China Root Art Expo Garden 中国根艺美术博览园

Opening Hours: 8:00 A.M.-05:00 P.M.

Admission Fee: RMB 120 yuan

Telephone: 4007-777-777

Address: Kaihua, Zhejiang

China Root Art Expo Garden lies at Kaihua, abutting the source of Qiantang River, Yellow Mountain, Sanqing Mountain, and Qiandao Lake. The whole scenic area covers 360 acres and possesses 20 tourist spots including the root-carved Buddhism Land, China Root Carving Museum, China Root Carving of Historical Celebrities Museum, etc. It also houses over 160 species of plants and 36 species of birds. More than 4,000 pieces of bonsai (mini landscapes) and 2,000 pieces of root carves relating to all kinds of cultural themes are on display. 

The Qingmei Garden is built on the hillside. Approximately 3,000 pieces of bonsai are on the display in the garden. The themes of the bonsai pieces vary from country houses to grand mountains. All sorts of strange things found in nature are miniatured in the works. 

The root-carved Buddhism Land has an established area of 12,000 square meters, including 3 temple halls. In the Buddhism Land, more than a thousand pieces of root carving works of Shakyamuni, Tathagata, the four Buddhas, the four Devarajas, and the 500 Arhats are on display. 

Among them, the biggest piece is the root carving of Shakyamuni, which weighs 40 tons. The group of 500 Arhats runs 680 meters in length, and the layout of the whole work shows a quaint yet elegant taste. As the largest set of root sculptures in the world, the group sculptures of 500 Arhats has been submitted in an application for the Guinness Book of Records. 

Xu Guqing, a master of root carving, spent 10 years collecting Longyan wood from all over the country at a huge expense. The root sculptures exquisitely depict the vivid expressions of different figures. In creating the work, Mr. Xu combined the ancient technique of root carving together with contemporary ideas and concepts, attaching great artistic value to the piece of work. 

The China Root Carving of Historical Celebrities Museum consists of 3 Tong style buildings, taking up 14,000 square meters of area. This is a place exhibiting the sculptures of prominent figures in Chinese Dao culture, representatives of Confucian culture, and traditional legends. There are also many works on historical celebrities and the emperors of various dynasties.  

(Executive Editor: Zhe LOU)