Craftsman village offers tourists hands-on experience in Dunhuang

Here tourists can view replicas of Buddhist sculptures and frescoes in Mogao Grottoes and participate in hands-on workshops to learn about the crafts involved in creating the grotto art. They can also make replicas of the portrait bricks unearthed from tombs of Wei and Jin Dynasties (220-420) in Dunhuang.

In addition, they can take a class to familiarize themselves with jiandu, bamboo or wooden slips for writing before paper was widely introduced in ancient China. Since 1907, more than 80,000 jiandu have been excavated in Gansu, making the province the country's largest holder of jiandu, especially hanjian, jiandu dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). In the class, they would be guided to write their own jiandu in the hanjian style.