Blogs from Leshan, Sichuan, China, Asia - page 2

Off to Leshan, a two hour drive from Chengdu, to see the Grand Buddha. On the way, Tony explains about the Grand Buddha, thought by many to be the largest in the world, but “Not so” he says. “It is third largest”. Sitting in the front seat of the van, he holds up three postcards to us. He explains there is a reclining Buddha carved into the rock on the far side of the hill from the Grand Buddha that is larger, and the largest is the shape of the hills when seen from across the rivers at Leshan. They look like a reclining Buddha. A thirteen storey pagoda sits atop one of the hills and extends above the trees, in a prominent position, at the lower end of the torso of the reclining Buddha. While ... read more

My first visit to Leshan definitely wasn’t a successful one, very far from it actually. I got to Chengdu on Sunday so thought it would be best to head to the PSB office the very next day as wasn’t sure how long it would take to arrange everything. But then I found out that in Leshan you could get the visa extension on the same day (while in Chengdu it would take 5 days) so without even thinking about it, I got my bus ticket and headed to Leshan on Monday morning. According to LP I could just take a public bus there, I sure tried to do that… only to get a lot of head shaking and pointing all around from the bus drivers. Ok, taxi then! Tried a couple of them showing the drivers ... read more

Geo: 29.647, 103.279Isaac celebrated his 6 month birthday visiting his Daddy's village for the first time. It is such a breathtakingly beautiful place. I always feel really privileged to have had the opportunity to experience such a place. In the spring, the lush bamboo and pine forests are scattered with flowers making it even more stunning looking across the rice paddies. Bill's Grandparents' house has changed quite a bit since I last saw it. The road is now finished and leads right up to the front courtyard. New windows and brick walls have been put in one side. Bill's old bedroom has had a makeover complete with giant bed, huge corner sofa, panda table and e suite with (the best bit....) a proper toilet!! Poor neglected pigs!! I've found myself really enjoying the food this time ... read more

We spent ages in a traffic jam in our taxi (15 yuan) as we headed to the bus station enroute to Baoguo, the small town at the foot of Emei Shan. If we had only realised that we were two minutes walk from the bus station we would have deserted the taxi and arrived there twenty minutes earlier... The bus station, unusually situated very close to the main city centre, was as crazy as the traffic outside. No wonder the taxi had trouble getting to the station - dozens of buses were lined up outside trying to get in to or leave the area. I'm surprised the taxi driver didn't try for a better fare when we told him we wanted to go there... We were pleased to be leaving the chaos of Chengdu for what ... read more

Hi All, So our last day here in Chengdu so we went to see the Grand Buddha. And it is grand. Very big and very busy. We had to do some serious queuing and remarkably it was civilized queuing which was a surprise. I'm used to the rugby scrum that ensues whenever a queue looks like it's going to form. The weather was rainy and the temperature wasn't very high only 25 degrees but there was 80% humidity so it was sweaty work walking around the park and temples. We drew some attention because we wore our Chinese hats. It was a good day out but the park could do with a restaurant in it as we left without seeing some things because we were so hungry. We've really enjoyed our time here in Chengdu. It's ... read more