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Published: February 2nd 2007
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Just to create the setting for this piece, I'm sitting in a small internet cafe down the street from my hostel, surrounded by maybe 60 or so guys all playing World of Warcraft. At least 50 of them are smoking...
My fourth day in Chengdu was rather ordinary, save a relaxing afternoon at the famous Chinese poet Du Fu's garden. I spent my time just roaming the park, along with a thousand other people, but I have to say it was one of the more calm places I've been to in China. The local tea houses, a favorite past time of all Chengduren, were packed to the max with every age just whittling away the hours. Later that evening, I again enjoyed hot pot with Little Ye and her friends, though this time not nearly as hot.
Leshan Da Fo
I awoke early the next morning in order to catch an early bus to Leshan, home of the Grand Buddha. On my way out the door at 6:45am, another woman stopped me who also had the same plan. An American teacher now residing south of Shanghai, she was in the middle of a 1-year stint at a local
college. We both made our way to the bus station, starving but with 2 Snickers bars in hand.
The bus arrived in Leshan about 10:30. After passing through an absolutely terrifying construction zone at breakneck speed, it was good to get off for a while. Of course, the Buddha was 5km away, and thus another death-defying taxi ride was in order.
For all the immense size of the Grand Buddha, we were left stumped and lost. It seems that though he measures nearly 71 meters from foot to head, Da Fo is a rather good hider. We wandered aimlessly for nearly 2 hours in the park surrounding the area before suddenly, we appeared right at the top of his head. Wow! This thing is huge!
From the absolute top, it was a bit hard to get a good perspective of the man, though his ear was easily the size of two Peters. After a harrowing climb down the side, in which shoving Chinese tourist make their way down a 3-foot wide cliffside path, I arrived at his foot, looking up in awe. Even after seeing him from all angles, it is difficult to judge his true immensity.
The feet would easily require nail clippers the size of a 737.
Qianfoyan
After the stunning sights of the Grand Buddha, I decided to head to a small attraction located 30km north of Leshan in the small town of Jiajiang. A truly Chinese city, I'm positive it was an absolute schock for most of the citizens to see a foreign face. Everyone, I mean everyone, made comments about the waiguoren. Walking past a small group of older woman playing mahjong, they all snickered to themselves about the foreigner coming their way. I gave them a quick "Dajia Hoa!" (hello everyone!), which was immediately met by an explosion of laughter and smiles. They all started screaming "He understands, he understands!."
Qianfoyan, or Thousand Buddhas Cliff, is set in a rather remote part of Jiajiang, running along a small riverfront. While the carvings and scenery were stunning, the absolute most amazing part of the area was the complete lack of merchants and peddlers. Nowhere have I ever come across a famous site in China that didn't have at least 50 hawkers swarming the area. Here, not a single one. The area was absolutely peaceful. The single oddity - a
small Vermont-style cottage set directly across from the cliffs. Perhaps the most out-of-place thing I've seen around here, and believe many, there are alot of things out of place.
Back to the Du
I arrived back in Chengdu to one small surprise - the power was out at my hostel. The little information they had about it, a random explosion next door crashed the power grid. A small explosion... Yet not all was lost. I had my option of moving to another nearby hostel, or stay here in the dark for free. Being cheap, of course I took the free option. I will tonight too.
I plan to head to Guilin tomorrow afternoon by way of train. Apparently, as it is the off-season in the area, I can get a room down there for 10 nights at 1/4 the price of my current digs. That's $10 US for 10 nights. I can't pass up that kind of deal. Remember, this is the guy who stayed in a pitch-black hotel in China just to save a buck.
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