In an underground gallery Madam Li and her son slowly, deftly and painstakingly recreate the masterpieces of Dunhuang, taken from China by British explorers over a hundred years ago. “Our main purpose is to show the crème de la crème of our ancient art, but at the moment there’s no chance to see them”. Today, the pride of Dunhuang is scattered around the world. The British Library in London defends its sizeable collection of up to 10,000 precious Buddhist manuscripts, saying that they are part of a world heritage. The call for the return of lost relics springs from a rising tide of nationalism. While others campaign for repatriation, China’s most powerful enterprises have joined forces with the government in trying to buy back stolen artefacts by international auction.

Produced by ABC Australia