My Cultural Notes: Emei–Leshan & Dujiangyan–Mount Qingcheng Travelogue

I finally set foot in Chengdu, the capital of the ‘Land of Abundance’ I had long dreamed of. I had done my homework for this trip, and on September 30th, through Ctrip, I booked flights and travel packages. Then, as a photography enthusiast, this is my semi-independent travelogue! After settling into my accommodation in the Kuanzhai Alleys, the adventure began!

First stop: Evening stroll in Chengdu’s Kuanzhai Alleys:

Kuanzhai Alleys are a relatively large-scale surviving cluster of Qing-dynasty streets in Chengdu, forming, together with Daci Temple and Wenshu Monastery, the city’s three major historical and cultural protection blocks. They consist of three parallel old lanes—Wide Alley, Narrow Alley, and Well Alley—along with courtyard dwellings. These alleys are the last vestiges of old Chengdu’s ‘Thousand-Year Lesser City’ urban layout and century-old authentic architecture, and are a unique southern ‘copy’ of northern hutong culture and architectural style. Wide Alley and Narrow Alley are a miniature of Chengdu’s ancient yet youthful past, a symbol deep in the city’s memory. As visitors walk through the lanes at dusk, with the setting sun and rising cooking smoke, scenes of long-lost old-town neighbourhood life unfold before their eyes. I took Metro Line 2 to get here and started with Wide Alley!

Right after getting off and entering the Kuanzhai Alleys, I saw the cultural relief wall and the Kuanzhai logo with a fire truck!

1. Impressions of Wide Alley: In Wide Alley, the Old Chengdu Authentic Life Experience Hall serves as the cover and centrepiece of the Kuanzhai Alleys. It showcases the spirit of Chengdu life that the alleys represent. Inside, the daily life of an ordinary Chengdu household during the Republican era is recreated—kitchen, study, main hall, bridal chamber and more—presenting the lifestyle of old Chengdu. Visitors can listen to old-timers ‘swing their dragon gates’ (chat), watch Chengdu girls embroider Shu brocade, enjoy shadow puppetry and puppet shows in the evening, or try impromptu calligraphy. Commercially, Wide Alley has become a themed leisure and consumption area featuring boutique hotels, private kitchens, specialty folk restaurants, distinctive teahouses, characteristic inns, corporate clubs, and spas.

2. Impressions of Narrow Alley and Well Alley: Narrow Alley is the ‘slow living’ district, centred on branded commerce. It’s an international hub, a fashion centre with a global vision, yet it remains the most authentic Chengdu lifestyle—here you can savour a leisurely afternoon and watch time stand still. Narrow Alley is old Chengdu’s ‘slow living’. Well Alley is the ‘new life’ district, themed around youth and fashion, and is Chengdu’s new bar area. It’s the liveliest spot in Chengdu at night, full of the city’s early-evening charm and smiling hibiscus beauties. Well Alley is old Chengdu’s ‘new life’.

3. Inscriptions, ear-cleaning and other interesting tidbits in the Kuanzhai Alleys:

4. After finishing my tour of the Kuanzhai Alleys, I took the metro back to the Jiaoliao Cultural Boutique Hotel to sleep! Because the next day I was heading to Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng! I almost forgot to mention how to get to the Kuanzhai Alleys! Hehe!

The Kuanzhai Alleys are located within Chengdu’s inner ring road, with convenient transport and close to People's Park, Qintai Road, Baihuatan Park, etc.

Bus: Take buses 5, 13, 43, 47, 58, 64, 78, 81, 163 etc. and get off at ‘Jinhe Road’ station; or take 62, 70, 93, 163, 340 etc. and get off at ‘Changshun Upper Street’ station.

Taxi: Drop-off points at Changshun Upper Street or Xia Tongren Road. By metro, you can take Line 2 from Tianfu Square to ‘Jinhe Road’ station; the fare is just 2 yuan!

5. Where I stayed: Jiaoliao Cultural Boutique Hotel

The hotel’s architecture blends movement and stillness. ‘Movement’ can be seen in every detailed design: from the moment you enter the corridor, images of birds greet you, and the guest rooms feature small bird decorations—all echoing the hotel’s name: Jiaoliao (wren).

‘Stillness’ is found in the antique courtyard with grey bricks and tiles; every plant and tree is exquisitely serene, every bamboo and mat has refined charm. Each guest room has its own poetic name, as if alive with vitality!

Chengdu Jiaoliao Cultural Boutique Hotel

The rooms are decorated mainly with natural wood, fresh and clean, and are fully equipped—King Koil mattresses, Kohler bathroom fixtures, TOTO smart toilets... plus a variety of drinks, snacks, fruits, teas and more. The overall feel is very warm and comfortable. There’s also a small open-air balcony; in the morning you can look out over the Kuanzhai Alleys, staying connected to the world while secluded—this is the life I wanted. And if you need to relax your tired body, the hotel can arrange a very professional spa service.

Breakfast was especially heart-warming. At check-in, the butler asks about your preferred meal time and tastes—very considerate. You can choose between Chinese and Western breakfast, accompanied by fruits, nuts, and various pastries, all served right to your room! Overflowing with care.

Staying here, you truly feel at ease and carefree, enjoying this beautiful setting to the fullest, as if floating in pure bliss!

Second stop: Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng: On the morning of October 9th at 6:30, I was already waiting at the hotel entrance and the tour bus arrived on time. When I got on, I found only four people on board. After picking up all the tourists from the city centre, we finally departed for the Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng day trip at 8:00! Dujiangyan is located in the west of Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province. It is a large-scale water conservancy project built in ancient China and still in use today, praised as the ‘originator of world water culture’ and a famous tourist destination in Sichuan. It is generally believed that the Dujiangyan irrigation system was constructed around 256 BC by Li Bing, the governor of Shu Prefecture during the Qin dynasty, and his son, along with many workers. In 1982, it was designated by the State Council as one of the second batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In 2000, Dujiangyan, as ‘a grand water conservancy project that is ancient, uniquely preserved, and characterised by water diversion without a dam’, was inscribed together with Mount Qingcheng as a World Cultural Heritage site. The headwork of Dujiangyan mainly consists of three key parts: the Fish Mouth Levee, the Flying Sand Weir, and the Treasure Bottle Neck. These three work in perfect coordination, mutually restricting and harmoniously operating to divert water for irrigation, mitigate floods, and achieve the effect of ‘dividing the flow into four and six, controlling both drought and flood’.

The last photo is of me buying a local farmhouse cucumber from Dujiangyan after leaving the scenic area! Actually, it tasted just like the cucumbers in my hometown Xi’an! It was just curiosity at play! There’s a saying: ‘See the water at Dujiangyan, seek the way at Mount Qingcheng!’ With the first half done, next stop was the Taoist sanctuary—Mount Qingcheng!

2. Mount Qingcheng: After finishing Dujiangyan, we had a group meal at the scenic spot, then rushed off to ‘seek the way at Mount Qingcheng’. The town of Qingchengshan lies southwest of Dujiangyan City within the national-level scenic area of Mount Qingcheng, bordered by Zhongxing Town and Qingcheng Village to the east, Lianghe Township and Chongzhou City to the south, Wenchuan County in Aba Prefecture to the west, and Yutang Town and Zhongxing Town to the north. The town government is located in the new market town at the foot of the mountain, 15 kilometres northeast of the city.

Mount Qingcheng is a national-level scenic area with a long history and widespread fame. After 1986, with self-raised and introduced funds totalling over a billion yuan, numerous facilities were built, including Yuecheng Lake, the aerial cableway from Yuecheng Lake to Siguan Pavilion, opening up the back-mountain scenic area, a memorial hall for Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun’s uprising, restoring Tai’an Ancient Town, and opening attractions like the Crystal Cave, Immortal Cave, Baiyun Caves, Cuiying Lake, Wulong Gully, and Hongyan. Additional cableways were built from Tai’an Temple to Youyi Village and from Youyi Village to Baiyun Temple. Leisure facilities like an entertainment centre, Weijiang River rafting and surfing, and a scenic railway were constructed, along with villas, resorts, hotels, and conference centres. With continuous improvements in management, Mount Qingcheng has been rated an excellent provincial tourist area for many consecutive years.

After the tour, we returned to downtown Chengdu around 9 p.m. Since I had previously booked a group deal on Ctrip (order no. 7328106001) at Chengdu Four Seasons Kangcheng Hotel (budget single room), I had to switch hotels, and by the time I got into bed it was already 11 p.m.! I quickly connected to WiFi and uploaded the day’s photos! Hehe! By the time I went to sleep it was midnight—I’d become a ‘night owl’! Fortunately, on the 10th the Giant Panda Base and Sanxingdui pickup wasn’t until 8 a.m., so I could at least sleep until 7!

Third stop: Leshan Giant Buddha: On the morning of the 11th at 5:30, I was waiting in the hotel lobby for the group pickup! Unfortunately, it started raining moderately and I was worried the trip might be cancelled. But when I arrived at the departure point, I was dumbfounded—there were about 20-30 tour buses waiting for tourists! Cut the chatter, straight to the point! We boarded the bus at 8 a.m. heading to Leshan City, and it rained the whole way. As soon as I got off, I bought a plastic rain poncho. Carrying a camera backpack, a DSLR around my neck, and then wrapping myself in the poncho—you know how that felt!

The Leshan Giant Buddha is located on the rock wall of Qixia Peak, Lingyun Mountain, at the confluence of the Min, Qingyi, and Dadu rivers in Leshan City. It is also known as the Lingyun Giant Buddha. It is a seated statue of Maitreya Buddha, a masterpiece of Tang-dynasty cliff sculpture and the largest stone-carved seated Maitreya in the world. The Lingyun Mountain where the Giant Buddha sits, together with the Wuyou and Guicheng mountains behind, forms a gigantic reclining Buddha—another fascinating sight.

The Leshan Giant Buddha was begun in the Tang dynasty and took 90 years to complete. The Buddha sits upright with hands on knees, solemn and imposing. Its head reaches the same height as the mountain, its feet rest on the river; the proportions are balanced and the expression is awe-inspiring. The overall height is 71 metres, with the head 14.7 metres tall, ears 7 metres long, the distance from knees to insteps 28 metres, and the instep 8.5 metres wide—large enough to seat over a hundred people. The head features 1,051 spiral coils, each individually carved and inlaid with stones, meticulously done; from a distance, the coils merge seamlessly with the scalp. On the cliff faces along the river to the left and right of the Buddha, there are two guardian warrior figures over 10 metres tall, holding halberds and wearing battle robes, along with hundreds of niches and over a thousand stone carvings, forming a vast Buddhist stone-art ensemble. To the left of the Buddha, descending through ‘Dongtian’ (the Heavenly Grotto) is the nearly 500-metre-long Lingyun Plank Path, built in modern times. On the right is the original construction and worshipping path from the Tang dynasty: the Jiuqu (Nine Bends) Plank Path. There are two ways to visit the Leshan Giant Buddha. One is to take a boat or speedboat from Leshan Port to view the Buddha from the river; ticket price is 70 yuan, and the tour lasts about 30 minutes, offering a full view of the Buddha and the reclining Buddha. The other is to get up close from the shore via the Jiuqu Plank Path, allowing you to see the Buddha from different heights and angles. Some years ago, visitors discovered that the Wuyou, Lingyun, and Guicheng mountains behind the Giant Buddha form a colossal reclining Buddha. Its head, body and feet are made up of Wuyou, Lingyun and Guicheng mountains respectively. The entire head is formed by Wuyou Mountain, with its rocks, green bamboos, shade, paths, pavilions, and temples representing the reclining Buddha’s coiled hair, eyelashes, nose bridge, lips, and jaw; the treetops form the forehead, nose, lips, and chin, incredibly lifelike. The body is formed by Lingyun Mountain, its nine connected peaks resembling the chest, waist and legs; the raised foot is part of Guicheng Mountain. The whole reclining Buddha is astonishingly realistic, a true wonder sculpted by nature. The best way to view the reclining Buddha is by boat, where you can see the magical scene of the ‘(seated) Buddha inside the (reclining) Buddha’.

After visiting the Giant Buddha, I took a direct bus back to the city (since I had a one-day tour of the Leshan Giant Buddha). The guide arranged for someone to see me off at the Leshan bus station for the direct coach back to Chengdu! I arrived in Chengdu around 6:50 p.m., had dinner, went back to the hotel, posted on WeChat! ... Another day came to an end!

Fourth stop: Return to Xi’an: After strolling along Chunxi Road, I checked the time—already 5:30 p.m.! I quickly ate, then went back to the hotel to check out. I took the airport bus to Shuangliu Airport and boarded China Southern Airlines flight CZ6434 (order 1095735201), touching down at Xi’an Xianyang Airport around 10:10 p.m., concluding the entire journey!

I didn’t go to Mount Emei or Jiuzhaigou, but since I was out travelling, leaving a little regret is still a good thing!