Dafo in Leshan

I arrived in Chengdu (成都) very early one morning and almost straight away left again! There's nothing wrong with Chengdu, in fact it's turned out to be quite good, I left because I went off on a day trip to Leshan to see the largest Buddha sculpture in the world!! Dafo (大佛), Big Buddha is indeed very big, 71m high and carved into a niche in the sandstone cliffs overlooking the river in Leshan, at the point where the Dadu, Min and Qingyi rivers converge.

There are two ways to view Dafo; from the Buddha park or from the river. First, from the Buddha Park you can look down on him from a ridge just above his head and then after climbing down steps in the side of the cliff's niche, from which there are many more good views, you arrive at his gigantic feet, from where you can gaze up at this gentle giant in awe of the enormous size. Secondly, you can view him from a little further away, by taking a river trip or ferry from the ferry port at the West bank of the river in Leshan town, either on a round trip, or to the port on the East bank of the river.

The Buddha park is large and you can spend many hours wandering around if you want to view everything that is there. There are a many sculptures (copies) of famous Buddhist sculptures from around other sites in China, a couple of temples, pagoda and lots of walking around paths snaking through woodlands.


Left: Dafo's ears are 7m long !
Centre: His feet are enormous (see people kneeling beside to compare size)
Right: View from the boat.

The steps down to Dafo's feet can get very busy if you arrive at the same time as a few groups of Chinese tourists, so patience can be required. This is especially true at some viewing spots, where every single one of them insists on getting a photo taken in a pose which gives the appearance that their hand is touching his ear, this of course can take many attempts depending on the photographer and subject, and can get irritating if all you want is a photo of Dafo, without any over-excited Chinese tourist in the foreground.

Travel Tips:
- Buses to Leshan depart from Chengdu's Xinnanmen station.
- Leshan now has a new bus station in the South Western part of town (both Rough Guide and LP are out of date).
- Bus 13 takes you from the new bus station to the ferry port and goes onto all three entrance gates of the Buddha park site. Take your pick!
- Last bus back to Chengdu was around 7pm!