A museum on jade culture has opened in Guilin, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, one of the major jade producers in south China, with a jade-made nine-dragon screen wall weighing more than 100 tons stealing the limelight.

The screen wall, 29.99 meters wide and 3.5 meters high, is believed to be the largest of its kind made of the jade produced in the region, which was among the articles of tribute to emperors in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

The dragon screen wall is a replica of the famous original wall located on the northern bank of the lake in Beijing's Beihai Park. It is a glazed wall showing nine dragons among billowing clouds and waves.

A screen wall is an important part of traditional Chinese buildings with the purpose of warding off evil things.

Items on display in the museum include various jade from across the country, jade carvings, as well as literature and materials regarding jade development and history in the country.

Covering an area of 1.66 hectares, the museum is built with more than 30 million yuan (US$3.6 millions) on joint efforts of local private companies and a jade product company.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2004)