Today we headed off to visit the Leshan Giant Buddha. The Buddha was built during the Tang Dynasty. It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers. It is the largest stone Buddha in the world. A Chinese Monk named Haitong began building it in 713AD. He hoped that the Buddha would calm the rushing waters that threatned the shipping vessels traveling down the river. Rumor has it that Haitong gouged out his own eyes to raise funding to keep the project going after he ran out of money. Unfortunately Haitong died before the project was complete and it wasn't until 70 years after his death that the Buddha was completed by his disciples in 803AD.
That evening we were meant to have dinner at a popular Chinese restaurant. And popular it was! There were easily a couple of hundred people in a tiny little restaurant. If you weren't crammed into a little booth with your dog, your brother and your grandmother, you were hovering over someone else's table waiting for them to finish so you could snatch a seat. After 45 minutes in line to get our food we carried it away to eat on a bench.
After dinner we headed to to a theatre for a taste of Sichuan Opera. It was a bit of a viarety show - musical instruments, acrobatics, shadow pupets, comedy sketches, dancing... The highlight was the face changing masks. It's said that ancient people painted their faces to drive away wild animals. The actors change their masks more than 10 times in less than 20 seconds - they raise their hand, swing their sleeve or toss their face and a new mask falls from their head piece.
Alex and Connor spotting our exit - it was written in English!
Getting ready to board the ferry to view the Buddha
While waiting in line to get on the ferry we made friends with a young Chinese boy named Eric.
Eric was fascinated with Alex and Connor.
He had a great time practicing his English with them - "ok brothers let's go!"
Eric's mom and Eric weren't shy about joining in on our family photos.
Eric also wasn't shy about using Eddie's iPad!
Our first view of the Buddha - visitors can hike up the side of the mountain to get a closer look
The Buddha was truly incredible! The drainage system that was put in place hundreds of years ago is still in working order. There are drainage pipes carved into various places on his body that carry away water when it rains so that the Buddha will weather time (and weather).
That evening we were meant to have dinner at a popular Chinese restaurant. And popular it was! There were easily a couple of hundred people in a tiny little restaurant. If you weren't crammed into a little booth with your dog, your brother and your grandmother, you were hovering over someone else's table waiting for them to finish so you could snatch a seat. After 45 minutes in line to get our food we carried it away to eat on a bench.
Egg rolls, noodles and ginger dumplings - worth the wait!
After dinner we headed to to a theatre for a taste of Sichuan Opera. It was a bit of a viarety show - musical instruments, acrobatics, shadow pupets, comedy sketches, dancing... The highlight was the face changing masks. It's said that ancient people painted their faces to drive away wild animals. The actors change their masks more than 10 times in less than 20 seconds - they raise their hand, swing their sleeve or toss their face and a new mask falls from their head piece.
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