World's largest bronze drum cast in Huanjiang

A craftsman in Huanjiang, Hechi, polishes the bronze drum. [Photo by Gao Dongfeng / hcwang.cn]

Workers clean the surface of what is said to be the world's largest drum. [Photo/CFP]

The Huanjiang Maonan autonomous county in Hechi, Guangxi, completed the casting of the world's largest bronze drum on Jan 10.

The drum measures 4.2 meters in diameter and 2.6 meters in height. It weighs 7 tons. It took the efforts of 20 workers over more than six months to complete.

The drum was designed by Wei Qichu and Wei Qican, representative inheritors of Guangxi's intangible cultural heritage, "Zhuang ethnic group bronze drum casting technique". With backgrounds as blacksmiths, the brothers started research and testing in the 1990s and finally created the casting process of producing gigantic bronze drums, contributing to the heritage of the traditional manufacturing technique.

The brothers have produced more than 100,000 bronze drums over the years. The drums have been sold to places around the world such as France and Southeast Asia.

On Jan 16, the drum will be shipped to Guilin, Guangxi, for a review by the Guinness Book of Records for the title of the world's largest drum.

Twenty workers spent more than six months to complete the drum. [Photo/CFP]

Edited by Peter Nordlinger