Another bucket list destination accomplished. The Leshan Buddha is one of those places I only discovered after returning home and thought to myself, why did I not know about it?

I got a taxi from the station and with a lovely lady driver. She asked me “what gate I wanted to go to?” and I said “I don’t know”  We checked Gaode and decided on gate 1 and set the map to work. She asked me many questions and I could only answer a fraction of them but if was a good laugh. She even tried to teach me how to read some of the characters and then it was my turn to give her some English. The thirty minute ride only cost 35 RMB however I gave her 50 as a tip. Not common practice here but you know, sometimes? Oh and she is the best driver so far here, none of this coasting malarkey.

The ticket process was a bit confusing, no English, but my skill level was enough to understand and I think they made a mistake with the ticket price because I only paid 50 RMB to get into the underground palace and down to the foot of the Buddha. I’m sure they told me it would be over 100, but not complaining.

For me the Underground Palace was way more impressive than the Big Leshan Buddha. There are two more large Buddhas inside these huge caverns that are connected by passageways. From the entrance there are very large niches with intricate carvings of deities, my favourite is the one picking his ears… I see myself here 🙄

The first chamber that you enter has a very fat Buddha staring you in the face and watching on his henchmen both right and left.

Carry on and you will come across the first of two Buddhas standing over 33 meters tall making you feel quite small and insignificant. Where do you start to create this? It’s head is nearly touching the ceiling but it’s also free standing within this massive chamber.

Up another flight of steps and you’re introduced to the story of the Buddha and followers through this reliefs and beautiful carvings within another massive chamber.

As you exit this room you enter a space that is bigger then any before and here on your right another interpretation of the Buddha. He seems even bigger than the previous one and again the details on his clothing and the presence of such an unbelievable statue makes you look in awe.

By the time I get back outside and make my way to the famous Big Buddha I found it a little bit underwhelming to be honest. Yes it’s big and impressive but compared to what I have just seen inside the mountain the craftsmanship does not compare, or maybe he is just looking a bit worse for wear as he is sitting outside in all weather😁

There are so many other temples and walks that you can do here but for me all I wanted to see was the Big Buddha, however you will discover that there is more here than meets the eye.

It only took an hour to get here from Chengdu, a bit of a gamble coming here due to the inclement weather. I’m here for three days and it’s supposed to be raining.

The hotel resort is interesting, it’s basically a residential complex come hotel. The room is comfortable and even has a washing machine. WiFi is quick the staff have been great, however the only complaint is the breakfast which for me is not compatible and so I bought the usual things… bananas and bread, I just can’t start the day with noodles.

I went out to for a recce and there’s not too much to this place, there’s the mountain and many many restaurants that look the same and seem to have the same menu. The flavours are not bad but the food just does not fill you up.

I did find a small place selling fried rice and it was good. In the evening outside the hotel there were street carts and the chow mian was very good but the next night the beef noodle was shit. It’s a bit hit and miss.

I was going to climb the Emei Mountain, however there is not much point when the peak is covered in clouds and it’s over 200 RMB just to get in and then they hit you for other charges. The transport is a bit hit and miss and that will cost about 150 return and so I don’t see the point of going only to be disappointed. I’d much rather walk in a mountain such as Tiger Leaping Gorge where you are free to walk on natural ground rather than man made steps and tracks and there would be almost no Chinese there which is an added bonus.

Tomorrow I’ll go to Leshan and see the big Buddha but for now I’ll going to the hot tub for a bit before I settle in for a quiet night.

Very different to Suzhou, it’s so much bigger, it feels vast and the roads are wide. I got a taxi from the airport because it had been a long journey and I just wanted to sleep.

The taxi driver definitely knew how to drive, even although he was horsing it on the motorway I didn’t reach for my brake pedal once. You’ll also notice that many drivers are way more polite and drive in a manner that you would recognise. There is a some courtesy here. When crossing at traffic lights they will stop without being challenged, how refreshing, mind you the use of horns is unnecessary at times.

The accent is also a bit more confusing and I’m having trouble communicating, mind you it’s a bit of fun playing charades.

The dress code here is more relaxed compared to Suzhou. They also seem to be living in the present, in Suzhou it feels very different. The young folk seem to be young folk, not young folk dressing like old folk, which is a feeling I got in Suzhou.

Mind you Suzhou is steeped in culture and I guess the legacy is in the DNA. Not sure about Chengdu history so I can’t comment.

Looking forward to leaving today, two days is enough for me. Heading to Emeishan today and hopefully it will be a bit quieter and cooler with any luck. So hot here the lady two days and I have packed mostly winter gear.

Lazy morning, dumplings for brunch.

Headed to the station nice and early because I was not sure where to go but as it turns out it’s less than 20 mins from my hotel room.

Through the priority check to enter the station and then same again to board the train. This foreigner malarkey is great. Because you only need to show your passport after buying the ticket online and it has to be manually processed so it’s to the front of the queue almost every time.

I was one of six that strolled in late and onto the train first, I’m liking this very much.

So I arrived at the museum for the second time and went to see the happy folk in the ticket office. I was told to go to line one and I was in. In front of me at the counter was a young foreigner who discovered that he too should have bought a ticket online as they were sold out once more for today. I was going to give him some information that I had gleaned but he was gone.

So so busy, but you have to expect this. Pushing and shoving. Tour groups everywhere, everyone of them talking over the other. Huddling around the displays trying to get the best angle and as usual very few look at the object in the glass case. It’s click click and move on, but that’s what the Chinese do, they would rather look at life through the phone.

In the process of getting the money shot you have to hold your ground and push others back. They try to get in your viewfinder and age is no limit. The look on those little faces when you don’t move and sometimes you might just happen to stand on their toes, oh it is priceless. One of the few pleasures one gets at these places, oh of course the exhibits are not bad too. The little princess’s and prince’s don’t seem to understand what is happening when you don’t let them win.

At the other end of the scale are the old buggers like me and they are just as bad, but they too got the same treatment. It’s never too late to learn me thinks. No quarter I say 😋

This museum holds an absolute amazing collection from a culture that is so so different to anything, well here in China at least. There is a resemblance to South American civilisations like the Aztec and Myans, not the Chinese. They could well be alien. As with many ancient civilisations we don’t really know how they made many of the objects left behind, we can only surmise and I often feel that the so called experts are barking up the wrong tree. Some of the jade on display is simple to look at but the quality of the machining again is exquisite. Even today jade is one of the most difficult stones to work and when you see it in its raw form you can only stand with your mouth open and be in awe of what lies before you.

And let me just say again here, almost every Chinese person here today fighting to get that all important picture of one of the most intriguing cultures in history spends less time than it takes to blink before studying the picture and then posting it onto social media. Reality for them is not real and seems very unimportant.

I’ve wanted to come here for years and I’m so glad that I got in here today. Being the weekend I knew it would be busy but as I said I had a bit of fun on the way.

If you come to Chengdu I would give the Panda’s a rubber ear and come to Sanxingdui….. You will not be disappointed.

And don’t forget to buy your train tickets in advance, buy both ways and get your museum tickets too, they can be bought up to five days in advance.

The incredible Bronze Tree.

Thank goodness for Shadowrocket VPN, the only vpn that works almost every time. There are over 700 proxies and they are updated every day. I’m using the free version but when I get home and I can check all the in’s and outs I might just have to give up my paid version of Surfshark because in China it has been useless.

Of mice and men or in my case a rat, plans sometimes just fall in a heap, as did my plans today.

I did not research this enough. I forgot what Lydia had told me about managing my ticket, what she meant was to buy it in advance and I didn’t.

I got the number 80 bus to the north bus station where I would catch the bus to Sanxingdui, but when I got there I was told there were no more tickets. Not a good sign, am omen maybe?

As I checked the map for an alternative location I was told that they could fit me in, Great!

The driving was shit as usual and took nearly two hours to cover 50kms. I tried to buy an early train ticket but missed out but I did buy a return for the 15:00 train. I’m currently sitting in the train station and I’ll be here for about an hour before the train arrives and it will still be quicker than this morning.

When we finally arrived we all headed to the museum and to my horror there were no tickets left. 😜👻😲😭

I’ve spent nearly three hours to get here only to find that there are no tickets. FUCK!! In fact the only reason I came to Chengdu was to go to Sanxingdui.

It’s 10km to the train station and I begin to walk. I reach the town centre after an hour of walking and have lunch. I had intended to walk to the station but after lunch I called a Didi and headed here early.

There are only afternoon tickets left for tomorrow and no train tickets and I am not going to sit in a bus for three hours each way to come back and see this very special place that I have been longing to see because I just couldn’t handle the bus .

So let that be a lesson to you all…… Do your research in advance so you don’t end up like me…. All dressed up and no where to go 🙄

Onto the next part of the journey, heading to the west of China to visit a few places on the to do list.

A very quiet morning in the house. I took quite some time trying to pack up all my gear whilst trying to keep the weight down so that I don’t have any trouble getting on the plane. My next flight in a weeks time might be the challenge due to the baggage allowance being less. Sissi still had one of my cases packed and bulging which she will send to my hotel in Guangzhou. I should be OK for the Australian flight, it’s just the other domestic one that could be a problem.

I really didn’t realise just how much stuff I had here in Suzhou.

Sissi drove me to the train station and managed to hold it together better than me for a change. I am sure it won’t be 4 years before we see each other again, I hope not.

As we were leaving she was taking pictures of the apartment and I asked her what she was doing and she answered that she was preparing an advert for my room to get a new flat mate 😁 No hanging about with this young lady.

The staff at the station were very helpful, I got through first because they need to scan the passport manually and then one of the older guys escorted me down to the platform and taking one of my bags with him. I’m keeping the beard, it works wonders here 😜

She was going to an interview after she dropped me off and she’s told me since that they have invited her to go into the office tomorrow to get a better idea of what is on offer. Great news 👍

The train takes less than half an hour to get to Shanghai and then it’s a twenty minute walk to the terminal, no rush because the flight has been delayed by an hour.

I opted for a hamburger for lunch and a black coffee and then topped up with the bread that I bought from 85C last night.

It’s sad to say goodbye to friends but I’m really looking forward to the next two weeks, I’ll keep you posted.

I’m not a fan of domestic flights here, nobody pays the slightest bit of attention to the crew. Phones are never put into flight mode. At any one time you can search for WiFi and you’ll find someone’s IPhone transmitting happily to the ether, there is no connection of course but it’s just that the Chinese never seem to do what they are told. And phones begin to chime as we get closer to landing and then half the plane is chatting to someone.

A common thing here is for folk to cut in front of you and today I nearly took off several pairs of ankles as I pushed me trolley through the terminal giving no quarter. Luckily for them they reconsidered and allowed me to continue on my merry way.

I really don’t want confrontation but if they are stupid enough to think I’m going to stop when I technically have right of way they have another thing coming.

The rain was pissing down before we left and then it was turbulence for a while until we smoothed off after about an hour. Looking forward to getting to my hotel and putting my feet up and having some good WiFi.

I went for a stroll this morning, I followed the bus route of the 117 because when I got tired I could take it to my destination. My second last day in Suzhou, with Sissi and I’m sure the next 24 hours are not going to be the best.

After about 40 mins I was feeling very hungry but as I was going for lunch I didn’t want to eat, however coffee was always on the menu. A small cafe at the end of row of shops opposite McDonald’s, very quaint and to my surprise they were selling Bundeberg Lemon and Lime…I haven’t even seen these in Australia.

I got a Flat White, just in case the black coffee was too bitter. The coffee here I find is usually on the bitter side. My coffee was smooth and very delicious, it’s a pity I find it on my last day here.

Young Bobo came to the house today and made lunch. Very reminiscent of Lanzhou Lamian兰州拉面

Large flat noodles made by hand and then boiled for a few minutes before adding the amazing home made sauce and spices that make this food so delicious. It’s quite the art to make this food. Sissi and Wenzi made the dumplings while I sat back and supervised the whole operation 🤔

A one of a kind I guess, this temple is for a king, this temple is different because it’s red and not the traditional yellow mustard colour.

This Buddhist Temple is I believe for Taoist practioners. It is very familiar to the untrained eye and that’s me of course, however it is different and apart from the decoration and main colour red I am unable to explain… Sorry!

But in saying that I believe it’s because it was built specifically for the Emperor and he decided to make a few aesthetic changes, and the results are amazing.

A lovely quiet place on the outskirts of Suzhou city near Yangcheng Lake which is well worth the visit to see another aspect of life.