A little after 8:00 a.m., Li Xiaoyang, a mural restorer, deftly scales the scaffolding to begin his day of "facing the wall." Dedusting, injecting reinforcing agent, pasting back and desalting, day after day, he repeats the work, which requires even more finesse than embroidery.

Li Xiaoyang at the mural restoration site of Pilu Temple in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, in April 2017. [Photo courtesy of Li Xiaoyang]

"There is a time limit to the raw materials. These murals would be pulverized or peel off due to pests over time," he said, seated on simple makeshift scaffolding and carefully using a repair knife to remove the dirt on the surface of the mural.

The Juehuang Hall of Mingjiao Temple in Chengdu City is home to the sole multi-layered mural built in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) in Sichuan Province. Now, after nearly a year of restoration and cleaning, the ancient mural, which was previously covered by ink lines from the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), has been "unveiled."

Guide

About 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, passing through a vast desert, you will reach the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain. Here, you can take in the iconic red nine-floor tower of the Mogao Grottoes, which Li Xiaoyang remembers most vividly from his childhood.

Li Xiaoyang was born in 1989 and grew up in Dunhuang. His grandfather, Li Yunhe, is an influential figure in mural restoration at the Dunhuang Academy. Both his parents work here, and his uncle, Li Bo, is also an expert in mural restoration with more than 20 years of experience. Although he was born into a family of masters in the field, becoming a mural restorer was not initially in Li Xiaoyang's life plan.

At the age of 16, Li Xiaoyang went to Melbourne, Australia, to study interior design. After his graduation in 2011, Li Xiaoyang said, "I planned to stay abroad for two or three years, but my family encouraged me to return, especially my grandfather, who urged me to give it a shot."

That's how Li Xiaoyang eventually enrolled in the Dunhuang Academy, starting his career as a mural restorer.