The copper statue, depicting the hero with a grove of bamboo in his hand flying onto the sky on his horse, is one of the major projects to celebrate the millennial founding anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi in 2010.

Most Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet, head of the project management board said carrying the statue’s parts from the mountain base to the top (about 3km) was difficult work.

Installation of the 85-tonne statue is scheduled to be completed by September 2010, in time for the celebrations to mark the capital city’s birthday.

The project required a total investment of some VND 50 billion (USD 2.8 million), half of which was spent on the cast.

Legend has it that Giong was born after his mother tried to fit her feet into the footprints of a giant in the field.

At the age of three, he suddenly grew into a giant himself, when invaders attacked the country. He asked the king for an iron horse and promptly chased the invaders out of the country with an iron sword, wielding entire groves of bamboo. After that, he and his horse flew into the sky from Soc Mountain in Soc Son District.