Leshan Giant Buddha Travel Guide, History & Facts

Near from the hometown of Giant Pandas - Chengdu in Sichuan, China, sits the Leshan Giant Buddha which is one of the most popular destination for both tourists and Buddhists. Carved in the 8th century AD out of the hillside, the stone Buddha is the tallest Buddha sculpture in the world with a height of 71 meters, 8 meters taller than Bamyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. Also, it is much taller than the famous the tall Buddha of Yungang Grottoes and Vairocana Buddha of Longmen Grottoes. It was listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Mount Emei in 1996.

Where is Leshen Giant Buddha exactly located and How to get there

Leshan Giant Buddha is located in central Leshan city, about 140km from Chengdu downtown in north, 150km to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, 45km from Mount Emei in south. Currently, travelers can get there from Chengdu, Emeishan by high speed train, long distance bus and China Discovery’s private transfer.

TraLeshan Giant Buddha of Location and Transportation

How to Get to Leshan Giant Buddha from Chengdu

By Driving: about 2 hours, most recommended, especially for family, seniors and quality travel experience, getting rid of crowded public transportation, comfortable and worry free.

By High Speed Train: there are about 30 high speed trains departing from Chengdu East Railway Station to Leshan Railway Station each day, some of which will make a stop at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. The earliest train usually departs around 6:30 A.M. The train ride is fast and comfortable, only taking about 1 hour to get to Leshan. Try to book those train without stopping at the airport, which will save some time for you too. If you stay near to Chengdu South Railway Station, you can also catch a high speed train to there, but the schedule is much less East Railway Station.

Leshan Railway Station (Location: Baolian Rd, QingjiangXin District, Shizhong District, Leshan City -乐山火车站 乐山市中区清江新区宝莲路)is about 13km to Leshan Giant Buddha for 30 minutes driving. After getting off the railway station, you can take a taxi, or local Bus 605 or Bus 3 to Leshan Giant Buddha directly.

By Bus: Chengdu Xinnanmen Bus Station runs frequent tourist buses to Leshan. The bus ticket is cheap, but taking about 2.5 hours to reach Leshan, which is not as efficient as high speed trains but still an option if you haven’t had your train ticket booked successfully.

How to Get to Leshan Giant Buddha from Emeishan

Mount Emei is located in the south of Leshan, approximately 45mins’ driving from each other. After Emeishan tour, you can take a taxi or tourist bus to Leshan from tourist center area. The quicker way is to take high speed train from Emeishan High-Speed Railway Station (Location: Xiuhu Avenue, Emeishan City, Leshan City峨眉山高铁站 峨眉山市秀湖大道) which is only about 2km away from the tourist center of Mount Emei. There are usually three trains departing to Leshan, usually one in the moring, one in the noon and one in the late afternoon, with duration about 15~20mins.

How to Visit Leshan Giant Buddha

You can choose “on foot” or “by boat” to visit the Giant Buddha according to arrival time, schedule, crowdedness and physical condition.

Visiting Leshan Giant Buddha on Foot

This is the most popular way to visit Giant Buddha but time-energy-demanding. After purchasing ticket, enter the gate of the scenic area (usually north gate), then walk along gradually-rising paths to reach the top area of the mountain which is a small square equal high to the head of the Giant Buddha. From the square, you can see the right face of the Buddha, or walk to another side to see the left side of the Buddha and look down upon the chest, arms and feet of the Buddha. There is a narrow plank road carved on the right cliff which allows you to walk down slowly to the bottom area of the Buddha to find a good location to take photo with the Buddha. Please note the plank road is one-way, you need to walk back to the top of the mountain from left side. The whole walking from the left square to the bottom then right square needs about 1 hour to finish, but you usually need to wait at least 1 hour in line to enter the plank road as most tourists wanting to walk down to the bottom area, unless you visit the Giant Buddha very early when there are not many travelers. If you don’t want to spend much time waiting in the line, you can take photos from the right side of the Buddha then walk to the left side to take photos. Generally speaking, you can see the Buddha very clearly from both sides.