Visitors to Mogao Grottoes face limits

[Wayne Harrison]

Source: China Daily
08-22-2007 16:08
BEIJING, Aug. 22 -- The daily number of tourists permitted to visit the Mogao Grottoes will be limited next year in a bid to better protect the frescoes inside, according to the Dunhuang Academy.

Statistics provided by the academy show that 3,000 to 5,000 tourists visit the ancient relics every day during the annual May-October tourist season, surpassing the Mogao Grottoes' estimated daily capacity of 2,900 people.

"The proper daily capacity was determined scientifically, and we plan to progressively limit the daily number of tourists into the caves," Fan Jinshi, head of the academy, was quoted as saying by Gansu Daily.

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