Rock Carvings#Culture

Carvings of Dazu

Chongqing4.73 hr4.5k saved

Tens of thousands of cliff-carved Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian figures from the 9th-13th centuries — a UNESCO storybook in stone at Baodingshan.

It sits in Chongqing, and rewards going slowly rather than ticking it off. Best spring/autumn; a half-day day-trip.

Good to know

Best time — Spring or autumn; a half-day day-trip
Scenic areas open daytime; ticketing closes well before last entry.

Insider tip — Baodingshan is the must-see (the carved Parinirvana Buddha alone is worth the trip); Beishan adds a half-day if you have it. Hire a guide on-site — the iconography needs context.

Photo: G41rn8 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Carvings of Dazu

Good to know

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Carvings of Dazu

Good to know

More in Chongqing

A cliff of golden-lit stilt houses tumbling eleven storeys down to the river — Spirited Away made real the moment the lanterns switch on.

A monorail that threads clean through the middle of a 19-storey apartment block — only in the mountain city. Watch from the platform across the street.

A retro cable car swinging high over the brown Yangtze between the two banks — the old commuter line that became the city's best ride.

A surviving Ming-Qing river port of sloping lanes, teahouses and twist-fried mahua — the old Chongqing the towers grew around.