Located in Dazu County, 81 km by express way, west of the city proper of Chongqing, the stone carvings of Dazu, chiefly consisting of Buddhists images, are the art of religious nature. More than fifty thousand figure statues are scattered over 75 places. Those carved out of the rocks at Beishan, Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shizuanshan and Shimenshan are the most concentrated in number, the largest in scale, the finest in craftsmanship and the richest in content. In 1961, they appeared on the list of the first group of important cultural relics under state protection as announced by the State Council and in 1999 it was inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage List by the UNESCO.