Dadu He

📍 Leshan Giant Buddha 🛕—what an incredible experience! Standing at a towering 71 meters, this is the *largest* stone Buddha in the world 🌍, carved into the red sandstone cliffs of Sichuan over 1,200 years ago during the Tang Dynasty 🏯. It took *90 years* to complete!

We started our adventure with a walk up the well-paved steps 🚶‍♀️—278 narrow steps from the top of the Buddha’s head to its feet. Along the way, we explored the beautiful Lingyun Temple ⛩️, soaking in the spiritual atmosphere and learning about the rich history of the site.

As part of the temple’s tradition, I also rang the **giant bronze bell** 🔔, known as the **Lingyun Temple Bell**. Cast in the Ming Dynasty, this bell is *over 3 meters tall* and weighs *more than 10 tons*! It was believed that ringing the bell could ward off evil spirits and bring peace to the land, and I was lucky enough to take part in this ancient ritual 🙏.

Fun fact: the Buddha was built to calm the turbulent waters where the Minjiang, Dadu, and Qingyi rivers meet 🌊—and it worked!

After exploring the temples and marveling at the Buddha’s massive scale (those toenails are as big as a person!), we finished with a scenic 30-minute boat ride 🚤, giving us a breathtaking panoramic view of the Buddha from the river. Seeing it from the water really puts its immense size into perspective!

This was such a unique combination of nature, history, and spirituality 🙌. If you’re in Sichuan, you *have* to experience this for yourself!

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