With joint efforts by Chinese and foreign scientists, protection work in the No. 85 grotto of Mogao Grottoes in northwestern China's Gansu Province will be completed in the first half year of 2005.

The cooperation between the Dunhuang Research Institute and Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) from the United States for protection of Mogao Grottoes was launched in 1989 under an agreement signed by the State Bureau of Cultural Relics and GCI. The protection of the No. 85 constitutes part of the fifth phase of this project.

"Nearly all types of damages to frescos in the Mogao Grottoes have been spotted in the No. 85 grotto, such as crisping and peeling," said Stephen Rickeby, a scientist from GCI.

As two of the larger restoration efforts have been made to the No. 85 before but no radical solution has been found to tackle these problems, scientists note that their protection efforts this time will be of far-reaching significance to the protection of the Dunhuang Grottoes.

After spot surveys and evaluation, scientists have made an initial judgment of causes for the decaying and damages of the frescoes and listed the problems required to be solved and set a timetable for the restoration work.

"The protection of the Mogao grottoes is very challenging. But now that all is done according to international standards, the restoration work is processing smoothly," said Dr. Lin Boming, a noted Chinese American, who is the counselor of the Chinese project of GCI.

Twelve scientists from the United States, Britain and Australia have joined the protection work for the No. 85 grotto. So far, experiments on technology and material selection have been completed and the restoration is in full swing, said Dr. Lin.

(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2004)