Today we went to see the Giant Leshan Buddha & this evening we went to see the Sichuan Opera & Folk Art show.
Leshan Buddha.
This was another one of the must-see experiences for me on this trip & I was happy I took the trouble to do it. We all boarded the coach for our trip & headed off. I must say I did enjoy the sight of the motorway toll booths on our drive to Leshan. They had been built using the old-style roofs that adorn many of the temples & pagodas we have seen & they looked great.
River Cruise.
When we arrived in Leshan, we boarded a boat for an 'Aquatic Tour' of the Minjiang & Qingjiang Rivers. We set off & were very quickly downstream, looking up at the Giant Leshan Buddha. We sped past quickly, allowing us only a short view, but when we turned around & began to fight the strong current, we got a much better & longer view of the Buddha.
It was amazing to see how small the people descending to the Buddha's base looked as they made their way down the steep steps. Our local guide told us that to view the Buddha, we would have to climb to the top of the Buddha, climb down one side, climb up the other side & then retrace our steps, climbing it all over again to return to the coach. He told us that this is the only way you can see it & that you can not turn back once you have started.
After viewing the Buddha from the river, our boat struggled against the tide to return us to the dock we had set out from. We were rewarded with a buffet dinner in a restaurant overlooking the river before going to the Giant Leshan Buddha.
Leshan Giant Buddha.
The Leshan Giant Buddha is a 71 metre tall stone statue, built between 713 & 803 BC. It is carved out of a cliff face of cretaceous red sandstone at the confluence of the Min & Dadu Rivers. After lunch, we were taken to a small market where the people who didn't fancy climbing up & down the Buddha could look around & have a beer or a wine or both.
I had already decided that although I wasn't sure I could make the climb, I would give it a go. The Giant Leshan Buddha was one of the things I had come to see & I hadn't come this far to bottle out at the last minute. Dave & John were both going as well, but as we set off with our guide, Mel decided she couldn't let me struggle on my own & came with me to make sure I was okay.
After a short walk, we soon arrived at the entrance to the park that the Buddha was in. It soon became apparent that the local guide's description of how much climbing we would have to do had lost something in translation. The walk to the top of the Giant Buddha was a lot easier than he had described & anyone on our tour could easily have gotten to the top.
When we arrived at the top of the Buddha, we found that you do not have to climb down the Buddha to the base if you don't want to. There were several places where you could pose for photos next to the head of the Buddha & there were also gardens, a pagoda & several smaller monuments that could be seen without any difficult climbing.
Chinese ladies once again asked Mel if she would pose for photos with them; they seemed fascinated by her blonde hair & good looks. I will have to start charging them to take their picture with her.
I decided that I would continue down the steep steps to the base. The walk was supposed to take around 1½ hours. I think this is because people keep stopping for photos & the path is not wide enough to pass as they do. Mel & I arrived at the base of the Buddha, where Dave & John had already arrived. We all posed for photos & then made the climb back up. This was much harder than it looked, as the steps were very steep & uneven. Helped by Mel & several rests & water breaks, I climbed back to the top.
It took me a while to get my breath back & my legs felt like jelly, but I was glad I had done it. We walked through a lovely garden & saw the cave that the monk who started to build the Buddha lived in. Mel, Dave & John then climbed further to see the Lingyun temple, but I stayed to rest as my legs still felt like jelly.
When we left, we walked down through some gardens & back to the car park & market where we had left the rest of the tour group a few hours before. It seemed they had all been forced to drink large amounts of alcohol to stave off the sun & prevent sunstroke. As I arrived back with Mel, I was greeted by a round of applause & much cheering for managing the climb of the Buddha.
Photos from the Leshan Buddha.
Sichuan Opera & Folk Arts Performance.
This evening, I joined a small group of my fellow travellers to go & see the Sichuan Opera & Folk Art Performance. Before taking our seats as special guests, we were taken backstage into the dressing room. There we saw & met the artists getting ready before the show.
The first act was a shadowgrapher who made some magnificent hand-figure displays on a large screen on the stage. Next up were some folk art displays of costumed people telling a story, including a fire-breather. They were followed by musicians playing some authentic local tunes before some masked performers put on a show in which the speed at which the face changer changed faces was incredible. Even the comedy face changer was funny. Throughout the show, a couple would come on stage & perform as a hen-pecked husband & his wife. It was hilarious; even in Chinese, we could understand the humour. I would highly recommend this show to anyone going to the area.