Leshan Giant Buddha - Walking tour and boat ride

 


Located near Chengdu, Leshan is home to the tallest stone Buddha statue in the world. Carved out of a cliff face, the 71 meters tall statue overlooks the junction of the Min and Dadu Rivers. You can walk up to the statue’s head and look down, walk down to its feet and look up, and view it from a boat. The area also offers distant but nice city views. You could do the walk and the boat ride easily in a short day, along with a visit to the Mahao Cliff Tombs and Wuyou Temple, both located between the Giant Buddha and the cruise port. In a longer day's program you can also include a visit to the Oriental Buddha Park, a separate and fairly large attraction (separate ticket required) that is well worth seeing — see the post about the Oriental Buddha Park. 



1. Main entrance; 2. North Gate of Giant Buddha area; 3. Giant Buddha head; 4. Giant Buddha feet; 5. Back Gate of Oriental Buddhist Park; 6. East Gate of Oriental Buddhist Park; 7. South Gate of Oriental Buddhist Park (Mahao Cliff Tombs, Haoshang Bridge); 8. Wuyou Temple; 9. Cruise port. (Based on map from Expats Holidays.) 

There is a free shuttle bus service between the main entrance (Tourist Center) and the different entrances of the Leshan Giant Buddha and Oriental Buddha Park areas, and the Wuyou Bridge, which is a short walk from the cruise port. The trail in this post starts at #1 and follows the red line, skipping the Oriental Buddha Park (#6) which is a recommended addition, and returns to #1 via the bus route, the blue line. 

The main entrance to the Leshan Giant Buddha area from where the shuttle buses start.



Starting the walk from the North Gate of the Leshan Giant Buddha. You can buy a ticket here with cash, or the other usual electronic methods (CNY 80). This route first leads up to the head of the Giant Buddha statue, then down to its feet in a path built into the cliff. (There is a direct path on the statue's right hand side but it is now closed to the public.) Part of the Buddha statue was under renovation at the time of my visit. This route exits from the South Gate. 










































































Near the South Gate, there is a back gate to the Oriental Buddha Park (you need a separate ticket), or as shown in this post, you can go straight to the Mahao Cliff Tombs. The tombs, dated back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 CE) era, are located on the river bank outside of the Giant Buddha area and free to visit. 



















Haoshang Bridge, leading over to the little hilly island on which Wuyou Temple stands. The cruise port is on the other side of the hill. There are routes that skip the temple and minimalize the ascent. In this post we follow the route up to the temple on the top of the hill; unfortunately there are no good views from here of the Giant Buddha area because of the thick vegetation, but you get a great perspective of the river junction and city, and the temple complex and its garden are beautiful. 












































The cruise port. The 70 Yuan fare for the ride is reasonable and the trip is recommended as you get the best view of the Leshan Giant Buddha from the river. After the boat ride, there is another way without any climbs from the port to the free shuttle bus stop. 

































From the port, the walk leads over Wuyou Bridge to the main road where the shuttle bus stop is. 








Back at the main entrance of the Leshan Giant Buddha area, after taking the shuttle bus. 







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