diff --git a/modelscope/cli/clearcache.py b/modelscope/cli/clearcache.py
index 7b89103b..dcd3d1df 100644
--- a/modelscope/cli/clearcache.py
+++ b/modelscope/cli/clearcache.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 from modelscope.cli.base import CLICommand
 from modelscope.hub.constants import TEMPORARY_FOLDER_NAME
+from modelscope.hub.utils.utils import get_model_masked_directory
 
 
 def subparser_func(args):
@@ -99,8 +100,13 @@ class ClearCacheCMD(CLICommand):
     def _remove_directory(self, path):
         if os.path.exists(path):
             try:
-                shutil.rmtree(path)
-                print(f'Cache folder {path} removed.')
+                if os.path.islink(path):
+                    shutil.rmtree(os.readlink(path))
+                    os.remove(path)
+                    print(f'Cache and link for {path} removed.')
+                else:
+                    shutil.rmtree(path)
+                    print(f'Cache folder {path} removed.')
                 return True
             except Exception as e:
                 print(f'An error occurred while clearing cache at {path}: {e}')
diff --git a/modelscope/hub/snapshot_download.py b/modelscope/hub/snapshot_download.py
index 1fe94b82..dbec55c1 100644
--- a/modelscope/hub/snapshot_download.py
+++ b/modelscope/hub/snapshot_download.py
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Union
 from modelscope.hub.api import HubApi, ModelScopeConfig
 from modelscope.hub.errors import InvalidParameter
 from modelscope.hub.utils.caching import ModelFileSystemCache
-from modelscope.hub.utils.utils import model_id_to_group_owner_name
+from modelscope.hub.utils.utils import (get_model_masked_directory,
+                                        model_id_to_group_owner_name)
 from modelscope.utils.constant import (DEFAULT_DATASET_REVISION,
                                        DEFAULT_MODEL_REVISION,
                                        REPO_TYPE_DATASET, REPO_TYPE_MODEL,
@@ -219,9 +220,9 @@ def _snapshot_download(
         if cookies is None:
             cookies = ModelScopeConfig.get_cookies()
         repo_files = []
-        directory = os.path.join(system_cache, 'hub', repo_id)
-        print(f'Downloading Model to directory: {directory}')
         if repo_type == REPO_TYPE_MODEL:
+            directory = os.path.join(system_cache, 'hub', repo_id)
+            print(f'Downloading Model to directory: {directory}')
             revision_detail = _api.get_valid_revision_detail(
                 repo_id, revision=revision, cookies=cookies)
             revision = revision_detail['Revision']
@@ -259,6 +260,18 @@ def _snapshot_download(
                 allow_file_pattern=allow_file_pattern,
                 ignore_patterns=ignore_patterns,
                 allow_patterns=allow_patterns)
+            if '.' in repo_id:
+                masked_directory = get_model_masked_directory(
+                    directory, repo_id)
+                logger.info(
+                    f'Creating symbolic link {masked_directory} -> {directory}.'
+                )
+                try:
+                    os.symlink(os.path.abspath(masked_directory), directory)
+                except OSError as e:
+                    logger.warning(
+                        f'Failed to create symbolic link {masked_directory} -> {directory}: {e}'
+                    )
 
         elif repo_type == REPO_TYPE_DATASET:
             directory = os.path.join(system_cache, 'datasets', repo_id)
diff --git a/modelscope/hub/utils/utils.py b/modelscope/hub/utils/utils.py
index 3c3c75da..6cc53285 100644
--- a/modelscope/hub/utils/utils.py
+++ b/modelscope/hub/utils/utils.py
@@ -29,6 +29,15 @@ def model_id_to_group_owner_name(model_id):
     return group_or_owner, name
 
 
+# during model download, the '.' would be converted to '___' to produce
+# actual physical (masked) directory for storage
+def get_model_masked_directory(directory, model_id):
+    parts = directory.rsplit('/', 2)
+    # this is the actual directory the model files are located.
+    masked_directory = os.path.join(parts[0], model_id.replace('.', '___'))
+    return masked_directory
+
+
 def get_cache_dir(model_id: Optional[str] = None):
     """cache dir precedence:
         function parameter > environment > ~/.cache/modelscope/hub