Dazu

The Wall Carvings at Dazu

Dazu is a three-hour bus ride from Chongqing. A first-class (well, three-star) hotel has just opened in the region so that it is no longer necessary to consider this a rushed "day trip" from Chongqing or Chengdu. In 1999 Dazu was placed on UNESCO's list of "World Monuments". The site is, as Michelin would say "worth the trip". That such a marvelous collection of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian sculpture survived the Cultural Revolution is somewhat of a mystery. Apparently, however, the residents of the area were willing to defend the two sites and, as a consequence, the sculpture did not meet the sacking of other antiquities in China.

There are two sites at Dazu, "Beishan", or North Hill, and Baodingshan, or "Precious Summit". Both are worth seeing. The Baodingshan sculpture collection includes The Wheel of Life, Sleeping Budha and Great Budha Crescent as well as a Vision of Hell. It takes approximately 2 hours to view Baodingshan. I would suggest seeing this grouping in the morning, taking a lunch break, and then moving on to Beishan,only a short distance away. The sculptures at Beishan predate those of Baodingshan and, to the way of thinking of some art historians, are more finely carved. Note that all the images are hyperlinked to larger images, simply click on the thumbnail to see a larger image.

Baodingshan