Chengdu to Leshan and Emei Shan

Chengdu, Leshan, Emei--CTourus Day 5

September 3, 2016

Our morning on day 5 of the tour was spent mainly at one of the unusual shopping stops that we ever had. Usually, tours would take us to silk factories for comforters and sheet sets, tea shops for various kinds of tea, jewelry stores for jade or pearls, etc. This was the first time we were taken to a mattress factory for their "memory foam" type of mattresses. Needless to say, we were kept in there until they were satisfied with our purchases. The odd experience was that they kept us in the room and would not allow us to roam around if we were not buying. Those who were buying were able to go outside to the main display room to pay for their purchases. Everybody would be able to see through the huge glass windows who all did not open up their wallets. It was fine with us just sitting in there though despite the awkwardness of being bombarded by different sales personnel. Fortunately, we had some big spenders in our group that saved our day.

They should pay him for being such a good actor!

Definitely not cheap. The main selling point was the SCM negative ion latax mattress and pillows, that is if you know what those really are.

This is the factory.

After that one stop we were ready for lunch. A restaurant specializes in 'Ching Yuen' chicken from Quandong.

Story of 'Ching Yuen' chicken posted on the wall with a photo of Nixon and Chou Enlai, I think. Supposedly it's a special breed of chicken raised in the 'Ching Yuen' area and cooked in a special way.

I had photos of the other dishes but NO CHICKEN photos! Oh well...

Entrance of the restaurant from the street.

Then we took a long ride to Leshan and this was our rest stop on the way, quite nice!

Leshan, Sichuan

Getting ready to board the boat to see the Giant Buddha.

This time we shared the boat with many other tourists since this was a public boat.

We would take the short excursion from the pier to see the Giant Buddha so we didn't have to climb the stairs up close.

Where Minjiang River and Dadu River met.

Wangye Temple (王爺廟) on the other side of the river.

The city of Leshan. It's not a big city but they do have a Walmart there.

Minjiang River

Our boat sailed right in front of the Giant Buddha so we could take pictures.

It was said that a monk began construction of the Giant Buddha in 713 hoping that the Buddha would calm the waters and keep the traveling vessels safe from danger. The huge amount of stone removed from the face of the cliff deposited into the river and altered the currents making it safer for ships passing through. This Giant Buddha is the largest stone Buddha in the world with its face towards Mount Emei.

Many travelers hiked up and down the sides of the cliffs to see the Giant Buddha.

I was glad that we did not have to do the tedious hike.

The meeting point of Dadu River and Minjiang River.

It was like a 30-minute boat ride and we were back to the pier.

Buildings across from the pier.

Mount Emei (峨嵋山)

Mount Emei is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China. Mount Emei is a familiar term as we were growing up watching Chinese movies, TV shows, or reading old Chinese novels. My understanding was that most female martial arts heroine were mostly nuns from Mount Emei. I always thought that there was this ONE nunnery that trained all these female martial artists on Mount Emei. Imagine my shock when I saw monks here at the temples. In fact, there are 76 monasteries here at Mount Emei, and most of them are near the top of the mountain. We only had time to visit a couple of temples there. I believe those who wants to go up to the top can use the cable cars to get there. 

"Mount Emei"

A World Heritage site.

A beautiful waterfall near the entrance.

Some bamboo groves.

Baoguosi Temple

Inside the temple ground.

No photos allowed inside the temple.

Back to the main entrance to meet up with our guide.

Then we took the electric golf carts up a higher level to another temple. Yes, we paid extra again.

I think this is called the Fuhu Temple.

Workers doing repair and painting jobs in the hall of Lohans. 

Hmmm.....

Wishing tree

Beautiful architecture

Entrance to the Hall of Lohans.

Pretty!

A group of nuns and worshipers were happily singing some Chinese popular songs, including those sang by the late Teresa Tang, at the pavilion on the left of this picture when we were there.

a huge dragonfly

It was certainly a beautiful environment.

Our hotel for the night in the city of Emei.

Dinner at the hotel was quite good with plenty of food.

After dinner we were taken to a show which we paid extra for. This was actually the best show, in my opinion, on this trip. Our seats were right in the middle toward the front. I guess it makes a difference when you pay extra. I thought this performance was active, lively, and fun. Unfortunately, I was not able to take video or photos of the Sichuan face changing performers.