Dazu

Dazu  (大足) is a district in Chongqing Municipality, China. It is famous for the Dazu Rock Carvings (大足石刻), located in forty separate locations in Dazu District (大足区). They date from the 7th to the 13th century and are listed as an UNESCO World Heritage site.

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 connects the airport to Chongqing North Station, where you can catch a high speed train to Dazu South Station.
 * Taxi

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:



Bus route 205 links the old station to the new station.

Get around
Within Dazu transportation options include taxis, motorcycle taxis, pedal-taxis and three wheeled vehicles called sanlunche (三轮车). Taxis fares start at ¥3 and motorcycles, pedal rickshaw and sanlunche can ferry you around the area for ¥5-10.

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.

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.



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.

Go next

 * Chongqing
 * Chengdu