Thousands of ancient Buddha statues unearthed
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E-mail Xinhua, March 20, 2012
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A Buddha statue made in the Northern Qi period. |
Buddhism was very popular during the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties, when Yecheng served as the capital. It was especially prevalent in the Northern Qi period, as the imperial family revered Buddhas and more than one-seventh of the population were Buddhist monks and nuns.
The cultural relics bureau of Linzhang county said in an emailed statement to Xinhua last week that the county has signed a letter of intent with a local company to co-invest 10 billion yuan (1.59 billion U.S. dollars) to create a Buddhist cultural park in Linzhang.
The cultural park, which is expected to cover 1,600 mu (107 hectares), aims to step up research efforts, protect Buddhist relics as well as develop the local tourism market, said the statement.
The park will include a museum, a Buddhist school, temples, Buddha statues as well as hotels, shops and parking lots for tourists, it said.
However, the statement did not mention when construction will start or how long it will take, as the two sides are still working out the details of the project.
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