Dazu Rock Carvings and Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Dazu Rock Carvings

   Dazu is the place where a medieval Buddhist vision was carved on a human scale, and the surprise is how alive it still feels. Across the hills around the town in Chongqing, more than seventy sites hold carvings from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, made in the late Tang and Song dynasties, when a local community of monks, officials and lay believers turned the soft red sandstone into a theatre of faith. UNESCO recognised the group in 1999. Visitors usually see two main sites, Beishan and Baodingshan, and they make a pair.

   Read the complete Dazu Rock Carvings write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Dazu Rock Carvings is where the day begins. Next is Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings.

2. 2. Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings

   Shimenshan is one of the clusters of rock carvings around Dazu, in Chongqing, where sandstone cliffs were turned into sacred art between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. The Dazu Rock Carvings, a UNESCO listing since 1999, include several sites: Beishan with its small niches, Baodingshan with its sweeping Buddhist tableaux, and Shimenshan, Nanshan and Shizhuanshan, each with its own character. At Shimenshan the carvings, made in the Song dynasty, blend Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian figures, something rare at a single site.

   Read the complete Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings.

3. 3. Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings

   Of all the stone carvings in China, the ones at Baodingshan are the most surprising, because they are not tucked into a cave but laid out like a huge outdoor theatre in a horseshoe-shaped valley. This is the best-known part of the Dazu Rock Carvings, in the hills of Chongqing, about fifteen kilometres from the old county town, and it was largely the work of one monk, Zhao Zhifeng, who spent decades in the twelfth century turning a valley into a sermon in stone.

   Read the complete Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 46 km into the recorded legs you reach Baodingshan Cliffside Carvings. Next is back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings.

4. 4. back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Shimenshan Cliffside Carvings, late in the day. Next is Dazu Rock Carvings.

5. 5. Dazu Rock Carvings

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Dazu Rock Carvings write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Dazu Rock Carvings. That is the ride.