Leshan, China - The Giant Buddha, photos

I went for several day-trips by bus when I was in Chengdu. One of these was to Leshan to see the Giant Buddha. He sits on the shore of the River by Leshan and was carved there to protect the boats from a dangerous spot in the water. On top of the cliff there are quite a few buildings / temples. Like all other religious sites I visited in China it is still very much a site of worship.

You can buy incense and/or oil lamps as prayers to Buddha. I did get one oil lamp to burn to wish health and well being to all my friends.

In all temples I saw four "characters" were always in one of the Buddha's room in front of the Buddha two on each side of him. I do not mean to say that the same four statues where in all temples but some representation of these four "characters" was. I have to admit that I forgot who they are, but I do recall that one is about rain, on is about wind ..... and the rest is gone.....

Walking around on the grounds around the buildings you see all kind of things big and small.

..including ponds with gold fish and turtles (very comment sight in China).

From the top of the cliff this is the first thing you see of the Giant Buddha. I hope it gives you a sense of scale.

From the other side you can actually see its entire head. (Maybe the people next to his forehead give you a better sense of scale)

To go to the base you have to go down a crazy set of stairs carved into the side of the cliff. When I was there, and I suspect most of the time, the stair were very busy and the upper part was a bit of a slow motion stampede.

Once you have found your way through the crazy crowd (which does not feel a bit buddhist in its behaviour) you get to see the full carving of the Giant Leshan Buddha.

Here is Buddha facing the river.

Another thing to know about Leshan is that is is a place where they grow tea. Once in Beijing in a tea house I mentioned to the young woman serving us that I had been to Leshan and she was quick to mention Leshan's famous green tea. It is true that in Chengdu and all around it I have had some amazing green tea. I do not usually favour green tea but there it really was very nice.

The volcanic ashes made it from Chile to Tasmania

I am still in Tasmania. It is winter here and it is cold and we have frost every night.I had hope to go to Darwin (near the northern tip of mainland Australia) this Wednesday and from there go to Kakadu National Park but the ashes of the Chilean volcano have made it all the way to Tasmania and flights in and out of Tasmania as well as some other Australian towns have been cancelled.

A week ago I went to the local library with the friends I am staying with and borrowed on their card "Desert Country" by Nicci Cumpston with Barry Patton published by the Art Gallery of South Australia. It is a fabulous book about Aboriginal art with fabulous reproductions and even some explanations for some of the paintings. This is part of the reason why I want to go to Darwin, to go to Kakadu and see some Aboriginal rock paintings. At the same time I am re-reading "Song lines" by Bruce Chatwin which I found at a charity store. The two books together help see the Aboriginal art /culture differently and I am loving it.

Aboriginal paintings when viewed as abstracts are beautiful but are even better when a little sense is made out of them. (I wouldn't pretend that I can make much more than a small part of what they really represent)

Dogs in China

Chinese are now crazy about their dogs.I saw one dressed in a Superman outfit, with the cape and all...but I did not have my camera with me so you have to make do with these photos.

White poodles are often died in fancy colours. Th3e owner of this poodle was very pleased when I asked her if I could take a photo.

I just like this fat dog in front of its store.

This guy was feeding his dog with chopsticks and when I asked if I could take a picture he assumed that the dog was all I wanted in my photo and stopped feeding him. I had to explain that I wanted a photo of him eating.

Chengdu, China - Part 3, Taoist Qingyang Gong

Another "working" temple.
I should be fair and say that these photos show nothing of the temple itself but more details than can be observed from it. I think I was a little "templed" out on that day.

The smoke you see is obviously incense.

I like this picture. It looks like a fake, but I assure you it isn't. This taoist was taking a little nap and I just took his photo. No posing, no arranging, nothing special about this photo, but I like the result.

Chengdu, china - Part 2, Photos of Wuhou Buddhist Temple

Wuhou Buddhist Temple in Chengdu is very much a place of worship but visitors are welcome.

Worshipers and tourists mingle happily.
One thing which surprised me in China was that a very high percentage of tourists are Chinese tourists traveling within their own country. I am not sure why I did not expect it.

Fabulous details in the buildings are everywhere.

Chengdu, China - Part 1, Photos of Chengdu: a modern city

Chengdu is a large modern city with many highrises and all the makings of a large modern city.

One of its best features from my point of view is its river. Chengdu is split into two by a river and all along the the river there is a pedestrian path, though unfortunately a lot of work was being done along this path and a good part of it I could not access.

You will notice that the sky is quite grey and the air quite foggy, this is a characteristic of Chengdu, it is in a basin and days are often foggy, sometimes heavily with little visibility but I was lucky and had some fabulous sunny days.

The river. The second bridge in the distance is actually a restaurant over the river with a very nice building.

In between the very tall modern building you can see older structures, sometimes what used to be, I am sure, highrises, and sometimes some old neighborhoods with homes all piled up in a complex network of alleys and courtyards.