I've never really been to a mountain before, much less climbed one, much less seen a giant Buddha in the image of Empress Wu Zetian carved into the side of a cliff. My experiences with Emei-Shan and Le-Shan have caused me to think much more creatively, giving me hope that others do think similarly to me - and it's not all that strange.
My day started at 8am, and the other Towson student (that's been here a semester) flaked out - leaving just me and Ken. Our tour guide, Green, wasn't much older than us - and her English was very good. Though I hate dealing with people, especially in groups, I'm wondering if I could be a tour guide now. :) Either way! We first drove two hours to Leshan (a small city of
3 million) and hopped on a boat to view Leshan Buddha from a good viewing distance. It was profound - I am enamored with that place. The art was amazing, the landscape was amazing, the gardens were amazing. On to the pictures!
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| One of my first views outside of the city... yay highway! |
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| Tug-boats for the Le-Shan Buddha tour. |
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| First view of the Buddha. |
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| Guard... dude. |
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| Pretty cool how much is going on here. |
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| This Buddha was built in the Tang Dynasty, and was allegedly sculpted in the image of Empress Wu. |
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| The line to stand at the feet of the Buddha. |
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| "Sleeping Buddha," or "Horny Buddha." lol |
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| View from walk to the statue. |
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| Crouching tiger... |
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| Hidden dragon. |
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| This comes from an actual saying. Wherever a tiger is crouching, a dragon is always hidden nearby. |
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| These dudes were pretty intense - they control the weather. |
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| "I see the head!" |
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| Looking down (check out the line). |
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| The original sculptor (it took two more and almost 100 years). |
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| The cave he lived in. |
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| Buddha's penis. |
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Pretty cool.
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