Dazu Cave Carvings

After a quiet travel day back to Chongqing (just in time as Beijing was hit by an unforecast storm!), we hit the road again to explore some of the smaller local areas. After a short hour and a half we arrived at Dazu. We entered a Buddhist temple complex where Vela lit some incense, wishing for good fortune, good fate, and long life for her mum.

We then walked through the complex to an area which is famous for its cave carvings. There were numerous alcoves where thousands of statues had been carved. The carving is around 800-900 years old and took 70 years to complete with numerous carvers taking part. The carvings show an aspect of Buddhist beliefs, with many large Buddha's looking over those who come to view them. It also shows stories, including the tales of hell and punishment for those who don't live their lives to the Buddhist ideals.

The most famous carving here is that of a massive Buddha lying down. There were also carvings depicting the wheel of life and reincarnation, the 9 dragons from Chinese mythology, and a cave where every square inch of it is covered with carvings. There was also a very intricate gold statue of the thousand armed Buddha.

After we'd finished with the carvings, we drove to a lotus farm for lunch. A very picturesque area with lakes, lilies and lotus. The lotus were just starting to flower.

Afterwards we had another short drive to the town we're staying in. We arrived about 4pm and after checking in we all took the opportunity to take a nap. After oversleeping, we headed back out around 10pm for a Chinese BBQ supper.Read more