Adventures in Asia: Leshan, China

With two full days in Chengdu, my plan had been to see the pandas one day and the Leshan Buddha the other, but after having lost Saturday due to lack of cash, I had to do both on Sunday.  So, after yesterday morning with the pandas, I intended to go south to Leshan in the afternoon.

I took the metro to the Chengdu South railway station where I was hoping to catch the 12:40 high speed train to Leshan, which is supposed to take 54 minutes to cover the ~120 kilometres.

This was a collection of buildings near the train station that I found interesting.

I assumed the self-serve railway ticket kiosks would have an English function, but they did not, so I had to improvise with the clerk at the ticket counter.  I managed to communicate what I wanted, but she, equally creative, swiveled her computer monitor to show me that there were zero tickets left for the C6305.  In fact, I was slow, because I simply asked if I could get tickets for the next train, the C6279, and she had to again point at her monitor.  I realized she was actually showing me that there were zero tickets remaining in all classes for the rest of the day's dozen or so trains to Leshan!

I was momentarily very disappointed.  While my flight out of Chengdu today is in the afternoon, there was no way I could fit in a visit to Leshan in the morning, so it was Sunday afternoon or nothing.  I had downloaded the "Travel China" web page on transportation options for Chengdu to Leshan.  While far less desirable, the page indicated that there are regular buses, and I managed to figure out where the bus station was, which was only five or so metro stops from the Chengdu South railway station.

At the bus station I again had challenges with communication, and even figuring out where I could buy tickets, but after twenty minutes or so and the help of this photo, I managed to buy a ticket for the 14:00 bus to Leshan.

I had some time to wait and I had not eaten lunch yet, so I went to a little restaurant next door.  

This was my menu!

The lady had a good laugh when it became obvious that I no idea what the menu said.  I literally just pointed at something and laughed as well.  This delicious and very spicy bowl is what I ended up with for 12 yuan (about $2.50).

The bus ride was unremarkable, except that even without any stops whatsoever, Chengdu to Leshan took just over two hours by bus, versus the 54 minutes by high speed trail (and, by the way, the train ticket is 52 yuan versus 46 yuan for the bus, so barely anymore to save over an hour!).

Once in Leshan, my first concern was making sure I could get back to Chengdu!  

I had managed to figure out how to read "Chengdu" in Chinese, and so using a kiosk I found the schedule for buses from Leshan to Chengdu and photographed it.  The machine would not let me buy the ticket unless I had a Chinese credit card, so I took the photo to the ticket counter and bought a ticket for the 19:00 bus.

With my return trip confirmed, now it was a matter of getting to the Buddha.  I had mapped out the route from the train station, but the Leshan bus station was nowhere near the train station.  Moreover, my GPS was not working on my phone, and I did not have a Leshan map downloaded.  I did not even know which way was north.  

I wasted some time trying to figure it all out, and thankfully I found a bus stop with a map that was somewhat useful. 

I knew the number 8 would take me to the Buddha, but was not sure which direction I had to go, so I got on a number 8, showed the driver a picture of the Buddha, and he indicated I wanted to go the other direction.  So, I crossed the street.

It was now 16:30, and the Buddha closes at 17:30, so I realized I was getting to the point where now I was risking having made it to Leshan without even being able to see the Buddha!

I waved over a cab, deciding I might not have time for the bus.  Consecutive cabbies pulled over for me, only to indicate that for some reason they did not want me or could not take me to the Buddha--I have no idea why.  They were very friendly about it, but despite obviously knowing from my photo where I wanted to go, they both clearly communicated that the trip was not going to happen.

Once again I improvised.  The Buddha itself is a ways out of the city, but an alternative way of seeing it is to catch a boat on the Minjiang River which will take you in front of the statue right above the river.  Piecing together various pieces of information I now knew, I jumped on a number 2 bus which runs along the Dadu River to close to where it joins the Minjiang.  I misjudged when to get off, but it just meant a little bit of a walk along the Dadu.

Although I was trying to rush, the walk along the river was quite nice, and I could even begin to see the massive Buddha way ahead across the Minjiang.

Eventually I rounded the corner to go north along the Minjiang and found where the boat I wanted was.  The final trip of the day was at 17:00, and I was there with a few minutes to spare.  I cut it close, but it was all working out now!

I am a bit of a sucker when it comes to being out on the water, so I was excited to even take the little boat trip!  I had some nice views of the Leshan riverfront as we pulled off.

It only takes a few minutes to cross the river and reach the cliffs out of which the Leshan Buddha was carved.

Viewing the Buddha from a boat has disadvantages--for example, it does not allow you to climb the stairs on either side of the Buddha, or look down from the cliffs above.  One advantage, however, is that you get to see these stone guards on either side of the Buddha, as they are only visible from the river.  While the foliage obviously obscures the statue, I think it is so cool how the plants have grown on these carvings!

I was quite taken aback as the Buddha came into view to see that he was covered with scaffolding!  From way on the other side of the river I could see the green, but assumed it was vines or bushes.

So, in the end, after all this work, I was in front of a partially obscured Leshan Budha.  It was a little bit disappointing, but at least I had made it!

Unbelievably, the Leshan Buddha--the largest Buddha in the world--is more than 1,200 years old and 71 metres tall.  Wikipedia says it is "by far the largest pre-modern statue in the world."  Although I could not see it, a sophisticated drainage system was built in to the statue to minimize erosion.  I read that at first there was also a roof constructed to protect the Buddha as well, but that was destroyed by Mongols in the 1200s.

We floated in front of the Buddha for several minutes, maybe ten total, before heading back.

Back on land, I still had an hour and a half before my bus left, so I started walking towards what I figured would be downtown Leshan, which was also more or less where I needed to go to catch a bus back to the bus station.

I found a cool looking restaurant and sat down to eat some dinner.  This time a friendly man sitting at a table near me knew a very little bit of English, and asked me if I wanted to eat what he was having and I said yes, so he let the lady know that that was what I should be served.  This hot pot was not at all spicy, but it was huge!  I managed to eat most of it.

After dinner I walked some more, enjoying the Leshan Sunday evening.  

I saw no white people the whole time I was in Leshan (and even seemed to get attention just for being me!), but I did find a Walmart!

I was back in Chengdu around 21:00.  

The Chengdu bus station is just a few blocks from my hostel, so I walked back from there.  It had been a long, tiring, full day.

Late this morning I took the metro to the Chengdu airport, whence I will begin my trip back to Canada.  At the airport metro station, I walked by this mural.  No scaffolding on the Buddha in this picture!