The Jinta Temple has the oldest and most exquisite Buddhist murals and sculptures in China. The suspended sculptures are lifelike, with bright and delicate colours, rich sculptural structures, and elegant and agile postures.

Yet, amid the awe-inspiring beauty, an unsettling reality becomes apparent. Even these cultural treasures are not immune to climate change. Yan Tu, seeing a hygrometer showing 55% humidity inside the cave, is worried that if the artefacts were exposed to such conditions for a long time, the earthen wall structure the murals are attached to will become loose and deformed while the paint will gradually peel off. Other cultural pieces inside the cave have suffered the same fate, with faded colours and broken limbs, an injustice to their original beauty.

The ancient Buddhist art house is the condensation of thousands of years of human labour and aesthetics, but it does not mean that it can resist weathering and erosion. Yan Tu hopes that the beauty of its heritage can last longer and that climate change does not accelerate the disappearance of this important piece of culture.