This is one of the wooden statuary of which they do allow photography. There are many such carvings throughout the temple areas. They are beautiful, some of them quite massive.

The laquer finish on these is quite similar to the large carvings we have at home that are from Vietnam.

Note the relief carving and painting in the backdrop to these statues. And, just how cool is the giant bird's head upon which it is standing?

We hope that religious as well as other personal freedoms continue to expand for the Chinese. The government has a monumental problem with 1.5 billion people, not enough food, and not enough jobs to keep them all fed and housed anyway. There is no social security or other similar social safety nets to protect the elderly, single parents or challenged. We wish them good fortune.