Root carving artists from 15 different countries engrave symbols of their home countries on a nanmu root to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the 8th China (Kaihua) Root Carving Art and Culture Festival. [Photo/qz96811.com]

The 8th China (Kaihua) Root Carving Art and Culture Festival kicked off in the Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone in Kaihua county, Quzhou, East China's Zhejiang province on Nov 2, according to local media reports.

The festival included the ever-popular 6th China Root Carving On-Site Creation Competition, which was attended by more than 50 root carving artists from China and abroad, including Germany, South Korea and Romania.

A 6.5-meter long root of nanmu, weighing 3.5 tons, was a stand-out. Root carving artists from 15 different countries engraved symbols of their home countries on the root, including totems, buildings, and natural landscapes, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"I've seen my fair share of carvings, but I'm still amazed by the sheer beauty of the root carvings in China," said Miriam Bajkai from Slovakia, who hopes coming to China and learning root carving from local artists in the future.

Over the following several days, the artists will explore Kaihua and share their ideas about root carving and cultural exchange among countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Kaihua has a long history of root carving which can be traced back to the Tang (618-907) and Song dynasties (960-1279). The county's Root Palace Buddhist Cultural Tourism Zone is the only root theme park in the world.

The 3.03-square kilometer scenic area houses more than 5,000 large-scale root carvings and is also home to the world's largest root statue of Sakyamuni Buddha as well as a 680-meter-long giant root carving work known as Arhat Array.