Beijing, Wednesday

TWENTY stitchers took four years to complete a silken embroidery of

the million-word Chinese classic novel, Dream of the Red Chamber.

The colossal work is to be auctioned in Hong Kong in the spring to

celebrate the British colony's return to Chinese sovereignty on July 1,

1997, the Xinhua news agency reported.

''The base price for the embroidered handiwork will be HK$1997.701, a

symbol of the day when the Chinese Government resumes its control of

Hong Kong,'' Xinhua added.

If earlier auctions are a guide, the needlework could fetch millions

at auction.

In Shenyang, capital of north-east Liaoning province where the

embroidery was made, a city official said 20 embroiderers had stitched

for four years to complete the work, filling 12 silken volumes.

Each volume, measuring 11in by 7in and covered in red satin, contain

in total more than one million Chinese characters -- the full text of

what is regarded as one four great novels of the Qing dynasty

(1644-1911).

''Each of the Chinese characters, about the size of a soy bean, was

embroidered using scarlet silk thread,'' said Xinhua.

The volumes contain 185 scenes from the novel, also embroidered with

coloured silk thread.--Reuter.