The unveiling of the artificial "Queen's Head" rock formation will be held to coincide with the entry of the 1 millionth visitor to the Yehliu Geopark on the outskirts of Taipei, a park manager said Friday.

"As of Thursday, 980,000 people had visited the geological park and it is estimated that the total number of visitors will hit 1 million by next Monday or Tuesday," said Yang Ching-chien, the park's general manager.

The Yehliu Geopark was established in 2006 as a state-owned but privately-run facility as part of the government's efforts to better protect the region's rich ecological resources. But well before that, hundreds of thousands of people visited the Yehliu cape, known to geologists as the Yehliu Promontory, to admire the many distinctive hoodoo stones -- the tall and thin rock columns -- that dot its surface.

A number of the hoodoo rock formations have been given imaginative names based on their shapes. The best known is the "Queen's Head, " which has become the unofficial emblem of the town of Wanli where the geological park is located.

The survival of the iconic image has been threatened because of years of salty wind erosion. According to official statistics, the circumference of the "Queen's Head's" neck is now only 142 centimeters and continues to shrink by 5 cm a year.

To prevent human sabotage, visitors are now barred from approaching the extraordinary rock formation and can only take pictures of it from a distance. Moreover, the park has hired rangers to guard it day and night.

But arguments among visitors frequently erupt when wayward tourists squeeze into the long line to take photographs of the "Queen's Head." To prevent such disruptions, the geopark management created the fireglass lookalike at a cost of NT$1 million (US$31,056).

"We hope the lookalike will attract visitors' attention and thus help minimize the possibility of human damage to the fragile 'Queen's Head' rock formation," Yang added.

The Yehliu Geopark stretches about 1,700 meters into the ocean and was formed as geological forces pushed Datun Mountain out of the sea. Other noted rock formations in the park include "The Fairy Shoe," "The Bee Hive," "The Ginger Rocks," and "The Sea Cndles." (By Chen Ching-ping and Sofia Wu)