The immersive show features reproductions of murals created by Dunhuang scholar Chang Shana and the paintings of Sun Bo and Bao Ying.[Photo by Lin Qi/China Daily]

Dancers from Gansu Opera and Dance Theater in Lanzhou, the provincial capital, and Beijing will give joint performances at the site.

In the second rotation, the show will include more motifs, such as the story of the nine-colored deer, a well-known tale recounted in one of Dunhuang's murals.

"I think Meet Dunhuang is a good effort to promote traditional arts and culture without showing real artifacts," says Chen Xuliang, deputy director of Hunan Museum in Changsha, Hunan province, who attended the opening on July 23.

He says people aged between 16 and 35, and accustomed to digital living, account for more than three-quarters of the visitors to the museum.

He says immersive digital art shows have become quite popular in recent years.

"The visual effects will, of course, arrest people's eyes in the first instance, but to make people focus, the production may need more investment in storytelling, like making a film in which elements are integrated to tell a logical story, and history and art are well blended to make a symphony of the senses."