images and historical documents from Dunhuang. She believes Dunhuang still has a lot to offer that will impact modern culture.

Unlike in Italy or France where great artworks were attributed to very famous artists, in Dunhuang the artists and craftsmen hardly left any personal record.

Guan Youhui, 83, a researcher who has worked in Dunhuang since 1954, says this was because the artists then earned poorly and had low social status.

Among the historical records in the grottoes, he once found a contract signed by a craftsman selling his son because of poverty.

"Nobody as they were, those ancient artists had great techniques and created masterpieces that have survived centuries," he says.

Dunhuang opened its grottoes to visitors in 1979. At the beginning, it received no more than 40,000 visitors a year, but this year 1.1 million people went to see the grottoes. This has brought lots of challenges in the protection of Dunhuang, Wang says.

In order to minimize the damage caused by large numbers of tourists, Dunhuang's authorities have imposed restrictions on visits to the grottoes, and a new reservation system is in place.

"Please remember to make a reservation online before you visit," says Fan.

"Otherwise you will have to wait in a long line, and be able to access only a few grottoes and open zones."

She also suggests visitors avoid the summer vacation and national holidays when the area is crowded.

If you go

10 am－6 pm, Tuesday-Sunday, until March 20, 2016

Shanghai Himalayas Museum, 3F, Zone A, Himalayas Center, 869 Yinghua Road, Pudong district, Shanghai

021-5033-9801