2018 - Leshan & Emeishan

 3 Days Leshan & Emeishan  Adventure

27 - 29 Apr 2018

Day 24 - 27th  April 2018

 

We arrived at Emeishan via high speed train from Chengdu at 11am. We took the bus No 12 from the station to our hotel at the foothill of Emershan.  We have booked the Dengba Hostel Mt Emei for two nights at RM62 per night, which is very cheap. The hostel is a small boutique hostel and is within walking distance to the bus terminal for eco buses going up Mt Emei.

Upon checking in we immediately take the local bus no. 601 to visit the Leshan Giant Buddha, which is an hour ride away
 

Entrance to Leshan Giant Buddha

Located just 10 km away from downtown, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding has been created and imitated the natural habitat of giant pandas in order that they might have the best possible environment for rearing and breeding.

Leshan Giant Buddha is the tallest stone Buddha statue in the world, which was carved out of a cliff on Lingyun Mountain. Leshan Giant Buddha, together with Mount Emei Scenic Area, was listed by UNESCO as the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1996.. The Giant Buddha lies at the junction of the Minjiang River, Dadu and Qingyi Rivers. The stone sitting sculpture faces the sacred Mt. Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. Construction on the Giant Buddha began in 713 A.D during Tang Dynasty.

View of the rivers from the hill top

The large pair of ears, each seven meters (about 23 feet) long, is made of wood and is decorated by mud on the surface. For craftsmen of thousands of years ago, it was not easy to fix these to the stone head. 

 There are 1,021 buns in the Buddha's coiled hair.

You can also view the Giant Buddha from a boat on the river

The Giant Buddha has 8.3-meter-long (about 27 feet) fingers

The height of the Giant Buddha is 71 meters (233 feet)

The Giant Buddha has a 8.5-meter-wide (27.9 ft) feet that can accommodate more than 100 people sitting together

 

We exited at the South Gate and walked about 10 minutes to board the same No. 601 bus back to our hotel

The platform that Lili stands on is shaped like a boat

Along the way out are many restaurants and shops selling souvenirs

Colorful stones on sale

This is the Wa Wa fish which according to our Zhangjiajie tour guide is very expensive.

Straw slippers as souvenirs

The roads in Emeishan have beautiful landscape

Before having our dinner we walked to Emeishan foothill to take some pictures

 



Stone murals

Entrance to the hot spring which we did not have time to visit.

This is a kind of hard bread that is popular with the locals

The hostel has a very pleasant looking reception and lobby for guests to relax and meet each other
 

Day 25 - 28th  April 2018

After an early breakfast we walked to the Emeishan Bus Station to purchase the Emeishan Entrance Ticket (RMB 185 per person) and Eco bus ticket (RMB 90 per person).  The bus ride along the winding road to Leidongping is 2hrs. From there we walked for one km to the cable car station.  The cable ride to Jieyindian Station on the submit takes only 3 minutes and cost RMB 65 per person.

  

 

Mount Emei lies 7 kilometers southwest of Emeishan City and 38 kilometers from Leshan Giant Buddha. It is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China. Seen from afar, the undulating mountain range of Emei resembles a girl's eyebrows; hence, it was so named. The mountain stretches about 200 kilometers from south to north, with its main peak Golden Summit which is 3,099 meters above sea level. 
The main scenic spots on the mountain include Baoguo Temple, Wannian Temple, Fohu Temple, Qingyin Pavilion, Heilongjiang Tunnel, Hongchun Platform, Xianfeng Temple, Jiulao Cave, and Xixiang Pond. These places are at different altitudes with different temperatures. Usually, the temperature at the top of mountain is 15 ℃ lower than at the foot.

The beginning of a 1 km walk to the cable car station

Along the way we enjoyed the beautiful scenery

The cable car station at the submit seen at a distance

Many vendors selling food along the way for those who are hungry

Inside the biggest cable car we ever taken

The cable car to the submit can take about 100 people.

We saw many laborers carrying all kinds of goods and materials up the mountain to earn a living

Laborer caring sand to the construction site



The Golden Summit

A new temple complex is being built near the Golden Summit

This is the beginning of a 2 hrs down hill tracking to the Leidongping Bus Station. For those who did not take the cable car this is the only route to the Golden Summit. Along the way we saw many people walking up, including some elderly people and young children

 

This lady is walking up with bags of food stuff

These are porters who are paid to carry the goods up the mountain

This potter asked me for RMB 10 for taking his picture!

The porters are being paid according to the weight of the stones they carry to the construction site.

For those who are unable to walk can pay for people to carry them

From the Leidongping Bus Station we took the eco bus down to Wannian. Due to tiredness and lack of time we decided not to walk a further 3km to Wannian Temple. We then took the next bus to the base and walked to Baoguo Temple. From there we walked another 1.5km to Fuhu Temple.

We saw this millipede looking insect along the way to Fuhu Temple

Even if you can walk you can still pay for someone to carry you for a joy ride

Beautiful white flowers among the bamboo trees.

Day 26 - 29th  April 2018

 

After breakfast we took the No. 12 bus to Emeishan High Speed Station for our 12:38 train ride back to Chengdu.

 

 Simple vegetarian and beef noodle breakfast at nearby restaurant

Upon arriving in Chengdu we took the subway to Baoguolin Station and collect our luggage from Jinjang Inn before taking the subway to Wenshu Station and checking into Jaho Forstar Hotel, where we stayed for two more nights before departing for Kuala Lumpur on 1st May 2018.