Description : A fairly relaxed town with the biggest Buddha in the world and a lot of smaller ones. 

Comments : After or before Emeishan, from or to Chengdu, Leshan is a nice and interesting transit place which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996.

What to do : Take  the measure of Dafo's feet or ears / Count the number of Buddha at the Oriental Buddha Park / Check the best looking arhat at the Wuyou Temple / Talk with Mr. Yang / Eat MrsYang's cooking / Leave a trace of your passage in Mr. Yang's book (basically : "Mr. Yang is friendly and Mrs. Yang cooking is good") / In the early evening, see old Chinese practicing "modern" dances, tai chi or meditation /

What you may not like : The entrance fee at Grand Buddha / Trying to write something original in Mr. Yang's book (criticizing would be fairly original but it would not be fair)

Where to get infos ?  Leshan is fairly easy to visit but if you want to visit the surroundings, go to the Yang's Restaurant, 49 Baita Jie (2112046), about 200 meters on the left after Jiazhou Hotel. Mr. Richard Yang, a former English teacher, organize tours to villages for US$15 and has information on a lot of places (as well as on yourself as he checks every arrival at the Taoyuan Hotel). He also claims to be able to get you a Yangzi river 1st class tickets for the price of a 2nd class ticket (464Y instead of 928Y from Chongqing to Yichang)

How long ? Half a day is enough to check the sights but if you start talking with Mr. Yang...

Where to stay ?  

Hotels  << Get precise info, book online and save money !

• Taoyuan Hotel (2131810) / Perfectly located opposite the Ferry piers / Dbl without bath 50 but 25 for Sgl occupancy after negotiation / Dbl with bath 100 without negotiation / Correct toilets & bath / HW 17 to 24 // Go there for the excellent quality-price ratio after negotiation, the friendliness of the young staff, the location,... / What you may not like : the decrepitude of the rooms, entering in Mr. Yang's database by registering here,...

• Hong Cheng Lu She (2122010), 200 m on the left when you exit the North Bus Station, next to a bicycle shop / Small entrance but OK rooms / Dorm 10 in 2 bed's rooms / Sgl 12 / Big Sgl with big bed 30 / Dbl with bath 60 / Toilet & bath acceptable / HW 24 hours // Go there for the best rate in town, if you do not want to go down from the bus station,... What you may not like : the Chinese atmosphere, the management, the "do not look so clean" rooms

• Hong Li Lai (2127137), 100m on the left when you exit the North Bus Station / Nice Trpl 54 / OK bath / Chinese style toilets / HW 24 hours // Go there if you are with 2 friends.

 

Taoyuan Hotel	taoyuan binguan
Hong Cheng Lushe	hong cheng lushe
Hong Li Lai	hong li lai

Backpacker's Tips :  Quang-Tuan Luong (Dec 02)
« The Taoyuan Binguan doesn't operate anymore. The cyclo that I hired said "mei you" and kept insisting in dropping me somewhere else, but I didn't trust him and eventually realized he was right. He dropped me to another hotel apparently not frequented by foreigners, were the rates were actually lower and the room was decent. Speaking of cyclo, I'd recommend getting in town with a taxi instead, since it is not much more expensive, and significantly faster, as the town is fairly far from the bus station. The walk along the riverfront is very nice in the evening, with a lot of animation. The Great Buddha faces West, so if you'd like to take a boat trip to see it from the river, late afternoon would be the best time.»


What to see / visit ?

• The Grand Buddha : (5), Y40 /A must seen does not mean a must visit. You can have a look at it from a boat going to Wuyou Pier (and onward) every hour from 6:30 to 18:30. After, you can decide whether or not it is worth Y40.

• Wuyou Monastery : (3), Y5 /A nice view from the top and an interesting 500's arhets gallery /  You'll pass the Grand Buddha to go there and from there, you can do a nice walk down the mountain to a bridge, restaurants and other sights. You can skip the sights by walking round the hill on Lingyun Lu. On the other side, you will find the small ferry crossing the Min River

• Oriental Buddha Park : (3), Y25, Exp / Houses a collection of 3000 buddha from Asia as well as the longest reclining buddha in the world (170m) / From there, you can go up Lingyun Hill to arrive at the Grand Buddha Temple.

Backpacker's Tips :  Girl from Singapore (Dec 03)
«Prepare for the masses of tourists. The other temples within the park are sort of desolated, but the big Buddha is swamped with people above and below him. A ferry ride which allows you to stop and take photos of the Buddha on the river costs 30 yuan. For a quick glance of the Buddha, make your way down to the other pier farther down and take a 2 yuan ride down to Wu You Si, and you'll see the Buddha anyway. The Buddha, which has significantly eroded over the ages has been totally restored till there appears no difference between what is new and what is Tang. This seems to be a tendency in the Chinese way of preserving their heritage and culture, i.e. make a carbon copy of the old one as you imagine it would look like when new. Skip the stone tomb museum (entrance 5 yuan) in Leshan, there's really nothing to be seen inside.
San Xing Dui: Quite a good museum displaying the bronze technology at least 5000 years old. This has led to new theories that civilisation in China may have started around Yangtze also instead of around the Yellow river only.»

Bus Schedules :

Notes : To Chengdu from the Long distance Bus Station in the North / To Emeishan, from nearby the Taoyuan Hotel

The trip to Chengdu :  L Bus / SS / Y31 / 3h30

Well, this was not really a luxury bus as we would define it in the west considering that it was a bit bumpy and really dirty (annoying air cond therefore) but it was a direct bus and it did not stop to pick up passengers en route which make it the fastest option. It did however slow down a bit to let all the passengers have a clear look of two crushed bicycles adjacent to two dead bodies in the middle of the road... Safety in China is no luxury...

See also the Trip from Emeishan to Leshan...