Vietnam Entrepreneurs Aim to Carve World’s Biggest Jade Buddha
HAI DUONG, VIETNAM (AP).- One of the flamboyant entrepreneurs making it big in booming Vietnam unveiled a massive precious stone on Monday that he plans to transform into the world’s largest jade Buddha. Dao Trong Cuong, the owner of a Vietnamese gem mine, purchased the 35-ton stone in Myanmar last year for $2 million and imported it to Vietnam in October. By the time a team of 50 artists and sculptors finishes chipping away at it, the finished Buddha is expected to weigh nearly 20 tons. “We hope to get it into the Guinness Book of World Records,” Cuong told a crowd of nearly 2,000 people during a ceremony unveiling the stone, which is 10 feet (3 meters) tall, 6.5 feet (2 meters) wide, and 6.5 feet (2 meters) deep.