10/04/10
Back in China, and increasingly fascinated with the contrast between modern and old, and the way that they fit together. I just left the town of Leshan in Sichuan, a couple of hours drive south of the capital Chengdu. It’s famous for having the world’s largest Buddha, 71 metres tall, built between 713 CE and 803, carved out of the red sandstone cliffs on the Minjiang River.
Well, I said town, and that’s what Leshan used to be, in a backwater, but now it’s a small city, with high-rise buildings and new apartments blocks and malls going up all over the place. By no means is this development all to do with the famous Giant Buddha, but this ancient monument has certainly stimulated growth, and the expressway which makes access to it from Chengdu so easy. Tourism, which in China means Chinese tourism (foreigners are insignificant in numbers), is taken very seriously by government at all levels, and the Giant Buddha of Leshan has not been left out of the development programme. Thousands a day come here, mostly in organised groups, and the site features all the usual crowd control paraphernalia of turnstiles, barriers and queuing procedures. Now you might think that this is what spoils sacred sites, but there’s another aspect, which is that most of the people I was with here were coming to see the Buddha out of a sense of respect, not just ticking off a tourist site. The demeanour of the crowds was lively, enthusiastic, noisy, respectful and polite – not a combination I could imagine in the West. Somehow, modern economic development, seven per cent growth rate, and a love of the past seem to sit together here. And, incidentally, the admission fees, as for every other visited site in China, are relatively high – nine pounds sterling just for the Buddha, rising to fifteen for ancillary sites as well. Unlike India, for example, there is no discrimination between nationals and foreigners, the latter in any case being a rarity.
Eighth-century giant Buddha, modern China.
I’m still shooting for my Tea Horse Road book, and Leshan is part of the area of Sichuanese tea mountains, so I was more than happy to find one elderly visitor carrying his typical flask of green tea.
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About a kilometre south of here, after a winding climb around the cliffs, there was the most lovely bridge in the fading misty light… The Shang Hao Bridge, leading to Wu You Temple…
The Shang Hao Bridge, leading to Wu You Temple
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And now I’m in Qinghai, way north of Leshan, north also of Tibet. A high, dry plateau. Just arrived, so we’ll see what the next few days bring.
I’m currently teaching English in Xi’an and if I can find some sponsorship, wold like to spend some time on a major photography project next year (no idea yet what that would be though). I’ve been here nearly four months and I’ve fallen in love with this country. The people we’ve met have been overwhelmingly friendly, and the only arguments we’ve seen end with shaking hands rather than fists. They are proud of their country (where in the West would you hear some shout across the street “Welcome to our city”?) and respect their heritage, and deserve our respect in return.
A really interesting insight to this side of China. I look forward to the next update.