Refreshed squad

In his teenage years, Li Bo often wondered why it seemed his predecessors never took days off despite adverse working and living conditions. He later realized they were driven by a sense of urgency.

Last year, his 91-year-old father fell and broke his left arm and damaged his lumbar vertebrae. The master kept up with his work remotely and couldn't wait to get back on site after three months of home confinement.

Li Bo's career has witnessed and benefited from the academy's evolution, from rescuing cultural heritage, to scientific and preventive conservation, making progress in both research and implementation of preservation measures.

Interdisciplinary achievements, such as updated research findings in materials science, and new digitalization technology, have greatly facilitated their work. And the academy has formed a well-established cooperative mechanism that guarantees suitable staff with different specialties in each preservation project, as well as regular summary and exchange sessions.

According to Guo, more than 150 conservators and restorers from the academy now work on the front line, minding the caves.

"Many of them may not be well-educated, but they excel after decades of practice in the field, and their experience is priceless," Guo says. "As master artisans of our nation, they deserve people's utmost admiration."