Leshan

From Chengdu we jumped on a bus for the short ride to Leshan. We only spent one night here, but really enjoyed our time in this city. The streets were alive at night, with the town square and any other large piece of real estate filled with groups of people. There were dancers practicing a routine, people exercising (even swimming in the dirty river), a choir going over a few songs, and a huge pile of kids with their faces painted getting ready to put on a show. It was a Friday night when we were there, but there was no special event happening that we knew of. This was just apparently like any other night around town. The reason we made the trip to Leshan however was to see the worlds largest Buddha (according to the Chinese). What we thought was just going to be one big Buddha all on its own, ended up being a huge park where we easily killed have a day. It was amazing what people carved in these cliffs so many years ago...

Here's Jillene by a big Buddha, just one of the many Buddhas in the park.
Another bigger and 'fatter' Buddha!
And the monster...

This will give it a little perspective. The big Buddhas toes in bigger than Jillene.
A nice bridge in Leshan.
And more of these guys, another monastery which was actually in the park housed 100's of such strange figures. They made us laugh, and I really have no idea what the religious significance is.