Leshan Giant Buddha in China, Sichuan

 China - Sichuan  Comments Off
Feb 182013
 

Introduction :
The Leshan Giant Buddha is located near Leshan City in the province of Sichuan in China and is the largest stone Buddha ever created in the world as well as the biggest and tallest existing statue from the ancient times. It has been listed a a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 and is one of the main landmarks in the Chinese province of Sichuan. The Buddha statue sits at 71 metres tall and 28 metres wide and depicts a seated Maitreya Buddha.

Leshan Buddha and the river
Leshan Buddha and the river
Image attribution to Ariel Steiner @ Wiki

The cliff stairway to the top of the statue
The cliff stairway to the top of the statue
Image attribution to happyheo @ Flickr

Close up view on the head of the Giant Buddha
Close up view on the head of the Giant Buddha

History :
The construction of the Leshan Buddha started in 713 AD during the Tang Dynasty by a Chinese monk hoping that the Buddha statue would calm the turbulent waters plauging shipping vessels around the river. However the construction was delayed due to lack of funding until a Chinese official sponsored the project to resume construction and was completed by 803 AD. The construction of the Giant Buddha was said to have resulted so much stone falling from the cliff face into the river that it eventually calm the turbulent waters around the river. A wooden structure was originally built to shelter the Giant Buddha but was destroyed by the Mongolians during the Yuan dynasty wars.

Guardian craving at the side of the Buddha
Guardian craving at the side of the Buddha

Closer full view
Closer full view

Smaller buddha statues around the Giant Buddha
Smaller buddha statues around the Giant Buddha

Getting there :
The nearest international airport is the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU) and is around 130 km from the Leshan Giant Buddha.

HuangLong in China, Sichuan

 China - Sichuan  Comments Off
Feb 022013
 

Introduction : The HuangLong which means Yellow Dragon in Chinese, is a scenic and historic area in the northwestern part of Sichuan and lies 150 km from the capital city of Chengdu. It is an extremely scenic place in the region and is famous for its snow capped moutain peaks and mineral pools together with a landscape of yellow rocks formed by calcite deposits that ships it like a yellow dragon. The altitude in HuangLong is 3200 metres and the highest scenic spot measures at 3600 metres. Along the way, visitors have to pass by the XueshanLiangZi which is 4200 metres in altitude and offers the view of the XueBaoDing which is the highest peak of the Min Mountains range. The HuangLong is also home to many endangered species like the Giant Panda and Golden Snub Nose Monkey. The HuangLong Temple is built during the Ming dynasty and offers rich religious culture in the integration between Buddism and Taoism.

How the Yellow Dragon looks like from far
How the Yellow Dragon looks like from far
Image attribution to Chen Siyuan @ Wiki

Falls at the HuangLong
Falls at the HuangLong
Image attribution to Lacitadelle @ Flickr

History :
The Huang Long travertine(a form of limestone) landscape was formed by thousands of years of geological evolution and has a length of 3.6km looking like a golden dragon in the valley. The source of water starts from the ancient HuangLong Temple at the top of the valley and ends in the Xishen Cave Waterfall. The preservation of the area has been largely due to its inaccessibility and its importance in local culture to the Tibetan villages. HuangLong received official legal protection from the Chinese government in 1987 and attained World Heritage Status in 1992.

The HuangLong Zhongsi Temple
The HuangLong Zhongsi Temple

Multi Colored Pond in HuangLong
Multi Colored Pond in HuangLong

Multi Colored Pond in HuangLong
A view of the Snow Peak XueBaoDing in XueShanLiangZi

Getting there :
The nearest airport to the HuangLong is the Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport(IATA) in Song Pan and is around 53 km from the place of interest. The nearest international airport is the Chengdu ShuangLiu International Airport(CTU) and is 150 km northwest to HuangLong.

Jiuzhaigou Valley in China, Sichuan

 China - Sichuan  Comments Off
Jan 262013
 

Introduction :
The Jiuzhaigou Valley is situated in China, Sichuan province and is part of the
Minshan Mountains on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau with an altitude of 2000-4000 meters. It has been described by the Chinese as the “heavenly place of earth” and has been inscribed as a World Heritage Site and World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO as well as being rated a 5 star tourist attraction spot by the government due to its breath taking scenery and fairytale landscape with all the elements necessary to protect its own natural beauty.

Jiuzhaigou during winterJiuzhaigou during the winter season

History :
Jiuzhaigou (Valley of the 9 tribes) takes it name from the 9 Tibetan villages inhabiting along the valley and was unknown to the world until 1979 where extensive logging was taking place around the area, the workers discovered this beautiful place and felt it would be a waste to destroy this wonderful place and hence reported the finding of the site to the government to have it preserved. The government went on to ban such activities around the area and make it into a national park in 1982 before it was officially opened to tourism in 1984

five color lake in JiuzhaigouThe beautiful waters in the Five Color Lake in Jiuzhaigou

Getting there :
The nearest airport to Jiuzhaigou is the Jiuzhai Huanglong airport which is 88km away from the main attraction.
The nearest international airport is the Chengdu Shuangliu airport which is 240km of flight away from the Jiuzhai Huanglong airport.