Chendu 2: Today was a day of sightseeing

We traveled about 2 hours by van to Leshan where we saw the famous Leshan Grand Buddha, aka Giant Buddha. This impressive statue is 71 meters tall and was build during the Tang Dynasty. It is now a Unesco World Heritage Site. We climbed many stone steps until we were looking straight on at the Buddha's head. Then we carefully made our way down the side of the cliff (don't worry - there were stairs and handrails!). Along the way we had a great view of the rest of the Buddha's massive body. Some of us were surprised to see that this Buddha did not have a big belly! Many of us took photos at the bottom where his gigantic toes could be seen behind us. The weather was cloudy but comfortable and everyone seemed to enjoy this visit. After a nice lunch in a nearby restaurant (Doug thought the fish was great) we got in the van for a 3 hour journey to the "Dujiangyan Scenic Spot."
This area made the news in 2008 when a terrible earthquake struck this part of China. We were able to see an irrigation system that was build in 256 bc and is still in use today. Although the dam was not completely damaged by the earthquake, many of the temples were. During our visit, we could see workers continuing to repair the extensive damage. The grounds of the scenic area were beautiful - we enjoyed the bright colors of the early spring flowers and the peaceful fountains. We certainly reached our exercise quota for today between the steps at Leshan and the long walkway of the Dujiangyan Irrigation site. We piled into the van and went back to Chengdu to enjoy a farewell dinner with the host families. We ate "hot pot" with our hosts and many of us tried a new beverage - warm, sweet corn juice! Everyone has now gone back to their host family home to pack and get some sleep. We will rendez-vous with Chengdu 1 at the airport at 6:30 am for the first leg of our trip: Chengdu to Beijing. We'll see Penny and Ji Gu off as they make their connections from there and the rest of us will continue on to San Francisco, Boston, Portland and BETHEL!!!

PS A big thank you to Jason Chase and Tucker Kimball who have posted to the blog on our behalf.

Darcy Chase