Leshan Giant Buddha
Leshan is large city with a population of over three million. Situated at the confluence of the Dadu and Minjiang rivers the rivers flow eastwards towards the Yangtze and the coast at Shanghai - an ancient trading waterway of huge importance. During the 8th century, construction of a huge Buddha effigy was started on red sandstone cliffs that overlook the meeting point of the two rivers. Its purpose reputedly being that of calming the fast-flowing waterway and helping boat traffic safely pass through this dangerous stretch. After a few setbacks, this huge project finally produced a 71-metre (233 ft) tall statue. To get an idea of how large this is, the copper figure of the statue of liberty is 46 m tall. Now overtaken in size by a couple of modern built Buddha effigies, the Leshan statue is the largest historical statue. Interesting construction points include a complicated draining system, that has protected it from erosion, and evidence of a huge 13 storey structure that once enclosed the monument but was destroyed by invading Mongols. Today’s statue has received much renovation work – the necessity of this work will be apparent when viewing the highly eroded flanking statues from the river.
There are three ways of viewing Big Buddha. Simplest and quickest is to travel into Leshan City and get to the river that is directly opposite the monument. From there you view it from across the river. However, here the two rivers meet, and the stretch of water is very wide. Giving just distant views, binoculars are almost a necessity. Far better is to buy a ticket for a tourist boat that gives you a 20 minute sightseeing voyage. From the boat you get the best view of all, being able to see the whole Buddha and flanking statues as they were meant to be seen – from a boat on the river. There are many boats making this trip, they depart each time they are full. This is the quickest and most convenient way of viewing the Buddha – even during a slow period, when you have to wait for a boat to fill, or peak season when a surplus of visitors means a bit of a queue. The third way is going into the Big Buddha park and walking around the statue just as the original pilgrims and visitors would have. Although not getting the same entire, whole monument view as from the river, here you get the best idea of the sheer scale, especially when walking at the bottom around his massive toes and feet. A word of warning; those stairs, that wind around the statue, are long and steep, and the park can get very crowded, meaning patience and calm required in case of human bottlenecks.
With many hotel and restaurant choices, Leshan town is a good place to stay. Far more relaxed than the bustle of Chengdu it’s a great place to sample Sichuan cuisine – especially noodle and dumpling type dishes. It also has a more local Sichuan feel than nearby Emei, which, around the mountain, is totally dominated by visitors and the tourist industry.
For independent travellers the quickest and most convenient way of reaching Leshan is via the high-speed rail link. The Chengdu terminus is the East Railway Station, with a journey of just over one hour to Leshan. This train passes through Chengdu Airport and it’s just a further 15 minutes ride to Emei
Leshan and Enei Mountain are just 50 km apart and a visit to these sites can easily be combined
UNESCO site on the Giant Buddha here
Wikipedia Leshan Giant Buddha here
