Veteran TV drama director Chen Jialin is to make a 40-part epic TV series entitled "The Great Dunhuang" eulogizing the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, in Northwest China's Gansu Province.

　　With an initial investment of about 35 million yuan (US$ 4.3 million) from the China Intercontinental Communication Centre, China Guoan Culture & Media Investment Corp and China Central Television, the TV series depict the ups and downs of the Mogao Grottoes from its early days to the late 1930s.

　　Based on a script by Zhang Rui from Gansu, the series will be shot between April and September and shown to audiences home and abroad early next year, according to Wei Li, a producer of the TV drama series.