Leshan Giant Buddha (乐山大佛)

Attraction · Chengdu. A 71 m Tang-dynasty Buddha carved into a river cliff, seen on foot or from a boat.

Source: https://chinafootnotes.com/places/leshan-giant-buddha · Data checked 2026-10-08 · Rendered for 2026-10-09 (Asia/Shanghai). Facts carry their status; "not found yet" means we searched and found no reliable source.

Notices in effect

• 2026-10-08 to 2027-03-31: Winter season: day visit 08:00–17:30 and boat 08:00–17:00 (rolling departures). These times follow the operator's 2025 winter notice; the season switches on 8 October.

Why go

The Leshan Giant Buddha (乐山大佛) is a 71-metre seated Buddha carved into a red cliff where the Min, Qingyi and Dadu rivers meet; it is a World Heritage site for both culture and nature. A day trip from Chengdu gives you two views: from the cliff-side paths beside the head and feet, and from a river boat that shows the whole figure. The same scenic area has Lingyun Temple, Wuyou Temple and free historic spots, so allow a few hours rather than a photo stop.

What to do

• See the head from the viewing platforms. The head viewing platform (佛头观景平台) is the first big viewpoint. Crowds gather here for photos, and staff and volunteers guide the flow.
• Go down to the Buddha's feet. A downhill stairway beside the figure leads to the foot platform. Queues form here on busy days, and the route used has changed with plank-road maintenance, so ask staff at the gate which path is open.
• Take the river boat for the full view. The boat is a separate ticket and gives the head-to-feet view that cannot be had from the cliff paths. The trip takes about 40 minutes.
• Add the temples and free areas. The scenic area holds more than the statue: the management committee lists Wuyou Temple, the Mahao Cliff Tombs and the Giant Buddha Cultural Plaza as free areas to visit when day tickets are sold out.
• Choose a night option if you stay late. Separate night products include a Lingyun Mountain night walk and a three-river night boat. The Buddha's feet are not open at night.

• Don't miss: The Mahao Cliff Tombs (麻浩崖墓) and Wuyou Temple (乌尤寺) sit in the same complex and are named by the management committee as free areas.

• Best time: Arrive at opening on a weekday
• Skip if: If you hate queues, avoid public holidays: day tickets sold out completely on 2 and 4 October 2026, and the descent path forms long lines.

Practical details

• Hours: 07:30–18:30 summer · 08:00–17:30 winter
• Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 08:00–17:30
• Apr 1–Oct 7 (04-01 to 10-07), Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 07:30–18:30
• Oct 8–Mar 31 (10-08 to 03-31), Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 08:00–17:30
• Summer (1 April–7 October 2026): day visit 07:30–18:30, boat 07:30–18:00. Winter (8 October–31 March) follows the operator's 2025 winter notice: day visit 08:00–17:30, boat 08:00–17:00 with rolling departures.
• Boat departures change with water level and weather.
• Admission: Ticketed · ¥80 mountain, ¥70 boat
• Day visit (mountain), adult: ¥80 (All year)
• Daytime river boat: ¥70 — Separate ticket; children 1.2 m and under collect a free ticket at the window.
• In-park shuttle, single ride: ¥10 — ¥15 for an all-day pass with unlimited rides; South to North Visitor Centre with six intermediate stops.
• Lingyun Mountain night tour, adult: ¥80 — Child and student ¥40; combo with the Dongfang Fodu underground palace ¥138.
• Three-river night boat: ¥138 — Child 1.2 m and under ¥69; infants free.
• Free: Children 1.2 m or under, or aged 6 or younger (Operator notice; more concessions are handled at the ticket window or on 0833-2355557.)
• The ¥80 ticket covers the day visit on foot; the boat, shuttle and night products are separate. Prices for the boat, shuttle and night products follow the operator's 2025 winter notice.
• Half-price rules for students, teenagers and seniors, and whether foreign holders qualify, are not published in the operator notices; ask at the ticket window or on 0833-2355557.
• Concession rules reported for Chinese ID holders differ between 2026 posts: students half price (¥40); ages 60–64 half price and 65+ free (汐宝妈妈, June 2026); or 60+ free outside public holidays with only 65+ free on national holidays (遛娃日志, September 2026; 乐小漫, September 2026). The operator's notices publish no age rules; ask at the ticket window or on 0833-2355557.
• A widely shared March 2026 post (东逝水) complains that the site gives foreigners half price while Chinese visitors pay ¥80. No operator notice says so; ask at the ticket window.
• Booking: Timed tickets online; sold out on busy holidays
• Dafo Lvyou mini-program (WeChat or Alipay) (大佛旅游小程序（微信／支付宝）) — WeChat or Alipay → search 大佛旅游 → day-visit ticket
• Douyin official account ticket page (抖音「乐山大佛景区」购票) — Douyin → search 乐山大佛景区 → tickets
• Ticket windows at the North and South Visitor Centres and the north, south and west gates (北、南游客中心及北门、南门、西门售票窗口)
• Passport accepted: yes — After booking, visitors use ID cards or passports to enter; foreign and Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan visitors go through the staffed manual lane with their passport or permit. The operator notices do not say which booking channel accepts a passport number.
• The management committee describes timed, zoned visitor control and sold out all day tickets on public holidays; the 2025 notice lists the mini-program and Douyin for online sales and windows at the visitor centres and gates.
• Paper tickets were abolished for the day visit in a January notice reprinted by Jinglv Net: visitors enter with a valid ID card or passport after booking.
• Last admission: Not published
• Time to allow: 3–4 hr (longer with plank-road queues)
• Getting there: Train to Leshan station, then bus 3 or taxi
• Show a taxi driver: 乐山大佛景区北游客中心，乐山市市中区凌云路2435号
• Individual visitors use the six lanes at the north gate; groups, including overseas groups, use two separate lanes at the north-west gate.
• The Chengdu-to-Leshan rail time is traveller-reported (a February 2026 blog post and a 2026 Trip.com post); check the railway timetable.
• At Leshan railway station (not the scenic area), a February 2026 blogger found one line at each ticket gate for non-Chinese nationals, to the left when queuing for the train.
• Foreign visitors: Passport lane, foreign cards, 7-language audio guides

Not found yet

• lastAdmission: The operator notices give no last-entry time for the day visit; they only give opening and closing times. (searched: operator notice reprints, news, Chinese web search)
• transport.fromCenter.minutes: No operator door-to-door time was found. The rail leg is about 50–60 minutes (two 2026 posts) plus the metro to Chengdu East and bus 3 (30–45 minutes), but no operator timetable states a total. (searched: English blogs, transport aggregators, Chinese web search)
• foreignVisitors.foreignPhone: No source says whether an overseas phone number can register the Dafo Lvyou mini-program or Douyin; the notices cover passports at the gate only. (searched: operator notices, blog and Trip.com Moments, reddit)

Traveler tips

• Enter by the manual lane. After you book, foreign visitors enter with their passport or residence permit through the staffed manual check lane instead of the face-recognition lanes. Your passport can serve as both your rail ticket and your scenic-area ticket. Caveat: The passport serving as both rail ticket and scenic-area ticket is one February 2026 blogger's experience. The operator notices do not say which booking channel accepts a passport number; the blogger does not describe how the booking was made. source
• Holiday tickets sell out. Day-visit tickets can sell out completely on public holidays; the committee has told visitors to try other options and warned against buying from scalpers or agents after a sell-out. Book the mini-program ticket early for holiday dates. Caveat: Sell-out dates differ from year to year; the October 2026 figures are listed under recent notices. A February 2026 visitor (Cici) says car and boat tickets can sell out at the May Day, October, summer and Spring Festival peaks. Two promotional guides from September 2026 advise booking the mini-program 1–3 days ahead and say few walk-up tickets remain on holidays. source
• Choose between the climb and the boat. The ¥80 mountain ticket gets you to the Buddha's head and down the cliff-side stairs to its feet. The separate ¥70 boat ticket shows the whole figure from the river in about 30–40 minutes. Visitors recommend doing both. The boat may be delayed or suspended by high water or bad weather. Caveat: Boat and mountain tickets are separate products; the two tickets total ¥150. A Trip.com traveller also recommends doing both, mountain first. Reddit (November 2025): a repeat visitor says to walk the full path from the top down to the Buddha's feet, or the reverse, to feel its size, and to take the boat pass to photograph the whole figure from the river. The boat boards at the Wuyou Temple wharf and the upper deck has the best view (Lin, October 2025); Lin and 汐宝妈妈 (June 2026) put the trip at about 30 minutes, and 汐宝妈妈 says a boat view is far and loses the details of the carving. (5 travelers) source
• Train to Leshan station, then bus 3. Buy a rail ticket to Leshan (乐山) station, not Jiajiang (夹江) station: Jiajiang is about 30 km from the city and was called Leshan North until late 2024, so older guides and some posts still use that name. From Leshan station follow the signs to the bus terminal about five minutes away and take bus 3 to the scenic area: ¥2 and 30–45 minutes. A taxi to the north gate takes about 25 minutes and costs ¥18–30. Carry some cash, because a transit code from another city may not work in Leshan. Caveat: The bus and cash details come from one February 2026 blogger, whose Chengdu transit code in Alipay did not work in Leshan; this may not apply to every account, and fares and bus numbers change. A July 2026 post (铁子快跑) takes K1 or 3 from the bus station beside the railway station, also ¥2, getting off at Guichengshan stop and walking downhill to the north gate. The Trip.com post still warns about Leshan North and says it is 40 km from the Buddha; the news report puts the station 30 km from the urban district and confirms the rename. (3 travelers) source
• In-park shuttle between centres. An in-park shuttle runs between the South and North Visitor Centres with stops at Baxian Cave, the North Gate, the East Gate, Huahuwan, Dongfang Fodu and the South Gate. It costs ¥10 a ride or ¥15 for an all-day pass. Caveat: Prices come from the 2025 winter notice; the blogger paid ¥15 for the day pass in February 2026. source
• Individuals use the north gate lanes. Individual visitors enter through the six lanes at the north gate; groups, including overseas groups, have two separate lanes at the north-west gate. If you are on a tour, expect to be sent to the group lanes. Caveat: This rule comes from a January notice reprinted by Jinglv Net (2025); lane assignments can change, so check signs at the gate. The scenic area has also opened a one-month advance sale channel for overseas tour groups, with a dedicated ticket lane and a welcome ceremony (中新网四川); independent visitors cannot use it. These are news summaries and do not describe the group booking process or the lane signage. source
• Which path reaches the feet. The route to the foot platform depends on plank-road work. The operator's latest statement on the Nine-Bend Plank Road (October 2025) says it was closed for maintenance and visitors used the Lingyun plank road; no reopening notice is known. A visitor in April 2026 went down to the foot platform through the Suoluo Valley (桫椤沟) channel, and a news report on 2 October 2026 describes visitors going down the same way. Ask staff at the gate which path is open. Caveat: The status from November 2026 onward is unknown, and the 2025 notice and the 2026 reports describe different routes. In April 2026 喵歪呜 found the Nine-Bend Plank Road closed for maintenance and the Lingyun plank road also closed; the Suoluo Valley queue took about 30 minutes on a drizzly Sunday morning. Posts from 28 May (无山雪吖), 12 June (汐宝妈妈) and 18 July 2026 (铁子快跑) describe walking down the Nine-Bend Plank Road (217 steps); none says when its author visited, and the first two give the same 217-step figure. The only dated closure statements are the October 2025 operator notice and the April 2026 post; no operator reopening notice is known. One October 2025 post (最爱喝兽奶) adds that the plank roads can close in rain._ (4 travelers) source
• Arrive at opening. The scenic area opens at 07:30 in summer and 08:00 from the winter switch. Tour groups arrive after about 09:00, and the wait for the path down to the Buddha's feet ranges from about 30 minutes on a quiet morning to two hours or more when groups arrive. On public holidays the queue for the feet can run to several hours. Caveat: The Trip.com post wrongly says the park opens at 08:30. Reported waits: about 45 minutes after joining the line at 08:40 (Cici, February 2026 post), about 30 minutes at 10:55 on a drizzly April Sunday (喵歪呜), at least two hours after 09:00 (Smith Ethan#2, August 2026) and about 40 minutes in peak season (最爱喝兽奶). Visual_Jello_6355 (July 2026) waited about four hours on a public holiday._ (5 travelers) source
• Night tours are separate tickets. Night products need their own tickets: the Lingyun Mountain night walk (adult ¥80) and a three-river night boat (¥138, departures at 19:30 and 20:30). The Buddha's feet are not open at night. The Lingyun Mountain night tour was operating again by mid-September 2026 and is named as an option in the October 2026 notices. Caveat: Prices and times come from the 2025 winter notice. The Lingyun Mountain night tour was suspended for equipment maintenance in March 2026; the operator's 16 September 2026 notice points night visitors to it again. source
• Foreign-visitor help on site. The scenic area has AI translation devices at the North and South Visitor Centres, self-service audio guides in seven languages including English, and foreign-card POS machines. Two one-stop service stations for foreign visitors do passport scan verification, said to take under 10 seconds. Caveat: The details come from a November 2025 news report on the scenic area's own figures; the service stations' opening hours and the languages on signage are not published there. source
• Winter hours begin on 8 October. From 8 October the day visit runs 08:00–17:30 instead of 07:30–18:30, and the boat runs 08:00–17:00 with rolling departures that depend on water level. Plan your return train with that earlier close in mind. Caveat: The 2026 summer notice ends on 7 October; the winter times come from the 2025 notice and may differ in 2026. source
• If tickets sell out, use free areas. When the day visit is sold out, the management committee points visitors to the night tour, the digital cinema and free areas: Wuyou Temple, the Mahao Cliff Tombs and the Giant Buddha Cultural Plaza. Some English guides say the ¥80 ticket covers Wuyou Temple and the Mahao tombs; the committee's own wording calls them free. Caveat: The notices name the free areas but do not give their opening hours; check at the gate whether any inner hall charges separately. source
• Head for the North Gate. Set your taxi or map destination to the Leshan Giant Buddha North Gate ticket check (乐山大佛北门检票口); the Hongyuan Hotel (宏源酒店, Lingyun Road branch) is a handy landmark 2–3 minutes from the gate. A taxi from Leshan station to the north gate takes about 25 minutes and costs around ¥18. Drivers can park at car park No. 6 (6号停车场) for ¥20 and walk about 10 minutes to the ticket gates. Do not navigate to the South Gate, which adds a long walk. Caveat: The ¥18 fare and 26 minutes come from one September 2026 post. The "2 km extra" for the South Gate comes from 汐宝妈妈 (June 2026); Cici (February 2026) entered by the north gate and left by the south gate on a short visit. The hotel appears as 宏源酒店 or 宏源宾馆 in different posts; parking fees are from posts in October 2025 and June 2026. (5 travelers) source
• One-way loop, North to East Gate. A common route walks from the North Gate past Lingyun Temple (凌云寺) to the Buddha's head viewing platform (佛头), goes down to the foot platform, and leaves by the East Gate; allow about 2 hours without long queues. Visitors with energy left continue from the foot platform to the Mahao Cliff Tombs (麻浩崖墓) and Wuyou Temple (乌尤寺), and leave by the west or south side, adding another 1.5 to 2 hours. At the East Gate you can cross the road to the hotel and pick up a taxi. Caveat: Posts name the way down differently (Nine-Bend Plank Road, Lingyun plank road or Suoluo Valley); see the tip on which path is open. 喵歪呜 walked from the foot platform to the Mahao tombs (about 12:00) and Wuyou Temple (a 30-minute climb), leaving from the west side at 13:25. The committee describes the tombs and Wuyou Temple as free areas, while some posts treat them as part of the ¥80 visit. (4 travelers) source

Sources

• Sichuan Fabu via Guangming Online (四川发布) (published 2026-03-30)
• Jimu News / Leshan Fabu, reproducing the Leshan Giant Buddha scenic-area notice (published 2025-10-08)
• Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area (official Sohu account 乐山大佛景区) (published 2025-04-28)
• Jinglv Net (劲旅网)
• China News Service Sichuan (中新网四川) (published 2025-11-11)
• Red Star News / Chengdu Quansou (QQ News), quoting the Leshan Giant Buddha management committee (published 2026-10-02)
• Ifeng Dafenghao (published 2026-10-04)
• Leshan Media Centre via Ifeng Dafenghao (published 2026-10-04)
• Sohu (川渝本地消息), reprinting a notice of Leshan Giant Buddha Tourism Co. (published 2026-09-17)
• Leshan Giant Buddha management committee via Leshan municipal government website (published 2026-10-08)
• Sichuan Economic Net (四川经济网) (published 2024-11-20)
• Patrick O'Hearn (Nuance Matters) (published 2026-02-19)
• Smith Ethan#2 (published 2026-08-28)
• Visual_Jello_6355 (published 2026-07-14)
• Alternative_Week3023 (published 2026-10-03)
• trainerkittyk (published 2025-11-01)
• 最爱喝兽奶_ (published 2025-10-03)
• 无山雪吖 (published 2026-05-28)
• 铁子快跑 (published 2026-07-18)
• 喵歪呜 (published 2026-04-12)
• 汐宝妈妈 (published 2026-06-12)
• Lin (published 2025-10-14)
• 遛娃日志 (published 2026-09-28)
• Cici (published 2026-02-20)
• 东逝水 (published 2026-03-21)
• 乐小漫 (published 2026-09-20)
• 蜀人行讲解 (published 2026-09-02)

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