Leshan History & Culture

In 1734, the 12th year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty, Leshan County was established within Jiading Prefecture. Leshan is a major industrial city in Sichuan, a central city in the southern part of the Chengdu Economic Zone, a key hub, and a crucial transportation hub and port city within the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration. The Chengdu-Kunming Railway, the Chengdu-Mianyang-Leshan Intercity Railway, and the Chengdu-Guiyang High-Speed Railway run through the city. Three rivers converge in Leshan: the Dadu River and the Qingyi River merge into the Min River at the foot of the Leshan Giant Buddha. Leshan is a National Historical and Cultural City, known as the "Land of Fragrant Begonias." It is one of the first cities to open to the outside world, a National Model City for Greening, an Excellent Chinese Tourist City, a National Garden City, a National Sanitary City, and the only city in China cooperating with the United Nations Urban Management Center. Leshan boasts three World Heritage sites: Mount Emei and the Leshan Giant Buddha, both World Natural and Cultural Heritage sites, and the Dongfeng Weir, a World Heritage Site for irrigation engineering. It has also been designated a National Intellectual Property Pilot City, been selected as a National Model City (County) for the "Double Support" initiative, and is included in the planning scope of the Bashu Cultural Tourism Corridor.