Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, northwest China - Aug 7, 2017
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1. Various of aerial shots of sand sculpture "Loulan Kingdom"

2. Sand sculpture "Loulan Kingdom"
3. Various of sand sculptures
4. Various of sand sculptor Feng Guangxing creating sand sculpture
5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Feng Guangxing, sand sculpting artist (starting with shot 4, partially overlaid with shot 6):
"You've got to design sand sculpture of this size from the top down, with interconnections exactly like painting. You should know every step and all weight-bearing structures, or else, any improper undercut might cause cave-ins. Then even if there's a cave-in, you still can morph it to another design. Sand sculptors have to improvise a lot. So each day is a challenge. This is the biggest fun of sand sculpture."
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6. Various of sand sculptures, Feng creating sand sculptures
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7. Various of artists creating sand sculptures
8. Artists sprinkling glue on sand sculpture
9. Artists creating sand sculptures
10. Sand sculpture
11. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Young tourist (no name given):
"I wouldn't believe it is built of sand and even with inscriptions on it. We tried to inscribe on sand, but sand would collapse. But this sculpture keeps its inscriptions. Incredible. This is one of the most marvelous spectacles I've ever seen."
12. Tourists posing for photos

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13. Aerial shot of sand sculptures

Chinese sand sculptors have built and opened their country's largest sand sculpture park in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Their park covers an area of 20,000 square meters and now displays 70 sand sculptures. The park expects tens of thousands of visitors in the next two months.

The Loulan Kingdom sand sculpture in the park is claimed to be the largest single sand sculpture in the world so far, as it stands 25 meters tall with a base perimeter of 400 meters.

The sand sculpture park is situated in the Mu Us Desert, one of the four well-known sandy lands in China. This desert provides high-quality raw materials for sand sculpturing.

"You've got to design sand sculptures of this size from top down, with interconnections exactly like painting. You have to know each step and all weight-bearing structures, or else, any improper undercut might cause cave-ins. Even if when there is a cave-in, you still can morph it to another design. Sand sculptors have to improvise. So each day is a challenge. This is the largest fun of sand sculpture," said Feng Guangyuan, sculptor of Loulan Kingdom.

No chemical glues can be used while building up the sand sculptures. Glues can only be sprayed onto the surface of finished sand sculptures to help them stay longer.

"I wouldn't believe it is built of sand with inscriptions on it. When we inscribe on sand, the sand would collapse. But this sand sculpture keeps its inscriptions. Incredible. This is one of the most marvelous spectacles I've ever seen," said one visitor.

Visitors not only have ready sculptures to adore, but also get to learn the basics of sand sculpturing by watching sand sculptors work their designs in the park.