Three 600-year-old statues emerged in southern China after the Yangtze river recorded low water levels.

Video filmed in the city of Chongqing on August 11 shows tourists, media and experts taking pictures and analysing the three statues on a grey rock that was 7 metres high above the river.

According to Niu Yingbin, Associate researcher of Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the building of the three statues may have been used to bless the boats to pass through safely or to guide the boats.

The statues dated back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The video was provided by local media with permission.

近日，重庆巴南。由于长江水位回落，巴南双河口镇五台村附近常年淹没的佛爷梁摩崖造像露出江面，初步确定年代为明清，距今近600年历史。
在快艇上极目远眺，佛爷梁的灰色礁石耸立在江水中，露出江面约有7米高，摩崖石刻造像位于长江佛爷梁礁石最高处，造像坐东向西，共3龛造像。据悉，该摩崖造像为研究川渝地区明清时期摩崖造像的分布、题材、功能提供了重要的参考资料，造像雕刻精美，具有较高的文物价值。（视频由重庆台提供）