Workers remove the top of a jar containing the mummified body of Fu Hou. The mummification of monks is an accepted practice in China, and follows in the tradition of Buddhist monks who left instructions to be followed after their deaths, which often included having them buried sitting in a lotus posture, put into a vessel with drying agents (such as coal, wood, paper, or lime) and surrounded by bricks, to be exhumed later, usually after three years, according to sources cited in Wikipedia. The preserved bodies would then be decorated with paint and adorned with gold.

Men remove the top of a jar containing the mummified body of the Buddhist monk Fu Hou who died in 2012 at the age of 94.

Workers apply lacquer to prepare Fu Hou's mummy for the layer of gold leaf to follow.

Mummification experts apply gold leaf to the mummified body of revered Buddhist monk Fu Hou in Quanzhou city in southeastern China's Fujian province. The practice is reserved for holy men in some areas of China with strong Buddhist traditions.

The mummified body of Fu Hou after completion of the gold-leafing process.

Temple Abbot Zhen Yu places a robe on the gold-leafed body of Fu Hou in this April 16, 2016, photo.