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Off-The-Beaten-Path: Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Even though I am usually on the normal tourist-tracks when I visit a new place, I also like to explore the lesser-known, less touristy places as much as I can. I like the fact that these off-the-beaten-path places offer different views, different vibes and very often, fewer crowd. The Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff in Sichuan is one such place I visited recently.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

The Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff (千佛岩) in Jiajiang county (夹江) Chengdu is a 2A rated attractions by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) based on the code “Categories and Rating Standard of Tourist Attractions” (1A being the lowest and 5A the highest or the best). There is very little information on the Cliff available on the internet which made it quite mysterious and the photographs I saw intrigued me. Even our driver didn’t really know how to get there exactly. We had to drive through some industrial park at some point.

When we finally reached the “front gate” we had to walk through a small village first.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

First signage of the Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

No Thousand Buddha Cliff in sight. Just keep walking

There’s no signage whatsoever so we just kept going straight. I had to ask a local which way it was – just in case.  I later got to know that the street inside the village linking to the Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff was where scholars gather in the ancient times.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Ancient Street

At the end of the street, we saw a gate / gantry. After passing through the gate, we saw the Qingyi river on the left, it was a pleasant sight.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Qingyi River

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

There are a couple of stone signs along the way which tried to provide short explanations of what the Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff is about. Apparently the statues on the rocks were carved by the Chinese commoners during the prosperous Tang Dynasty and there are more than 2,470 statues within 162 niches.  These carvings were dated earlier than the Leshan Giant Buddha.

After paying for our tickets at RMB5 each, we proceeded inside the park towards the Cliff.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Ticket office

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Road leading to the Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Entrance to Thousand Buddha Cliff

Once we stand beside the Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff, we were very impressed – statues and statues of Buddha carved inside the rock. Although many had missing heads, a lot are still intact. There’s a whole lot of variety of Buddha with varied postures and gorgeous colours. The workmanship was intricate and displayed the superior skills of the stone sculpture back in the ancient time.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

The biggest sculpture is a Buddha at about 2.7 metre tall. People still pray to some of these Buddha and there’s an old lady selling incense and joss-sticks at the Pavilion.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Biggest Buddha at the Thousand Buddha Cliff

After we prayed and burned some incense we walked on and came to a small wooden bridge erected right next to the cliff. Even along these cliffs, there are carvings, some of Buddhas and others ancient Chinese phrases.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

There is also a temple at the top of the mountain which we didn’t visit because it was getting late and dark.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Photo by: Celine Yeo

On our way back out, we saw one last sign bidding us farewell and reminded us of where we were and what we had just seen.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

We took more than an hour to walk around the whole place, which is about 600m long. We took our time to admire the carvings and surroundings. There were like 15 local (mainland Chinese) tourists the whole time we were there and we were the only foreigners!

The Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff was quiet and peaceful, a very welcomed change from the rest of China tourist sights. I also think that this is a beautiful place with some amazing history and stories waiting to be told. This attraction certainly has a lot more potential than what it is now and I hope more travellers will pay a visit before it becomes more popular and crowded. It is definitely one of my favourites.

Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

Also read about our visit to the Leshan Giant Buddha here. What are your favourite off-the-beaten-path attractions?

For other things to do in Chengdu, click here

26 thoughts on “Off-The-Beaten-Path: Jiajiang Thousand Buddha Cliff

  1. Pingback: Leshan Giant Buddha - Daytrip from Chengdu - Where's Dariel?

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  3. Eat Well Explore Often

    Its great to go on the off-beaten path sometimes and explore things without hoards of toursits everywhere! Great photos!

    1. Dariel Post author

      Not many people know about this place. I only came across it after some thorough research before our trip 🙂

  4. Anisa

    What a great find. I have not seen so many buddha carvings like that. I would love to see it in person to check out the details. I pinned it for later.

  5. MeganCheckers

    Love getting off the tourist path, it isn’t always easy but it’s usually worth it. I’m trying to plan a trip to China later this year, so I’ll have to bookmark this post.

    1. Dariel Post author

      That’s really true, especially in China where there’s people EVERYWHERE. My friends and I enjoyed ourselves thoroughly here 🙂

  6. Ketki

    Wow, seriously offbeat, peaceful and quiet. Never heard of this place before. The pathway is so amazing giving beautiful landscape views. Lovely read.

    1. Dariel Post author

      Thank you! 🙂 The place is not big but definitely worthwhile to take a walk and check out the carvings. Also to take some photos – my friends and I were goofing around since there’s was nobody else there.

  7. Marvi

    Such an interesting place to visit field with amazing history! The walk there seems pretty interesting too. It looks like there were few tourists visiting.

    1. Dariel Post author

      Very few tourists, maybe less than 10 in total excluding us so almost had the whole place to ourselves 🙂

  8. Bonita

    Such a beautiful place.I mostly like the buddha carvings and how peaceful the place is. This is next on my bucket list no doubt!

    1. Dariel Post author

      Couldn’t agree more – we could spend our own sweet time exploring the area and admiring the carvings.

  9. Steph

    My goodness! <3 What an incredible experience this must have been. Your photos are stunning 🙂 I haven't been to China yet but I will definitely try to make it here thanks to your post!

  10. BONNITA ALUOCH

    That is a lot carvings! I am like you because I love to visit places that most people overlook. The next question that always follows is where was this? Nice pictures as well!

    1. Dariel Post author

      This is in Jiajiang county, within Sichuan. Make it a day trip with the Leshan Giant Buddha which is about an hour’s drive away.

  11. Pingback: Leshan Giant Buddha - Daytrip from Chengdu - Where's Dariel? - Travel Blog

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