Photographer Wu Jian's 50 selected works of Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Gansu province, and other cultural heritage sites along the ancient Silk Road, are on display at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing through Aug 15. [Photo by Fang Aiqing/China Daily]

Wu hopes that these photos can arouse people's reverence to ancient Silk Road, their appreciation for Chinese culture, and the awareness to inherit and promote fine traditional culture.

Su Bomin, director of the Dunhuang Academy, said that Wu's work has created a Silk Road cultural heritage image database and provided a precise and comprehensive atlas of the relics for academic study and cultural promotion.

The 60-year-old cameraman has been working for the Dunhuang Academy since 1981. The academy is known for research and preservation of the Mogao Caves and oversees several other grotto complexes along the Hexi Corridor, the main artery of the ancient Silk Road.