An aerial view of a headless religious statue uncovered in Chongqing, China. Credit: Stringer/ChinaImages/Sipa USAThe statue is believed to have been built during China's Republican era (1912-1949), according to a national survey of cultural relics. However, experts invited by the district's cultural relics management office to study the statue said it was not of Buddhist origin and is likely related to a folk religion. The religious statue was already designated as a district-level cultural relic before 1997, it added. In recent decades, countess structures have been built to accommodate a bustling population of over 30 million people, sometimes at the expense of historical and cultural relics.

Source: CNN December 17, 2020 07:52 UTC