Day 20: The Gaze of the Giant and the River Mists of Leshan 🇨🇳⛰️ March 11, 2026 Not far from relaxed Chengdu lies a place that once again makes you feel like a grain of sand in the face of history. Today's destination was Leshan — a city where a giant stone Maitreya Buddha is carved right into a red cliff at the confluence of three turbulent rivers. It is the largest statue of its kind in the world, and its scale simply defies comprehension. First, I walked down the narrow steps carved into the rock itself, leading from top to bottom, right alongside the statue. Descending this steep, winding staircase along with a crowd of other pilgrims and tourists is quite a challenge, but it's totally worth it! When you stand at the very base and look up at the serene 71-meter face, you are overcome with incredible awe. Just imagine the scale: a small group of people could easily sit on just one of this monument's toenails! But the most interesting adventure happened a bit later when I decided to look at the Buddha from the water and boarded a small excursion boat. Due to the strong current at the confluence of the rivers, the deck was rocking quite a bit. Next to me stood a group of cheerful Chinese retirees who were trying their hardest to take a classic tourist photo with an optical illusion — so that in the picture it would look like they were "patting" the giant Buddha on the head or holding him in the palm of their hand. Because of the boat's rocking, they just couldn't catch the right angle, and they were arguing with each other in a very funny and emotional way. I couldn't resist and decided to come to the rescue: I offered through gestures to be their photographer. I had to crouch down to compensate for the rocking and stabilize the frame, and then direct the process, showing them where they needed to move their hands. When we finally caught that perfect shot, their delight knew no bounds! As a token of gratitude, they shook my hand for a long time, and one of the grandpas proudly showed me photos of his grandchildren on his smartphone. It was yet another warm proof that a sincere smile and a little involvement work better than any dictionary.