Leshan Travel Guide: Giant Buddha, Oriental Buddha Capital and Lingyun Temple

Leshan an all-day journey from Chengdu by train lies just an hour away Come here to see the iconic Leshan Giant Buddha the world 's largest stone Buddha and a UNESCO World Heritage site In addition to the Giant Buddha there are nearby attractions you can explore which I'll show you later in this video To begin the journey take a high-speed train from Chengdu It will take one hour to cover the 149 kilometers For travel and payment guidance you can watch my latest Beijing or Shanghai video session After you pass the train station you can already see the taxi stand However if you prefer to take the bus Turn right and walk about 100 meters—you'll see the bus terminal along the way Clap your hands and catch bus K1 Use Leshan's digital transit card on Alipay to pay for the bus You can watch my initial video session from Chengdu explaining how it works On the bus it evaluates all stops The third stop is the bus terminal and we want to get off at the ninth stop which is about 30 minutes away She was introduced as Jia Ting Fang Walk about 100 meters and you'll reach the ticket office where you can Entrance tickets and flying bus tickets I didn't buy the flying bus ticket and walked 1.8 kilometers or 35 minutes to entrance to the Leshan Giant Buddha It's a long journey and I recommend buying a flying bus ticket which includes the return journey After passing through the entrance you will enter several levels along the side of the mountain beside the river It will take approximately 20 minutes to bring you to a small chamber Ranked equally with the head of Buddha Jiayun From this space you will be positioned to the right of Buddha Jiayun's face Before you go any further perform a check at The Lingyun Temple is located in this area Also known as Star Fort Temple it is actually older than Buddha Jiayun Originally constructed during the Tang dynasty In the 700s the Lingyun Temple experienced a period of decline but was subsequently restored during the Ming and Qing dynasties This temple is not particularly large consisting of just three rooms one after another Therefore it will take approximately 30 to 40 minutes to explore Afterward proceed toward Buddha Jiayun The descent path is initially located to the right of the Buddha Located in front of Lingyun Temple But they blocked the path and now you descend to the left of the Buddha Take a photo of the Buddha Jiayun from both the right and left sides before descending The descent took 40 minutes due to a large tree At 71 meters tall the Great Buddha Jiayun is the largest Buddha in the world Located at the confluence of three rivers—the Ming River the Qingyi River and the Dadu River It took 90 years to complete finally finishing in the year 803 The story centers on a monk named Hai Tong They initiated this project due to frequent ship incidents caused by turbulent waters Because the large volume of material removed into the river during the rolling process actually altered the river's flow and reduced turbulence An alternative way to view the Buddha Jiayun is to take a bird 's-eye journey pausing for 15 minutes in front of the statue To exit follow the path upward on the same side you came down Yet it was a different path from the one descending Once you reach the top again you'll see the western entrance to the Oriental Buddha Capital The main entrance is actually the eastern gate but it's easier to enter here This is my edited map and I recommend a nostalgic stroll Stop and take in the view if you visit This will take you to the 51-meter-tall Buddha Parmasis statue Keep walking behind the Buddha statue and you 'll see even more underground stone carvings Kapital Buddha Oriental is actually quite new Built in 1994 it is a large religious-themed park that I find quite impressive Since it's conveniently located right next to the Giant Buddha I think it's definitely worth a visit The next landmark you'll reach is a 33-meter-tall seated Buddha statue Continuing is 4 Heavenly King Shops This garden features over 3 000 Buddha statues crafted or carved from stone bronze paper and rock A reminder is that this garden is extremely large And there is a varying number passing through the stone marriage One of the key attractions I completely missed was the 170-meter-tall seated Buddha statue Therefore keep an eye on it after you pass the stone gate underground Keep walking—the path will lead you to the Great Buddha Flower Store 1010 Avalokitesvara is located on the upper floor to the right These are all the main locations within the park that you must check If you don't mind the amount of walking required It is a peaceful place to visit and admire some magnificent Buddha statues To exit walk back to the west entrance and follow the exit signs I'll take you back to the Great Buddha Temple and Lingyun Shop Then walk another 20 minutes downhill to reach the eastern gate and exit From there you can catch a shuttle back to the entrance which is about 2.5 kilometers away Therefore I strongly recommend securing a shuttle bus ticket upon entry as it’s a very long journey You can return to the train station by taking bus K1 from the bus terminal Finally I wrote this activity course for observation Stop if you want to take a look Please like and subscribe to my channel for more travel videos