Craftsmen begin world's biggest dog statue in Hebei

Hundreds of craftsmen from across China, the United States and Australia have started work on what will be the biggest stone sculpture of a dog in the world, reports Chinanews.com.

Craftsmen start work on the world's biggest dog statue in Hebei. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

The new landmark in Quyang County, Hebei Province, will be 16 meters high, 36 meters long, and 9 meters wide and is expected to take a whole year to complete. It will be made of 25 giant stones placed in 3 layers.

The sculpture will represent 'Yellow the Faithful,' a dog from Chinese folklore who saved a man called Liu Xiu, who went on to become the emperor of the Han Dynasty almost 2000 years ago. After coming to power, Emperor Guangwu of Han established a monument to commemorate the dog.

The sculptors hope by highlighting the dog's boldness and loyalty, to encourage people to live harmoniously with animals.

An official from the Shanghai China Records Headquarters said the statue, when completed, will be the world's largest mono stone sculpture of a dog.

Craftsmen start work on the world's biggest dog statue in Hebei. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

The craft of stone carving in Quyang can be traced back as far as 2,000 years. Having bred 5 state-level craft artists and 90 provincial and city-level ones, the county has become known as the heart of China's stone carving industry with some 2,300 carving companies listed, earning over 7 billion yuan (about 1 billion US dollars) every year by selling products to hundreds of countries and regions.