Xi Delong and one of his fossil collections. Photo: screenshot of video posted by btime.com

A villager in East China is building his own museum to house thousands of fossils he has collected over the last 20 years, which are estimated to be worth 53 million yuan ($7.4 million).

Xi Delong, 53, a villager from Bozhou, Anhui Province, already has his own fossil museum, displaying more than 2,000 fossils, some of which are estimated to be of creatures that lived 500 million years ago. 

"I started my Chinese medicine business in 1997, and one of the most famous medicines is called dragon bones, which is actually a fossil," Xi said. After learning more about fossils, Xi discovered how valuable they are and started collecting them during business trips.

His 30 million year old fossil of a giant rhinoceros is more than six meters long and five meters tall and appears to be raising its head to eat leaves on the tree. Xi's collection also includes a fossil of a rare stegodon, which is 3.6 meters long and weighs 475 kilograms.