The Big ole Buddha of Leshan!
Once we arrived in Leshan city after a 4 hour coach down
Mount Emei, we were met with clear skies and intense sun – it suddenly felt
like a lifetime ago since we were on top of a snow peaked mountain! We were
quite lucky to arrive at the Giant Buddha as despite it being a world heritage
site it was insanely difficult to get to! A 2 hour coach, then a taxi, then 2
buses, then walking and climbing! Eventually we arrived just as the sun was
setting, which happened to be a perfect time to see it.
There was something strangely comforting about this 233 foot
Buddha looking out onto the calm river waters, with the distant cacophony of
Leshan city and Mount Emei still visible on the horizon.
What sets the Buddha out from most ancient relics is that it’s
had little to no cosmetic work done to it since the time it was constructed
1300 years ago, and yet the paint and a lot of the finer details still remain. It
was originally constructed to calm the waters of the two converging rivers below
for boats, and it seems to have worked - the waters are so still that spits and
small islands have formed.
Apparently the Giant Buddha was spotted shedding a tear at
the time of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which is still visible! It may just be
caused by rain or erosion, but the idea of my new big Buddha buddy tearing up
was rather upsetting!
It was a great pleasure to pay the Buddha a visit, but
unfortunately I and Kexiong had 2 buses to catch to get to Chengdu city! So we
had to leave swiftly, we said our goodbyes leaving our new friend chilling in
front of the setting sun.
A night in Chengdu City!
We arrived at 9pm in Chengdu city, and I fell for the city
straight away. Up until now I had only seen two extremes in China – Humongous mutant
cities like Guangzhou and tiny, undeveloped villages. Chengdu felt like a
well-balanced, fully functioning city – and the people were very pleasant! As
soon as I got off the coach I had at least 10 people say hello to me with a big
ole smile!
We had planned on exploring the city for a while, but the
hotel was far from where we were dropped and we wouldn’t get there until 11pm.
The hotel was one of those cool pod hotels! I’d only heard
about them being in Japan, but it seems China has them too! It felt like
spending a night in the set of the film ‘2001: A space odyssey’ which thrilled my
inner child – it was surprisingly comfortable too, only £5.50 a night!
The next day we explored the city, where I came across quite
a few people shocked to see me. Being such a quintessential Chinese tourist
city I thought the people there would be more used to foreign folk than the
other places I’d been in Sichuan – but quite the opposite. As soon as I walked
out of my hotel I passed a large group of about 20 secondary school girls - who
all suddenly stopped in the streets in front of me, gasped a while, began
pointing and screaming with joy (I assume). Throughout the day i‘d been stopped
by at least 8 different groups of people asking for photos with me – which was
a bit strange, but nice! I kind of wished I asked for photos with them as well as
many were very pleasant folk who were pleased to see me, which was uplifting
compared to the many scary chaps I encountered in many other cities…
The most oriental looking Starbucks ever, fitting seamlessly into it's surroundings...
Unfortunately I only had 6 hours to explore Chengdu the next
day which meant for such a richly cultured city, much had to be left out of the
schedule. But where we did go was Jinli Ancient streets, which I think
epitomised the history of the city! The place was packed with life, ancient
architecture, narrow streets and traditional crafts – and Lanterns! - It kind
of felt like the Chinese equivalent of Camden!
Here I decided was the place to get my parents a gift, which
I wanted to be something personal and decorative - So we met this guy who does
translations into Chinese calligraphy! He painted the symbols for ‘xing’ (Star)
and ‘Yao’ (key), along with a personalised poem based on the surname! I need to
get a translation from a Chinese chum at some point, but I was informed at the
time that it’s something along the lines of having the key to the stars of the
future, something along those lines – times like that I realise that my surname
is awesome, I’m sure the guy found it much easier to write something symbolic for
‘starkey’ than other foreigners surnames he did that day.
We had a brief viewing at the Sichuan Opera which was rather
swanky. Three acts performed, including some karate pouring tea guy, a woman
who did other tea related tricks, and the final guy wearing a disguise doing
tricks with a fan which made his mask change. It felt like being back in the Ming dynasty,
with the addition of trance music, strobe lights and audience’s iphones.
However my time in Chengdu was coming to a close, and I hadn’t
been blown away by spices! Sichuan is famous for its very spicy cuisine, and
despite not being very tolerant of hot dishes I felt it was part of the
cultural experience to have a taste. Sure, I cried quite a bit, but I think I took
it pretty well! I even enjoyed it, a lot! So I bought more, and more, and more…
But the time finally came and I had to take the bus to the
airport, before having one last photo request from some Tibetan folk. So I said
my goodbyes to Kexiong and took the final stretch of the journey by myself.
On the coach ride I looked back on the trip as a whole – I’d
climbed two mountains through baking sun and slippery snow, seen two World Heritage
Sites, slept in Taoist and Buddhist temples and did a whole load of coach
travelling! I finally left the borders of Guangzhou and truly began to explore
mainland China, getting to grips with the sheer scale and array of lifestyles
of the country.
As they always say – ‘travelling broadens the mind’, and
once I returned to Guangzhou I felt a surge of energy and enlightenment which I
hadn’t felt before I left. Sure I was glad to be back in bed after such a
tiring week, but if I was offered another trip the next morning I would have
snapped it up without a seconds thought. It was unquestionably marvellous. No
other way to explain it – and best of all there’s more travelling to come in
the near future! In just 2 days I’ll be going with Yinzi to her hometown
Jiujiang for the Spring Festival! Where I’ll become accustomed to her many
relatives, many of whom don’t speak English – so it will be quite the
experience!
Along with plans in April to go to Beijing, Xi’an,
Jiuzhaigou and Shanghai there’s plenty more to look forward to in the coming
months. So for now I’m perfectly content to chill here in Guangzhou and settle
into my new apartment – now decorated with an array of smashing souvenirs from
my time in Sichuan! Along with other souvenirs and my antique-looking world map
displaying more corners of the world explored, my room is beginning to appear
like how I’d imagine Indiana Jones’ room would look –with the addition of a
couple of cuddly pandas and a Christmas tree.
A special thank you to my good chum Kexiong for assisting in
planning this incredibly intricately calculated trip – I couldn’t have done it
without you! It truly was a week to remember, and I look forward to seeing you
again in April for more adventures! - Sorry about the monkey ambushes...
Happy (Chinese) New Year!
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