TAIYUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- When Wang Yiran directed the beam of her flashlight onto the mural in front of her, the deities depicted on the wall seemed to come to life. They sat with solemn dignity or appeared to whisper among themselves, presenting her with a grand ceremonial procession of nearly 300 Taoist deities paying homage to the supreme one.
However, this was not a real scene. Its original form was crafted almost 700 years ago as the "Chaoyuan Tu," which is housed in Yongle Palace, a Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) structure in the city of Yuncheng, north China's Shanxi Province.
The exhibition Wang explored, located some 400 kilometers from Yuncheng in Taiyuan, Shanxi's capital city, is a testament to China's cutting-edge digital cultural relics preservation technology. Themed "Black Myth: Wukong," this ancient Chinese architecture exhibition brought renowned historical sites in Shanxi, such as the Hanging Temple, Xiaoxitian Temple and Yungang Grottoes, vividly to life for visitors via digital light projections, 3D printing and other advanced technologies.
"The exhibition is fantastic. I never imagined ancient architecture could be presented in such diverse forms. It makes me even more eager to visit these places in person," Wang said.
Today, cultural relics are no longer confined to glass cases in museums but are being presented to audiences in more captivating and interactive ways, thanks to China's sustained efforts in digital preservation. Over the past two decades, China has issued multiple documents to support this work, using 3D laser scanning equipment and professional software to digitally preserve ancient structures, murals, bronze ware and other artifacts.
Shanxi Province, dubbed China's "above-ground cultural relics museum," boasts 531 nationally protected key cultural relic sites, including three intact wooden structures from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) -- the highest number in the country. As early as 2015, this province took the initiative to digitally scan its immovable cultural relics.
Digital scanner Jia Zhi entered the field after graduating from university and has witnessed the transformation of cultural relics preservation in China from traditional methods to digital approaches.
"Twelve years ago, when I was documenting the nearly 5,000-square-meter Meiligengzhao Temple in Inner Mongolia in north China, it took two people almost two weeks to complete the task. Now, the same workload can be finished in just three days," he said.
Technologies like 3D laser scanning, drone mapping and close-range photogrammetry have resulted in revolutionary breakthroughs in cultural relics preservation. Jia explained that laser scanning can capture the three-dimensional information of ancient structures from a distance and without physical contact, with data accuracy and completeness far surpassing that of traditional methods. This data not only provides precise scientific references for the restoration of ancient buildings but also helps establish permanent digital archives.
To date, Jia's team has scanned 350 immovable cultural relic sites, including 1,500 ancient structures, 1,500 painted sculptures and 15,000 square meters of murals, accumulating a total of 2 petabytes of data. They have also been invited to conduct digital scanning work in other parts of China, such as Zhejiang Province in the east and Xizang Autonomous Region in the southwest.
Such digital preservation achievements are playing an astonishing role in raising public awareness of cultural relics and traditional culture. In December last year, an exhibition featuring the UNESCO World Heritage Site Yungang Grottoes was held in east China's Shanghai. Stone carvings, representing the pinnacle of 5th-century global sculptural art, were replicated through 3D printing and displayed in outdoor exhibition sheds, attracting many visitors. These "mobile grottoes" have traveled over 5,000 kilometers across China in recent years.
"The 'long journeys' of these grottoes have planted 'seeds' in the hearts of people far away," said a staff member at the Yungang Grottoes, while adding that the number of visitors to the actual Yungang Grottoes had surged from 3 million in 2023 to 5 million in 2025.
Another widely recognized application of digital cultural relics preservation is China's gaming industry. "Black Myth: Wukong," China's first AAA game that took the world by storm in 2024, invested significant effort in scanning cultural relics. By accurately incorporating ancient structures and sculptures from across China into the game, it greatly enhanced immersion levels and sparked greater interest in cultural relics among the younger generation.
Li Runhang, an art teacher from Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, has for two consecutive years spent his summer vacations exploring and sketching in Shanxi, which served as the most important filming location for "Black Myth: Wukong." Once back at school in Shenzhen, he assigned his sketches as homework to his elementary school students, thus inspiring more children to appreciate the beauty of ancient architecture.
Amid a growing emphasis on cultural relics preservation and promotion in Chinese society, Jia's team now includes many Generation Z members, who are innovative and passionate about cultural relics work. Currently, the team has completed scanning above-ground cultural relics in southern Shanxi and plans to scan all 531 nationally protected key cultural relic sites in that province, along with other lower-level key relics, by 2028.
"This job has made me deeply realize that inheriting traditional culture is not about sticking to old ways but using contemporary technology to inject new vitality into it. Being able to contribute my professional skills to the 'eternal preservation' of ancient architecture makes this work particularly valuable and meaningful," said 23-year-old Yuan Xiaofan. ■
