We quickly rushed through the entrance of Baodingshanb 宝顶山, where the UNESCO World Heritage Site listed Dazu Rock Carvings 大足石刻 are. At this point we are still outside the grounds. There were a lot of shops in the area and we were having a little difficult time finding the place where the rock carvings are. There was a path lined with souvenir shops or incense shops. Anything remotely related to the carvings are being sold. But we weren’t interested in souvenirs. The only souvenirs we wanted were photos.
It was a very gloomy and cold afternoon. It was drizzling the whole time we were there and in didn’t really make for good pictures. We finally reached a gate marked was Baodingshan. This is the official entrance of the Dazu Rock Carvings. Everything was in Chinese so non-Chinese reading folk will definitely miss this. We paid the entrace fee and quickly made our way in.
The way to the carvings was like being transported back to imperial China. We passed by a beautiful Chinese pavillion on a small lake. And there were several Buddhist temples along the way. After a few minutes of walking we finally reached the carvings area. It was carved out of an grotto on a mountainside with a path along the grotto itself. The carvings were started in the 650 A.D. in the Tang Dynasty all over Chongqing. However, in the 12th century, a Buddhist monk started carving in the Baodingshan which we now see today. This is the product of 70 years of his hard work.
It would have been better had we had enough time to appreciate the carvings but we were basically moving from one carving to another. We didn’t have a guide either, we turned one down near the entrance, it would probably be in Chinese and it would be quite unfair to my friend. It is noteworthy that Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian beliefs all blend together in this spectacular site. The Wheel of Life is probably the most spectacular carving here. It almost covers the entire side of the mountain, and it quite difficult to photograph up close. A wide angle lens will be very handy here.
There is also a huge carving of a reclining Buddha, again, it was too big to be photographed up close. There are also a lot of small scenes from legends and stories from the Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian beliefs. It is said that there are almost 10,000 figures here in Baodingshan alone. Truly an impressive number. Note that there are still figures in other places nearby such as Beishan 北山 and Nanshan 南山.
It turns out that the drizzle is not such a bane for us after all. There were hardly any tourists that afternoon. But I wonder if it was because of the rain or just because it was already late afternoon. Regardless, we had the space to photograph to our satisfaction. The rock the carvings was made from was a reddish sandstone. Which gives it a nice red hue. Now, if only the sky would cooperate, I would have a great photos of this place.
The grotto where the carvings are is pretty small so visitors can breeze through the place in an hour or two. While I’m not really a fan of cultural sites like these, it was nevertheless interesting to see such wonderful treasure still available for visitors to see after all these years. Having already took all we can take, we quickly made our way back out to the entrance where our driver was still waiting for us. The Dazu Rock Carvings is a really worthwhile place to visit. If you are coming from Chongqing, it would be advisable to leave Chongqing in the morning so you have enough time to appreciate the carvings. It is a truly atmospheric site and worthy of being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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