New batch of skilled volunteers heading to Mogao Grottoes

A new batch of 10 volunteers has been selected to serve as guides at Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang for six weeks between May and June, organizers of the voluntary program announced on Friday at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

They will leave for Dunhuang on May 1, where they will receive training on basic knowledge about voluntary services and also the cultural background of the grottoes before taking part in real work. 

They will not only pass on this knowledge of Dunhuang to visitors during the 40-day program, but they'll also try to use their own specialties to promote the protection, promotion and innovation of the cultural heritage afterward.

More than 1,200 people from China and abroad applied for the project this year, compared with 300 last year.

The 10 standouts include Loklam Li, 25, from Hong Kong. She is now pursuing a master’s degree in architectural history in Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Li said she has been interested in cultural heritage protection and hopes to find effective and popular ways for people to better understand the charm of Dunhuang culture after the program.

Yu Fujing, a 54-year-old Shanghainese, is also one of the lucky 10. She has worked in foreign ventures for more than 20 years and have visited over 60 countries. She has also served as a political adviser in Huangpu District for 10 years and looked into some cultural projects during her term.

Now working for a European publishing house, she wishes to produce an English language Dunhuang travel guide to help foreign tourists have a deeper and more convenient experience at the site.

They are the second group of volunteers selected by the “Cultural Custodian Program,” jointly organized by the Dunhuang Academy, Dunhuang Grottoes Conservation Research Foundation and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Culture Development Foundation.

Luo Yier, one of last year's 10 volunteers, has organized more than 60 talk shows about Dunhuang since he finished the voluntary program.

Zhao Yu, another volunteer and an expert in the Internet of Things, returned to Dunhuang at the end of last year to install a particulate matter detecting system in the Mogao Grottoes to help take timely action against sand storms.