In the starlight it resembled nothing so much as a little stone tortoise waddling away.

A stele carried by a giant stone tortoise and crowned with dragons stands in front of his grave.

One stele, installed on top of a stone tortoise, records the reconstruction of the bridge by the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty in 1698.

Attached were private apartments, while in front of stood a giant stone tortoise bearing an engraved pillar, like those that were commonly used in East Asia.

Such stele stood on the back of stone tortoises similar to those found around the capital of the Mongol Empire Karakorum.

Later on, the layout of many mausolea involves a large stone tortoise (bixi) along with the spirit way.

Eighty-two of the steles, each resting on a stone tortoise, stand like gravestones today.

In the imperial China, a stone tortoise called bixi was traditionally used as the pedestal for important stele, especially those associated with emperors.

According to Victor Segalen's assesement, the early (Han and the Six Dynasties) stone tortoises were artistic images of quite real aquatic turtles.

The great stone tortoises, whose antiquity sometimes went farther into the history than anyone could remember, often made impression on people who saw them, and excited their curiosity.