The Worlds biggest Buddha, Pandas, and more. The city of Chengdu, China.(98 pics)

Chengdu is one of my cities in mainland China and for many reasons. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province on the west side of China, it is home to a wide variety of great things to see and do and a perfect place to embrace Chinese culture.
You may have heard of Chengdu for its massive panda centers or maybe the Leshan Giant Buddha, the biggest Buddha in the world. On top of all that Chengdu has lots of traditional pedestrian areas, ancient wonders and more.

We arrived in the middle of Chengdu's scorching summer which for me was great as I am a total summer boy and after living in England for most of my life it was nice to have some consistant good weather. We checked in at the byway backpackers hostel/hotel which really was a great place with friendly staff and top notch facilities. Our room was a a nice sized double room with nice clean decor and everything you need for a comfortable stay. The location of the hotel was great only 5 minutes from the nearest subway and right in the center of an art district full of local artists and stores selling their work.

After settling in and a good nights sleep we headed to a traditional area in the city called Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi, it was a great place to get a real traditional Chinese vibe. The whole area was a maze of small streets,shops,food and prestine gardens surrounded by traditional architecture. Street vendors and artists are everywhere selling their wears and for a very resonable price, there is also an Indian area with some different things on offer and also the painted on tattoos that you may have seen on Indian women.

We spent most of the day walking around the area and came across numerous musicians playing in the streets, we were also lucky enough to catch a showing of a Chinese Sichuan opera performance with lots of different kinds of musicians ,dancers and even the famous Bian Lian which was the man with a thousand faces or something like that but either way it was very entertaining and a must see if you visit the area.

The next day we decided to walk around the city and do a little shopping and eating before heading out for Sichuan hot pot and a walk around the Jinli pedestrian area.
I will start by saying if you do not like spicy food then Sichuan hot pot is probably not a good choice as it is super spicy!. My girlfriend likes the really likes the really spicey hot pot and i like spice but this was on another level and a couldnt feel my mouth for a couple of hours afterwards.

After scorching my mouth we took a short walk to the Jinli area which is another traditional chinese shopping and dinning place. The old Chinese buildings were all lit up with red lanterns and decorations making it a great place to take some pictures and with the streams and ponds located througout the area it made for a very romantic night out.
You can get a real sense of how things were before the cultural revolution by checking out the local crafts still being made using tradtional tools of the trades and there were also many spice shops and markets if you like a chilli or two. Jinli also offered lots of small bars with live music and it makes for a good fun night out and a little different from the usual bar and club scene in the city center. After a good few hours walking around and having a few drinks the hot pot was starting to take it's toll so it was time to head back.

The next day we decided to go to the famous Panda center and see the playful bears doing their thing. It's not too far by taxi and the weather was perfect, well for me at least, Andrea thought it was way too hot and like most Chinese girls she was a little worried about getting a tan. The center itself was great and very big, you could easily spend a whole day walking around looking at all kinds of different scenery and of course the Panda's. Unfortunatly we were told it was too hot outside for the pandas and that most of them would be inside taking shelter from the sun and so we didnt get to see them going wild and playing around so much. Luckily there were a few enclosures with indoor viewing areas where you can watch them rolling around and gorging on bamboo shoots. Pandas by nature are very social but they do also sleep for most of the day and the time they are awake they are eating. so you may think that they are playing all the time but that simply isnt the case but if you do go to see them, maybe choose a cooler time of the year and you will probably get a better view of them having fun. The sanctuary also had red pandas which was nice to see, as they were all outside and happily relaxing in the sun snacking on fruits and climbing trees. So to sum it up it's a great place to visit but dont come in the middle of summer to get the full experience.

The last day inn Chengdu was a special one as we were going to see the Leshan Giant Buddha. Upon arrival by taxi we noticed there was much more there than just the Giant Buddha, the whole area had many different tunnels and walkways you could take to see ancient statues and wall carvings and there were also lots of shrines and temples to explore.
After a short walk from the ticket gate we managed to skip ahead of some tour groups and make it to the top of the cliff. The first thing you see is the top of a giant head and lots of people queing for something. The top of the cliff was home to lots of amazing temples and shrines which in itself was a great thing to see and after walking around for a while it was time to see the biggest stone Buddha in the world!.

Just standing at it's head height was super cool and it really is enormous. The whole thing took 90 years of hard labor carving it out of the side of the cliff and it stands 71 meters (233ft) tall. It was built between 713 and 803 during the Tang Dynasty and looks out over the meeting point of the Min River and the Dadu river.
After a long time queing in the sun we eventually made it to the steep steps leading down the side of the cliff alongside the Buddha which made for some good photographs. Looking at the marvel from the ground level is quite special and gives you a true sense of the word "Giant". It's amazing to think of the sheer amount of work put into it and fortunately it wasnt destroyed during the cultural revolution like many of the smaller statues in the area had been.

After taking a while to appreciate the giant buddha we took a walk through a stairway built into the cliff which lead to a nice forest area with even more paths to different places. We decided to get off the main track that people were taking and go for an adventure through the forest. We came across lots of very old abandoned buildings within the forest and a small fishing village next to the river.

Leshan Giant Buddha is a must see if you visit Sichuan province, it is a true marvel and the whole area is full of great history.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and hopefully, you can visit this great place too.

If you would like to read about my other adventures through China please checkout my page and enjoy.

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