Friday morning we left Chengdu early for Leshan. Leshan is a relaxes middle sized town with one main attraction that draws the attention of millions of (mainly Chinese) visitors... and us. Again UNESCO world heritage, again a record: The "Dafo" of Leshan is the tallest stone buddha statue in the world.
The story of its construction is an interesting one:
"Construction was started in 713 AD, led by a Chinese monk who hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the surrounding town with frequent inundations / floods. When funding for the project was threatened, he is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity. Construction was completed by his disciples ninety years later. Apparently the massive construction resulted in so much stone being removed from the cliff face and deposited into the river below that the currents were indeed altered by the statue, stopping the frequent inundations."
Leshan Dafo is 71 m high with 7 m long ears and 1.6 m long toe nails. Really impressive! Because of its location on the bank of the river, we chose to go on a boat trip to see the full buddha from the water first. Then we decided to approach the buddha, drove there by rickshaw (the most common transport option in Leshan) and climbed down from his head to his feet to enjoy the different perspectives. Well, we were not the only ones doing that given the fact it was a national Chinese holiday.... Masses of Chinese climbed down and up with us making the whole experience a crowded one.
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