Anshan Jade Buddha Garden

In July 1960, a miner named Wang Xiu struck a hard, smooth wall of stone twenty meters beneath the earth in Xiuyan County. He had uncovered a 260.76-ton block of multi-colored serpentinite jade, a giant that Premier Zhou Enlai immediately declared a protected state treasure. For thirty-two years, the stone remained in its mountain home. Then, in November 1992, a fleet of heavy transport vehicles, including military tank-pullers, hauled the massive block across 172 kilometers of rivers and hills to Anshan City. The journey lasted eight days and nights, shaking the roads under its immense weight.

Beginning in 1994, a team of 120 master sculptors set to work. For 17 months, the air rang with the scrape of steel chisels against the dense stone. The artists carved a double-sided masterpiece. On the front, they fashioned a seated Sakyamuni Buddha, guiding their tools so his face emerged from a pristine, deep green section of the jade. On the back, they carved Guanyin Bodhisattva crossing the sea against a backdrop resembling Putuo Mountain. During the carving, natural mineral variations revealed unexpected patterns. A dark spot became a dragon and a phoenix. Near the fish tail of the Guanyin, Zen Master Dexiu of Wuhan recognized a yellow pattern forming the calligraphic character for 'truth.'

Today, this giant sits inside the Jade Buddha Pavilion, a red-tiled structure rising 33 meters to represent the 33 layers of Buddhist heaven. Inside, visitors stand beneath a gilded caisson ceiling glittering with 120 taels of 24K gold leaf, where nine carved dragons circle a central pearl. Outside, the white marble of the Jade Belt Bridge arches over a quiet lotus pond, and the morning air carries the deep, metallic ring of the five-ton bronze Century Bell. The temple stands on ancient rock formations, binding modern craftsmanship to the deep time of the earth.