A folk artist in east China's Zhejiang Province has carved portraits of all 42 US presidents on a single, rice-sized piece of ivory, about 6 millimeters long and 3 millimeters wide.

"Given the proper opportunity, I would like to present the work to the government of the United States as a token of Sino-US friendship," said Li Qici, a folk artist in Ningbo City.

The 59-year-old artist has been engaged in microcarving since 1977 with several masterpieces, including a Buddha statue one-fourth the size of a grain of rice, a nine-dragon picture that could fit through the eye of a needle and The Great Wall the size of half a match. In 1987, he carved portraits of the 39 US presidents on a similar ivory piece.

Li is director of Zhejiang Provincial Microcarving Art Society.     

Many of his works have been displayed in Japan and the United States, and some have been displayed in overseas museums. His 1.48-centimeter microcarving of a musician and a violin was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2004)