LANZHOU, July 23 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition showcasing dresses in the mural paintings of the millennium-old Dunhuang grottoes opened Friday in Dunhuang City, northwest China's Gansu Province.

A total of 144 items, including draft sketches and creatively designed dresses based on paintings of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in the Dunhuang grottoes, are on display, said the Dunhuang Academy.

Dunhuang city was a hub for multicultural exchanges in ancient China, and the costumes of the painted figures in the Dunhuang caves are precious materials for early dress culture studies, said Chai Jianhong, an expert on Dunhuang culture.

"The over 270 existing Tang Dynasty caves in Dunhuang present dresses ranging from ordinary people to aristocrats," Chai said.

According to Zhao Shengliang, Party chief of Dunhuang Academy, the Dunhuang culture preserves a rich source of dressing materials and their evolution from the 4th to 14th centuries. The exhibition aims to have more people know about the culture to better pass it down.