Grand Buddha at Ling Shan

Saturday April 5th was Qing Ming (aka...Tomb Sweeping Day) here in China but the holiday was observed on Monday, so Bill had the day off and we decided to take a ride to the next town west of us Wuxi to see the Grand Buddha.

The Grand Buddha at Ling Shan is one of the tallest Buddha's in China and stands at 88 meters (289 feet tall).

 It was quite a "foggy" day so you can barely see the Buddha from the front entrance gates.

 The Buddha is in a complex that is about 75 acres and also houses a temple, a palace and a Muda Madras!

 This is the 9 Dragons Bathing Sakyamuni which is

 According to the Buddhist sutras, Sakyamuni was born with the ability to speak and walk. A lotus grew and bloomed on every step he made when he walked seven steps in the four directions. He said ‘I’m the honored master of the world’ with one hand pointing to heaven and the other pointing to the earth. At that time, nine dragons appeared in the sky to bathe the Buddha with water.

Giving old Buddha a high 5!

 Here is a replica of his hand.

 This is a Ginko tree from the 7th century.

 Looking out from the top… Taihu Lake is in the distance but again it's "foggy".

 The Hall of 10,000 Buddhas.

 Buddha has big toe nails!

 A different view of the Ginko tree.

 The 9 Dragons Fountain open.

 Cherry Blossoms in bloom!

 Mudra Madras.

 Xingfu Temple