Europe's past glories provided handsome earnings in this small town in rural China.
But the current crisis in the eurozone and beyond casts a long shadow.
Shattered angels and abandoned machinery litter this once-busy workshop.
One of only two remaining sculptors said their colleagues had all left.
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) SCULPTOR MR. LI SAYING:
"We used to have some 40 people here. Now they all left the town to search for other jobs. Now there is only the two of us working here, but there isn't much work."
Before the crisis exports accounted for over 90 percent of earnings in Dangcheng, fuelling a boom in this town of 20,000.
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) DEPUTY MANAGER OF XINYUAN SCULPTURE COMPANY NIU RONGAI SAYING:
"Now our orders are mostly domestic - 80 percent of them are domestic, but the profit isn't much."
Some of today's orders are for homes, others for businesses. The Buddhas are mainly for temples.
But despite the changing clientele, workshops are still fighting rising costs and decreasing sales.
Lily Grimes, Reuters