The King Banyan Tree of Jiedonglai

　　   The King Banyan Tree of Jiedonglai is located on a mound plateau near the Jiedonglai Village, about 3.5 kilometers southwest of Ruili city center. It faces the Ruili Basin and backs onto the Jingpo Mountain, forming a naturally beautiful landscape where mountain meets plain. The banyan tree here is the largest in Ruili, hence known as the King Banyan. It covers an area of several acres. The banyan is a very unique tree—originally a single trunk, its hanging aerial roots grow into the soil and begin to develop into new trunks. As the branches grow, they also send down aerial roots that reach the ground and continue growing. This process repeats over hundreds of years, eventually creating the spectacle of a single tree that looks like a forest. Next to the King Banyan Tree is a monastery that may look ordinary from the outside, but inside houses the largest bamboo-woven Buddha statue in China to date. The entire bamboo Buddha stands about 5 meters tall and 3 meters wide, depicting the image of Sakyamuni in meditation. The statue has a natural expression and is incredibly lifelike. The Buddha was woven by Nong Enxiang, an overseas Chinese of Burmese descent and a folk artist of the Dai ethnic group, who spent a month crafting this bamboo Buddha.