World China Sichuan Leshan

China studies

that's a big Buddha Apr 7, 2008

On Nixon's visit to China he was quoted as saying, "That's a great wall." Yesterday we visited a giant Buddha 71 meters tall carved into a stone cliff. From there we hiked to cave tombs from the Han Dynasty, approx. 2300 years old, then kept walking to a monastery high up on the mountain, overlooking the juncture of three major rivers. It was literally breathtaking, the pollution even up there so dense that every vista was obscured by a colorless haze. And down here in the basin it's so thick it makes our eyes sting. Still, this part of Sichuan is an amazing place. It just needs so much: regulations to limit pollution, viable business structures to give people jobs and food for the largest population in the world. Nearly every foot of arable land is under cultivation, and it's still not enough. More about that later.