Temple of Heaven built from 22,000 matchsticks

CAIRO - Egyptian radiologist Ahmed Hassan liked the design and architecture of China's remarkable Temple of Heaven so much that he decided to build a replica of Beijing's historic monument with matchsticks.

In his free time, while exercising his hobby of building models of landmarks with matchsticks, Hassan spent more than two months working on the Temple of Heaven, until he finished the whole replica using about 22,000 matchsticks.

Hassan, 63, has recently been putting the final touches on the matchstick-designed Temple of Heaven at his home in the main street leading to the Pyramids of Giza near Egypt's capital Cairo.

"Although I haven't yet been to China, I liked the pictures of the temple so much. I also read about the temple and its historical background, and I found that it is one of the key landmarks and tourist attractions of the Chinese capital Beijing," Hassan says at his home.