Leshan Meishan two-day trip

Number of days: 2 days
Time: June
With whom: husband and wife
Updated: 2023.07.30

I went to Leshan in the 80s, and the transportation was far less convenient than it is now. Nowadays, the most convenient bus transportation is the high-speed rail, and the high-speed rail from Chengdu East Railway Station to Leshan takes about 50 minutes. We arrived in Leshan at 11 o'clock, went straight to the hotel, put down our luggage, and went to visit the Leshan Giant Buddha after lunch. We entered from the north gate, the first thing that caught our eye was the Buddhist characters written by Su Dongpo, and then along the stone steps, not far away is a Lingbao Pagoda, which was built in the Tang Dynasty, the tower shape is a dense eaves square cone, made of bricks, sitting east to west, 38 meters high, a total of 13 steps, it is said that Master Haitong, who built the Leshan Giant Buddha, was buried here. Climbing to the top of the mountain, we can see the confluence of the three rivers, the so-called three rivers are the Dadu River, the Qingbai River and the Min River, and the junction of the river can be described as distinct. Not far away is the Big Buddha, the ancient Leshan is located at the confluence of the three rivers, the water is quite fierce, and the boats are often subverted here. In order to reduce the water flow, Master Haitong raised funds and recruited manpower to build the Big Buddha to stabilize the water and ensure safety. The Big Buddha is a Maitreya statue, 71 meters high, known as "the mountain is a Buddha, the Buddha is a mountain", and is the largest cliff carving statue in China. The Leshan Giant Buddha was excavated in the first year of Kaiyuan (713) of the Tang Dynasty and completed in the nineteenth year of Zhenyuan (803), which lasted about 90 years. The head of the Leshan Giant Buddha is level with the mountain, the spiral bun on the top of the Buddha's head is clearly visible on the top of the mountain, and the Jiuqu ancient plank road on the right side of the Giant Buddha is being repaired, we take the Lingyun plank road on the left to reach the bottom of the Giant Buddha, looking up at the Giant Buddha has a feeling of looking up to the Buddha, people are getting smaller and smaller at the feet of the Giant Buddha, and in the 80s, you can also stand at the Buddha's feet to take pictures, which is now banned. The Big Buddha faced the river year after year, month after month, whether it was sunny or rainy, snowy, wind and frost, standing for more than a thousand years, blessing the safety of ships coming and going. On the way back to the top of the mountain, the breeze blew on my face and felt a hint of coolness, and I couldn't help but think that if I visited the Buddha at night, wouldn't it respond to Su Shi's words: Only the breeze on the river and the bright moon in the mountains are heard by the ears and the eyes are colorful. After visiting the Big Buddha, we came out of the east gate, which is 2 kilometers away from the visitor center, and you can take a sightseeing bus out, 20 yuan per person. We didn't take a sightseeing bus, we walked along the river to the visitor center, and workers hanging from ropes on the hillside were pruning branches, so the so-called quiet years were actually carrying the weight forward. There is a museum next to the visitor center, and when we visited, it was Monday, and the museum was closed.

In Leshan, we ate beef, Granny Ye's bowl chicken (favorite) on East Street, Zhao duck, tofu brain and Haihuiyuan's old shumai.

Early the next morning, we took the high-speed rail to Meishan, Meishan's water street is suitable for coming at night, there are few people during the day, and many shops are not open in the morning.

Meishan Sansu Temple can be purchased online or on-site, with an average of 40 yuan per person. Su Dongpo is my favorite ancient literati, especially his words, such as "a rain and mist are in life, and there is no wind and rain or sunny", "poetry and wine take advantage of the years", "where is there no grass at the end of the world" and so on. The Sansu Ancestral Hall is the former residence of the famous writers of the Northern Song Dynasty, Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Zhe (historically known as the "Three Su"), located in the southern section of Shayuxing, Dongpo District, Meishan City. It was built during the Northern Song Dynasty and rebuilt in 1665. Entering the Sansu Shrine, you can see ancient buildings, ancient trees, gardens, inscriptions, couplets, etc. There is also an introduction to Su Dongpo's life, the origin of the family, Su Dongpo's ancestors can be traced back to the descendants of Emperor Zhuanxu, Qu Yuan's ancestors are also the descendants of Emperor Gaoyang, that is, the descendants of Zhuanxu, they are all people who are worried about the country and the people, and have the world in their hearts, but they have all been ostracized and demoted and exiled, Qu Yuan was exiled three times, the last time was Miluo in Yueyang, and he threw himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Su Shi was exiled four times, the last time in Danzhou, when it was a barbaric land, infested with snakes and insects, he lectured here to understand the way, so that Danzhou education flourished, in the Northern Song Dynasty, no one on Hainan Island passed the Jinshi, but nine years after Su Shi returned to the north, Danzhou people Fu did become the first Jinshi in Hainan. He died on the way back from exile.

After visiting the Sansu Temple, it was already noon, and the lunch we had on the eastern slope of Meishan Mountain was clean and elegant, and the dishes were good, making it a good place to eat.