The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural development demanded the statue be removed last year, saying that it ruined the 'character and culture' of Jingzhou. The statue, unfortunately, has drawn criticisms from the government for being 'vain' and 'wasteful', SCMP reported in a 2020 article. The massive statue cost 170 million yuan (S$35 million) to build, and sits on top of a museum. It was dubbed the world's biggest bronze statue of Guan Yu. The statue was built as a monument to Guan Yu, a military general who was deified after his death.Īccording to SCMP, the statue was completed in 2016 with the hopes that it would be included in the Guinness World Records.