Leshan Giant Buddha

The Leshan Giant Buddha is 71 metres tall — from the top of his head to the soles of his feet — and was the largest stone statue in the world for over 1,200 years. Carved into the red sandstone cliff at the confluence of the Minjiang, Qingyi, and Dadu rivers, the Buddha sits in a posture of meditation, hands on knees, face serene. His toenails are large enough to seat several people comfortably.

There are two ways to experience the statue. The cliffside staircase descends from the top of Lingyun Mountain to the base, giving you the full scale at ground level and a close look at the carved feet and lap. The queue for this can be very long — allow at least two hours on busy days, and considerably more during Chinese public holidays. The alternative is to take a river boat from the dock below, which gives you the full frontal view in a few minutes; this is where photographs are taken. The boat trip does not replace the staircase descent if you have time — the two perspectives are entirely different.

The drainage system built into the statue's hair, arms, and clothing channels rainwater away from the rock, and this engineering has kept the statue structurally intact for 13 centuries. Without it, the soft sandstone would have eroded far faster.

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A story
The monk Haitong, who commissioned the statue in 713 AD, blinded himself to prove to corrupt officials that he would never use Buddha's funds for personal gain. He died before the project was completed, and it took three generations of monks and nearly 90 years of labour to finish. The millions of tonnes of stone chips excavated during carving were dumped into the river — which, locals say, actually did reduce the turbulence in the water below, though not quite as the monk had intended.