Two world records were set in Taiwan April 17 when 160 men took turns carrying a huge sedan chair weighing 280 kilograms.
Seated on top of the chair was a statue of Zhao Tian-jun, the God of Wealth.
The event, organized by the Dunhe Temple in Caotun Township, Nantou County, was in celebration of the god’s 351st birthday.
“Never in the history of the world has a single sedan chair been carried by so many men, and never has there been a sedan chair as large as ours,” temple officials said, noting that the sedan is 1.23 meters long and 8.5 meters wide.
The officials added they would apply to have their feat certified by the Guinness Book of World Records.
As the sedan was paraded through the streets of Caotun, spectators stood and marveled at the god and the prodigious strength of the men bearing its weight on their shoulders.
The sedan chair was built at a cost of over NT$1.4 million (US$48,275) and was constructed using a total of 16 bars in a criss-cross pattern.
Master carver Chen Qiu-lin said the initial frame of the chair was made entirely out of wood, and that the sedan chair initially weighed 888 kilograms.
The temple was concerned that the chair would be too heavy, so they had it broken down. Last week, they changed to using stainless steel rods, helping to bring the weight down to 280 kilograms.
In spite of the loss in weight, the structure still constitutes the heaviest sedan chair ever made.
(This article originally appeared in The Liberty Times April 17.)