Leshan is about 1.5 hours drive by coach from Chengdu. It houses the Giant Buddha which is something rediculous like 71 meters tall, 1200 year old World’s Largest sitting ancient statue of the deity. It’s carved out of a hillside in 8th century and looks down on the confluence of 3 rivers in southwestern Sichuan province. Glad that this Unesco World Heritage site was undamaged by the nation’s strongest earthquake that hits Sichuan last year.

We bought our bus tickets from Chengdu tourist bus station, RMB 49 per head. The first bus starts at 7.30am. At the counter, we were asked if we wanted to go to Leshan town area or Leshan Giant Buddha. The trip to the town area cost RMB43.

So we bought our tickets to the Giant Buddha which turn out to be a 6-pax mini van. The van brought us to this side entrance that cost RMB150 for an entrance ticket, which include another scenic area – The Buddha Paradise, whilst the entrance fee for the Giant Buddha is only RMB70.

We read in the internet somewhere that some so called “public” bus will travel to the Giant Buddha scenic area from Leshan Tourist Bus Station. However, they will drop passengers off at the side entrance instead where the ticket prices of the Buddha Paradise and Giant Buddha is bundled together. It is probably a private arrangement to drive more visitors to the less known Buddha Paradise. Unwilling to fork out the extra RMB80 for the other scenic area, we took this tuk-tuk car up to the north entrance for RMB 10.

The tickets also functions as postcards. You can find a post box on the top of the hill, just behind the Buddha’s head.

I love how the imposed so many conditions just to justify describing them as the World’s Tallest, and World’s Largest.

I have to say, this wasn’t my first Giant Buddha experience.

Tian Tan Buddha, completed in 1993, was the World’s Largest (again) outdoor bronze seated Buddha statue on a lotus, whilst the
Lingshan Buddha, completed in 1996, is the World Tallest bronze standing Buddha statue weighing over 700 tons and 88 metres high.

The great masterpiece is carved out of a cliff that faces Mount Emei scenic area. There’s an old saying: “The mountain is a Buddha and the Buddha is a mountain“.

Another attractive place is the side of the Buddha’s head. You can go up there directly through a plank way along the cliff and appreciate the engraving art, by seeing his hair as worn in icing embedded with stones.

This statue is so old that even weeds grow inside it’s 7 meters long ears!

The precarious staircase zigged and zagged down the cliff, bringing the Giant Buddha into sights at different levels. The stairs were really small and slick!

The giant Buddha is not the only scenic area. From the entrance, walkways takes you along paths that bypass other Buddha carvings, statues, temples, cliff tombs and caves. There are loads of steps up and down high hills making the rounds in the parks a tiring affair.

We met some local tourists visiting the giant Buddha. Mostly senior citizens with a tour group, each one had a square coloured, numbered tag attached to their cloths.

It is a pity to see such graffiti at the Leshan Giant Buddha scenic site. The Giant Buddha have been around for more than a thousand years. We really ought to try our best to preserve these historic sites and let future generations appreciate them.

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10:15 pm

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