Just returned from a trip to the Dazu carvings. We were at the Beishan carvings on July 30, 2008 and then at the Baodingshan carvings the following day. We spent the night in Dazu City at the Dazu Hotel. We wanted to enjoy the sights in a leisurely manner.

First, my wife and I are over 60 and my wife is ethnic Chinese so we were given tickets at half price. This is so inconsistent across China that we usually ask for the half price as a general rule. The people at the sites were wonderful. We also showed our Experts Certificate as we teach at Southwest Jiaotong University in Emei City, Sichuan. Clearly a bonus!

These should be on everyone's list of places to visit while in Chongqing. The transportation is a cinch and, with the exception of a taxi driver wanting to take us to Beishan for 30 yuan instead of the normal fare of 5 yuan, the transportation is cheap.

As a magnificent bonus, we were honored as number one guests the night we stayed in Dazu City. We were roaming around the area as our custom to check out what the seniors do in China. Usually this is done at the local park area and that is where we ended up. Seems our luck was great as the city put on a marvelous Chinese show in celebration of something. It was absolutely wonderful and we were made to feel right at home. The most unusual performance was done by a group of students in the traditional dragon dance but this time they threw in a bunch of fish swimming along side the dragon. We were told that these kids had won a prize for their efforts in Beijing the month before.

Overall, this is a great tourist sight for Westerners. It was hot but not crowded and some really good tourist stuff available for those who like to bargain. It was the highlight of our Chongqing trip.