How big is the Leshan Giant Buddha?

The seated Buddha is 71 metres high. Its head is about 15 metres tall and each instep is wide enough for dozens of people to stand on. It is the largest stone-carved Buddha in the world.

Can Leshan and Mount Emei be visited in one trip?

Yes. They are about 30 km apart and both lie on the intercity high-speed line from Chengdu. The Giant Buddha takes half a day; Mount Emei needs at least a full day, or two with an overnight stay on the mountain.

Why was the Giant Buddha built?

According to tradition, the monk Haitong started it in 713 to calm the violent currents where the Min, Dadu and Qingyi rivers meet, which wrecked boats. Rock falling from the carving is said to have made the river safer.

Historic city · Scenic area · Sichuan

Leshan

乐山 (Lèshān)

The Giant Buddha and the sacred mountain of Emei

Leshan is a prefecture-level city in southern Sichuan, where three rivers meet beneath the Leshan Giant Buddha — at 71 metres the largest stone Buddha in the world. Its jurisdiction includes Mount Emei, one of the Four Sacred Mountains of Chinese Buddhism; together they form a UNESCO World Heritage site.

ProvinceSichuan

Key facts

Province: Sichuan
Administrative level: Prefecture-level city
Area: about 12,720 km²[1]
Resident population: 3.16 million(as of 2020 census)[2]
Giant Buddha: 71 m, carved 713–803
UNESCO World Heritage: Mount Emei and Leshan Giant Buddha (1996)[3]

Overview

Leshan sits at the confluence of the Min, Dadu and Qingyi rivers on the south-western edge of the Sichuan Basin, where the plain gives way to the mountains. Its fame rests on two sites of world rank: the Giant Buddha, carved into the red sandstone cliff opposite the city, and Mount Emei, the Buddhist mountain about thirty kilometres to the west.

The city is also known across Sichuan for its snack food, and in wartime it sheltered Wuhan University, which moved here from 1938 to 1946.

Names and nicknames

嘉州 (Jiāzhōu)
The historical name of the prefecture, still used for local culture and cuisine.
海棠香国 (Hǎitáng xiāng guó)
“fragrant land of the crabapple”
Old literary name; the crabapples of Jiazhou were unusual in being scented.

History

Jiazhou was a prefectural seat from the sixth century. In 713 the monk Haitong began carving the Giant Buddha, hoping it would calm the dangerous currents at the river junction; the work took ninety years. Mount Emei had been a centre of Buddhist devotion to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra (Puxian) since the early centuries CE. In the twentieth century Leshan was the birthplace of the writer Guo Moruo and was heavily bombed in 1939.

Eastern Han (25–220)
Mahao cliff tombs
Rock-cut tombs with a carved seated figure that is among the earliest images of the Buddha in China.
713–803
Carving of the Giant Buddha
Begun by the monk Haitong and completed under the military governor Wei Gao; an internal drainage system still protects the statue from erosion.
980
Bronze Samantabhadra of Wannian Temple
The Song court had a bronze statue of Puxian on a white elephant cast for Mount Emei; it survives in the brick hall of Wannian Temple.
1892
Guo Moruo born at Shawan
The poet, historian and archaeologist became one of the best-known Chinese intellectuals of the twentieth century.
1938–1946
Wuhan University in exile
The university relocated to Leshan during the war against Japan.
19 August 1939
Air raid on Leshan
Japanese bombers destroyed much of the old city centre.
1996
UNESCO World Heritage inscription
Mount Emei and the Leshan Giant Buddha were inscribed together as a mixed cultural and natural site.

Landmarks

Temple or shrine
Leshan Giant Buddha
乐山大佛 (Lèshān Dàfó)
A 71-metre seated Maitreya carved into the cliff of Lingyun Hill; the plank path down beside it reaches the feet, and boats on the river show the whole figure.
Temple or shrine
Lingyun and Wuyou temples
凌云寺·乌尤寺 (Língyún Sì · Wūyóu Sì)
The monasteries on the hills above and beside the Buddha.
Nature
Golden Summit of Mount Emei
峨眉山金顶 (Éméi Shān Jīndǐng)
The 3,079-metre summit with a gilded ten-faced Samantabhadra, a sea of clouds and, in the right light, the “Buddha's glory” halo.
Temple or shrine
Baoguo Temple
报国寺 (Bàoguó Sì)
The large temple at the foot of Mount Emei where most ascents begin.
Temple or shrine
Wannian Temple
万年寺 (Wànnián Sì)
Temple on the mountain's middle slopes with the Song bronze of Puxian in a domed brick hall.
Historic site
Mahao Cliff Tombs
麻浩崖墓 (Máhào Yámù)
Han-dynasty rock tombs near the Giant Buddha, with a small museum.

Neighbourhoods

Old Jiazhou
嘉州古城 (Jiāzhōu gǔchéng)
The riverside core of the city facing the Giant Buddha across the water.
Shawan
沙湾 (Shāwān)
District to the south with Guo Moruo's family home.

Food

Bobo chicken
钵钵鸡 (bōbō jī)
Skewers of cooked chicken, offal and vegetables steeped in a bowl of cold chilli-oil or green-pepper sauce.
Cross-legged beef soup
跷脚牛肉 (qiāojiǎo niúròu)
Beef and offal in a medicinal broth, named after customers who ate it squatting at roadside stalls.
Sweet-skin duck
甜皮鸭 (tiánpí yā)
Duck fried and glazed with maltose until the skin turns crisp and sweet.
Xiba tofu
西坝豆腐 (Xībà dòufu)
Tofu from the town of Xiba in Wutongqiao, made with local spring water and cooked in dozens of styles.

Culture

Leshan's culture is shaped by Buddhism: Mount Emei has been a pilgrimage mountain for more than a millennium and still has dozens of active monasteries, some offering simple lodging to pilgrims. The mountain also gave its name to the Emei school of martial arts. The macaques that live along the mountain paths are wild and bold, and are best left alone.

峨眉山月半轮秋，影入平羌江水流。

Éméi shān yuè bàn lún qiū, yǐng rù Píngqiāng jiāng shuǐ liú.

“A half-moon of autumn over Mount Emei; its reflection falls into the Pingqiang River and flows away.”

— Li Bai, “Song of the Moon on Mount Emei” (峨眉山月歌), c. 725

Mountains and nature nearby

Sacred mountain · 3,099 mMount Emei峨眉山 (Éméi Shān)Samantabhadra's mountain above the sea of clouds

Getting around

The Chengdu–Leshan–Emei intercity high-speed line stops at Leshan and Emeishan stations; the Giant Buddha and the foot of Mount Emei are short bus or taxi rides from them.
Mount Emei is climbed on foot, by sightseeing bus to Leidongping and by cable car to the Golden Summit; the full walk from Baoguo Temple takes two days.
River boats pass in front of the Giant Buddha for a full view of the statue.

Day trips

Jiayang steam railway
嘉阳小火车 (Jiāyáng xiǎo huǒchē)
A narrow-gauge coal railway in Qianwei county, one of the last steam-hauled passenger lines in China.
Luocheng
罗城古镇 (Luóchéng Gǔzhèn)
Old town whose main street is built in the shape of a boat.
Wutongqiao
五通桥 (Wǔtōngqiáo)
Former salt town on the Min River with banyan-lined banks and the Xiba tofu tradition.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Leshan Municipal People's Government — Leshan Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)

More cities in Sichuan

Philosophy