Dazu
district of Chongqing, China
Dazu District (大足区) is in the western part of Chongqing Municipality, China, approximately 55 kilometers from Chongqing's central urban area and 155 kilometers from Chengdu, positioning it within the strategic hinterland of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone. Dazu was established in 758 AD during the first year of the Qianyuan period in the Tang Dynasty, with its name symbolizing "abundance and prosperity." The district covers an area of 1,436 square kilometers and administers 6 subdistricts and 21 towns, with a total population of 1.07 million. It is home to the famous Dazu Rock Carvings (大足石刻), which are designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Get in
By plane
Travellers arriving at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in Yubei District have several options for getting to Dazu:
- Bus: Seven buses to Dazu depart daily from the coach station located between Terminal 2A and Terminal 2B.
- Train: Chongqing Metro Line 3 connects the airport to Chongqing North Station, where you can catch a high speed train to Dazu South Station.
- Taxi：The distance from Jiangbei International Airport to Dazu City is approximately 100 kilometers, and the journey usually takes around 1.5 hours by car. The estimated taxi fare ranges from RMB 250 to RMB 350, including highway tolls. After reaching Dazu City, you can take Bus No. 205 from the Dazu District Bus Terminal directly to the Baodingshan Rock Carvings Scenic Area. The bus fare is approximately RMB 6, and the travel time is around 30 to 40 minutes.
By train
- 🌍 Dazu South Station (大足南站), Chongqing-Kunming Expressway, Youting Town (The train station is linked to Dazu Bus Station and Dazu Passenger Transport Center via public bus routes 204 and 206 respectively). This station is located on the Chengdu-Chongqing high-speed railway line, with eight daily trains departing from downtown Chongqing to this station. Specifically, five high-speed trains depart from Chongqing West Railway Station, taking approximately 26 to 33 minutes, with ticket prices set at RMB 40 for second class, RMB 64 for first class, and RMB 131 for business class. One high-speed train departs from Chongqing North Railway Station, taking around 37 minutes, with ticket prices at RMB 49 for second class, RMB 77 for first class, and RMB 87 for business class. Two high-speed trains depart from Chongqing Shapingba Railway Station, taking approximately 34 minutes, with ticket prices at RMB 39 for second class, RMB 62 for first class, and RMB 125 for business class. For exact ticket prices, please refer to the China Railway 12306 app.
There are eight high-speed trains departing from Chengdu to Dazu South Station every day, all departing from Chengdu East Station. The travel time ranges from approximately 55 to 73 minutes. Ticket prices are RMB 108 for second class, RMB 172 for first class, and RMB 323 for business class (please refer to the China Railway 12306 app for the exact pricing). It should be noted that Dazu South Station is located outside the main urban area of Dazu, approximately 37 kilometers away from the Dazu Rock Carvings, making it farther than the local bus station. As a result, many people still prefer to take a bus to reach Dazu. (updated Jul 2018)
By bus
Dazu is located about one and half to two hours west of central Chongqing and about three to three and a half hours south-east of Chengdu and can be reached via the bus station in either city. The fare is ¥43 from the Caiyuanba (菜园坝) bus station in Chongqing and ¥89 from the East Railway Station Bus Station (东站汽车站) in Chengdu.
In Dazu‘s main urban area, there are two bus stations with buses to many of the sites:
- 🌍 Dazu Bus Station (大足汽车站), 218 Shuangta Road, Longgang Subdistrict (At the Huannan Road (环南路) intersection), ☏ +86 23 43722038. Colloquially known as 'the old station' (老站). (updated Jul 2018)
- 🌍 Dazu Passenger Transport Center (大足客运中心站), 15 Longzhong Road, Longgang Subdistrict (About 900m east of the old station and a short distance north of Leiqishan Bridge (擂旗山桥)), ☏ +86 23 43737620. Colloquially known as 'the new station' (新站). (updated Jul 2018)
Bus route 205 links the old station to the new station.
Get around
Transportation options within Dazu include taxis, buses, motorcycle taxis, pedal-taxis, shared bicycles, and three-wheeled vehicles called sanlunche (三轮车).The taxi fare in Dazu District is as follows: during the daytime (6:00 AM to 9:59 PM), the starting fare is RMB 5, and each additional 0.5 kilometers after the initial 2 kilometers is charged at RMB 1.2. At night (10:00 PM to 5:59 AM), the starting fare is RMB 6, and each additional 0.5 kilometers is charged alternately at RMB 1.4 and RMB 1.3.
As noted above, there are two bus stations in Dazu's urban area. The newer bus station at 15 Longzhong Road is the one that services the local area, including the rock carvings.
Numerous travel agencies in Dazu District, central Chongqing and Chengdu offer tours to the carvings that will take the hassle out of travel, but at a cost.
See
- 🌍 Dazu Rock Carvings Visitor Center (大足石刻游客中心), ☏ +86 023-43785531, cqtpy@126.com. 8:30AM-4:30PM, no tickets sold after 4:10PM. The Dazu Rock Carvings comprise 5 locations in Dazu District, Chongqing Municipality: Beishan, Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shizhuanshan, and Shimenshan. The ticket prices for the Dazu Rock Carvings are categorized into single tickets and combination tickets.For combination tickets, the A-type package includes Baodingshan Rock Carvings + Digital Movie + Baodingshan Rock Carvings Scenic Area transportation (round-trip), with the peak season price set at 170 RMB for a full-price ticket and 120 RMB for a half-price ticket, while the off-season price is 165 RMB for a full-price ticket and 115 RMB for a half-price ticket. The B-type package includes Baodingshan Rock Carvings + Baodingshan Rock Carvings Scenic Area transportation (round-trip), with the peak season price at 130 RMB for a full-price ticket and 75 RMB for a half-price ticket, and the off-season price at 115 RMB for a full-price ticket and 70 RMB for a half-price ticket. The C-type package includes Baodingshan and Beishan Rock Carvings + Digital Movie + Baodingshan Rock Carvings Scenic Area transportation (round-trip), priced at 190 RMB for a full-price ticket and 130 RMB for a half-price ticket during the peak season, and 180 RMB for a full-price ticket and 125 RMB for a half-price ticket during the off-season. The D-type package includes Baodingshan and Beishan Rock Carvings + Baodingshan Rock Carvings Scenic Area transportation (round-trip), with the peak season price at 150 RMB for a full-price ticket and 85 RMB for a half-price ticket, and the off-season price at 130 RMB for a full-price ticket and 75 RMB for a half-price ticket.The peak season prices are effective from March 1 to November 30 each year, while the off-season prices are effective from December 1 to February 28/29 of the following year.. (updated Oct 2024)
- 🌍 Baodingshan Rock Carvings Site (宝顶山石刻景区) (To reach the site,take bus No. 205 from the public bus stop located outside either of the main bus stations in Dazu. The ticket price is ¥3, and the travel time ranges from 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the number of stops for passenger pick-up and drop-off along the route. The bus will drop you off at the Dazu Rock Carvings Visitor Center. From there, it is a 30-minute walk to the carvings, or a 5-minute walk to reach the tour carts, which can take you to and from the caves. The carvings are visible from the valley below.), toll-free: +86-023-43785774. 9:00AM-6:00PM, no tickets sold after 4:00PM. Baodingshan Rock Carvings is located 15 kilometers northeast of Longgang Town in Dazu County, with an elevation of 527.83 meters. The cliffside carvings at Baodingshan Rock Carvings began during the Southern Song Dynasty and cover an area of 2.5 kilometers, featuring numerous Buddha statues carved into the surrounding rock formations. These carvings include the main sites of Dafowan and Xiaofowan, centered around the Shengshou Temple, and are distributed across the eastern, southern, and northern faces of the mountain. There are over 360 large-scale carvings, among which the most notable are the Six Realms of Reincarnation, the Grand Treasure Pavilion, the Huayan Trinity, and the Thousand-Hand Guanyin. The Shengshou Temple, an ancient Buddhist temple in eastern Sichuan, is located at Dafowan of Baoding Mountain and was established during the Southern Song Dynasty. The ticket price for Baodingshan Rock Carvings (including Shengshou Temple) during the peak season is 115 RMB for a full-price ticket and 55 RMB for a half-price ticket, while the price during the off-season is 100 RMB for a full-price ticket and 50 RMB for a half-price ticket. The round-trip ticket price for the Baodingshan Rock Carvings Scenic Area transportation (including tourist buses and sightseeing vehicles) is 22 RMB, and the one-way ticket price is 12 RMB (children aged 6 and under are free of charge).. (updated Oct 2024)
- 🌍 Beishan Rock Carvings Site (北山石刻景区), Beishan Rd (The site can be reached by taxi or a thirty minute walk north from either of the main bus stations.). This is the second most popular rock carvings site. It is about 2 kilometers or just over a mile north of the city. It includes a pagoda and several intact statues. (updated Jul 2018)
- 🌍 Nanshan Rock Carvings (南山石刻). 09:00-17:00. Smaller, less-popular zone of carvings a 2km walk south from the Dazu bus station. ¥5. (updated Feb 2019)
- 🌍 Shimenshan Rock Carvings (石门山石刻) (There are some local bus routes in this general area, but you're probably better off hiring a taxi or a motorcycle taxi). 16 caves in a ~70m-wide cliff face, 20km from Dazu. Tourists are rare enough at this site that you may need to find the administrator to unlock it for you. ¥5. (updated Feb 2019)
- 🌍 Shizhuanshan Rock Carvings (石篆山石刻) (Hire a taxi or a motorcycle taxi). This area, 25km southwest of Dazu, combines Taoist, Buddhist, and also Confucian imagery. Its caves and carvings are scattered over a wider area (including Mother and Child Temple 母子殿 and Thousand Buddha Rock 千佛岩, 1.5km apart) and it is the most difficult of the five sites to find. It is unclear whether it is formally open to the public yet, but you may be able to negotiate your way in. (updated Feb 2019)
- 🌍 Dazu Rock Carvings Museum (大足石刻博物馆), 7 Beishan Rd, Dazu District, Chongqing, China (Bus route 205; one stop after the Baodingshan parking lot), ☏ +86-023-43734666. 8:30AM-6:00PM. The Art Museum of Dazu Rock Carvings, a national first-class museum in China, primarily exhibits the Beishan Grottoes, Baodingshan Grottoes, Shimenshan Grottoes, and Nanshan Grottoes. As of the end of 2019, the museum's collection included a total of 614 items/sets. The museum adopts an open layout, with most artifacts displayed without protective glass covers. Among these directly exhibited artifacts, more than 400 are original cultural relics. The museum is closed on Mondays, so visitors are advised not to plan their visit on this day. 0. (updated Jul 2018)
- 🌍 Located just outside of Dazu's urban center, one minute down the road towards Baoding Shan, is an interesting old estate called Loquat Country Villa (枇杷山庄) (Unfortunately as of 2006 the buildings were closed for tourists, but the front gate is open and you enter and wander around. Beware of the growling dogs that patrol the grounds!).
- 🌍 Guangda Temple (广大寺) (Go left for 300 meters after arriving at the Dazu Rock Carvings Museum.). Guangda Temple, originally constructed during the Song Dynasty, is a prominent part of the Dazu Rock Carvings, renowned for its detailed sculptures and artistic significance. The temple offers a glimpse into ancient Chinese Buddhist art and provides valuable insights into religious and cultural practices, making it a compelling site for historical and cultural exploration. 0CNY. (updated Oct 2024)
- 🌍 Shengshou Temple (圣寿寺) (Just to the right of the Baodingshan Rock Carvings Site). 9:00AM-18:00PM. Shengshou Temple, part of the Dazu Rock Carvings complex, was constructed in the Southern Song Dynasty and serves as the religious center of the Baoding Mountain carvings. It is known for its detailed carvings that blend Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist elements, reflecting the unique cultural integration of the period. The temple’s sculptures, such as the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, showcase exceptional craftsmanship and artistry.This location allows visitors to express their wishes or prayers according to local traditions. You are welcome to make a wish here if desired. (updated Oct 2024)
- 🌍 Dazu Rock Carvings Digital Cinema (大足石刻数字影院), X406, Dazu District, Chongqing (Arrive at Dazu Bus Station - Bus 205/Taxi - Dazu Rock Carvings Visitor Center), ☏ +86(023)43766699. 9:30AM-3:10PM. The Dazu Rock Carvings Digital Cinema covers an area of approximately 433 mu (about 28.87 hectares) with a main building area of around 16,000 square meters. It includes a tourism service area, digital cinemas, and a cultural exhibition area. The center features an 8K dome-screen cinema and a 4K wide-screen cinema, each accommodating up to 300 viewers. The 8K dome-screen cinema covers an area of about 1,300 square meters, while the 4K cinema covers about 790 square meters. Both cinemas are equipped with Dolby Atmos technology, providing an enhanced audiovisual experience. The 4K film The World of Dazu narrates the founding and historical evolution of the Dazu Rock Carvings. The 8K dome-screen film Dazu Rock Carvings combines live-action shooting with CG animation to showcase the artistic value of the rock carvings. These two films, serving as complementary parts of the same work, are screened throughout the day and have become an integral part of the Dazu Rock Carvings tour. （Screening Schedule: 7 shows every day, respectively at 9:30, 10:20, 11:10, 12:00, 13:30, 14:20, 15:10） 80CNY. (updated Oct 2024)
Do
Dazu is an average semi-urban district of around a million people and at first sight, it may appear that there isn't much to see or do within the area besides going there to view the famous rock carvings. But in fact, that isn't quite true.
One interesting option would be to bike around the verdant farm lands. No rentals are available so bring your own bike. The route to the most impressive carvings located at Baodingshan (宝顶山) is rather scenic and could offer a potential biking destination. It does however require biking up several long steep stretches and Chinese drivers are notoriously dangerous. Wear bright colors and leave early if you choose this option!
Several internet bars are located in Dazu, including on Longzhong Road near Dazu Binguan and Jinyuan Luguan.
- 🌍 Longshui Lake Tourist Resort (龙水湖旅游度假区), Yulong Town (Take a long-distance coach to Longshui Bus Station (龙水汽车站), then take bus no 208 and get off at the Longshui Hot Springs Center (龙水温泉中心) bus stop. You may also catch bus 208 from outside Dazu Bus Station), ☏ +86 23 85311666. This is Dazu's second biggest tourist attraction after the Dazu Rock Carvings. Situated on the northern side of Longshui Lake (actually a man-made reservoir), the resort features numerous hot springs and a water-based amusement park. You can also go on boat rides on the lake or try out a military style obstacle course that runs through a forested area. ¥138 for entry to the amusement park, ¥50 for tour boat ride, ¥70 for sailboat ride, ¥60 to use the obstacle course. (updated Jul 2018)
Buy
There are plenty of opportunities to buy trinkets within urban Dazu and at many of the cave sites. One local specialty to look for is purple stone jadite, which is carved into a variety of trinkets, from pendants for ¥10 to large statues running into the thousands of yuan.
Eat
There are numerous restaurants located within the area. The buffet breakfasts at Dazu Bingguan are a good deal at ¥15. Dazu is located in China's spice bowl and famous spicy hotpot is widely available for those who wish to test their intestinal fortitude.
A minimarket is located next to the Longzhong Road bus station and every block has a couple of stores selling food.
Drink
Cold beer is plentiful in restaurants throughout Dazu and water and soft drinks are readily available at the rock carving sites. Anything near the site will be price inflated as expected.
Sleep
Numerous hotels are located in Dazu's urban area and around Baodingshan, though not all will accept foreigners.
- Dazu Bingquan (大足 兵馆) is the most decent option available. Located on the corner of Longzhong Road (龙中路) and Longgang Road (龙岗路) the hotel is a large complex of several buildings and dozens of rooms. The rates listed on the wall start at over ¥300 per, but the actual price after negotiating starts at ¥180, for a clean twin with air conditioning, to well above ¥300. The telephone number is 02343721888 and the fax number is 023-43722967.
- Another option is the family run Jinyuan Luguan (金原 旅官) located at 55 Longzhong Road (龙中路). A clean single with airconditioning starts at ¥120. Unfortunately the sign outside the hotel is only in Chinese and the staff doesn't speak English.
- Rooms are also available at the Beishan Bingguan located at the Beishan rock carvings. Rooms start at ¥150.