It is not far from Emeishan Mountains to Leshan – just 42 km. Leshan is famous of the Great Buddha statue cut of in the cliff overlooking the river in 8th century… I took a boat to see it… The boat 20-min round trip journey cost 50 hefty yuan. Sorry, no cheap ferry mentioned in the Lonely Planet book.
The sitting Buddha is 71 m high. Da Fo… Impressive! But it is second highest in the world: Years ago I saw two statues of Buddha in Bamian – Afganistan. One of them was even higher! You can also take bus no. 13 to cross the river and to climb the cliff to be closer to the Lord. But first you must pay again: 70 yuar entry fee unless you have a student card. China is still cheap to travel but do not expect to pay 10 or 20 yuan for entries to the tourist places as it was years ago… They learned how to make tourist business!
