Day70: Chengdu

City of scams and a big Buddha
We took a bus in the morning to Leshan where the largest stone carving of a Buddha is located.  It was created during the Tang dynasty (618-907) and is 223 feet tall.  We had read in our books to look out for scams in this town and only go by the public bus or a pre-arranged tour.  When we got to the local bus station there was a large sign saying, passengers going to the Great Buddha please board bus 13, with an arrow pointing to a bus.  We went to the bus and there was no one inside, but someone told us they would leave after another long distance bus arrived.  We sat in the bus and eventually 1 other guy and a family of three were sitting with us waiting.  Then the guy who was there started telling us how we really shouldn't take the bus because you don't know when it will actually leave and we should take a private bus that he owns.  After he continued to talk to Charlotte and the other family for about 15 minutes trying to convince them he finally gave up seeing no one was moving.  He then said, "Well I guess you should probably go wait at the bus stop where bus 13 actually stops", pointing to another bus stop.  When we went out we noticed he had juts hung a number 13 sign on top of another sign and this bus wasn't running at all.

From 77 Days in China part 2

Sign for the fake bus

We finally got on the bus and made it to the Great Buddha and it was definitely big.  In addition we really noticed that the tourist sites change A LOT once the children go back to school.  There were almost no Chinese tourists there and it was so much easier to see the sight and get good pictures

From 77 Days in China part 2

Outside the Great Buddha

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From 77 Days in China part 2

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For scale I am in the lower left

From 77 Days in China part 2

From 77 Days in China part 2

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Upclose of fingers

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Big toes

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Notice the lack of 1000's of Chinese tourists

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After the Buddha we walked around and went to a museum then tried to find an exit.  An old man with a bicycle pulling a cart offered to drive us to the bus station because it was really far away for 10 RMB ($1.50), which doesnt sound like a lot, but thats more than a lot of cabs we took.  We declined and decided to walk.  It took us maybe 5 minutes to walk to the bus stop.

Back in Chengdu
We then walked around the city looking for a market, but had no luck and then headed to dinner where we had some really good Sichuan food in the touristy area of town.

From 77 Days in China part 2

Spicy fatty pork

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Spicy beef

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Chilling at dinner