A visitor looks at a flora-themed painting by Chang Shana in Everlasting Beauty of Dunhuang, an exhibition of her and her late father Chang Shuhong's artworks at the Tsinghua University Art Museum through Sept 15.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Chang Shana went on to use the vivid and rhythmically arranged motifs from the murals and the caisson ceilings that delighted her as a teenager to decorate the interiors of grand buildings, as well as applying them to ornamental objects such as plates, scarves and clothes, as visitors to the exhibition will see.

While she worked on her designs, she often remembered her father's words: "Shana, don't forget you are from Dunhuang. It's time to raise the profile of Dunhuang to a higher level."

Chang Shuhong moved to Beijing in 1982, where he served as an adviser to the National Cultural Heritage Administration before finally retiring. Chang Shana recalls how her father often said he felt like "a visitor" in Beijing and how he missed Dunhuang and wanted to return.

It is said the famous Japanese author and Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda once asked Chang Shuhong which profession he would choose after his reincarnation. Chang replied, "I'm not a Buddhist ... but if I were born into this world again, I would still be the man I am today, and I would continue my unfinished work (protecting Dunhuang)."