The Leshan Giant Buddha Statue is situated at the confluence of the Min and Dadu River and was originally built to protect and watch over passing ships in the night. Haitong a Chinese monk began work on the project in 713 and it was not completed until 90 years later. Despite this monk's dedication (he gauged out his own eyes to secure funding) he did not live to see the statue completed. Haitong's work was continued by the monks Zangchou and Weigao, who implemented the successful secret drainage system that protects the statue from erosion, and clothed and wigged the Buddha too! The Chinese have a saying that "the mountain is a Buddha and the Buddha is a mountain". At 71 meters tall (and that is seated) ears 6.72 meters long, nose 5.33 meters, and eyes 3.3 meters wide, this great sculpture is certainly the biggest of its kind in the world. There are numerous perspectiv... more >>

The Great Sleeping Buddha of Leshan (巨型睡佛,JùXíngShuiFó)is an optical feature that requires a re-focuse of both your eyeballs and your third eye. While everyone's attention is on the Grand Buddha of Leshan, the one carved out of the cliffside, the Great Sleeping Buddha made up of the very  mountains and rivers goes on blissfully snoozing. Even if you do not see the duck in the treees or the Mao profile in the cliffside of certain tourist attractions around China, it is fun to try and see them. But with the sleeping Buddha it's not only fun, but sublime as well. The thought of a great sleeping Buddha harboring the carved Buddha within his bosom is wondrous and if you let yourself slide into that reverie and imagine that the original builders saw the Sleeping Buddha before they carved out the sitting one, then the whole area takes on a d... more >>