The first Bud­dhist tem­ple in Chi­na was built here in Sichuan Province in the 1st cen­tu­ry A.D. in the beau­ti­ful sur­round­ings of the sum­mit Mount Emei. The addi­tion of oth­er tem­ples turned the site into one of Buddhism‘s holi­est sites. Over the cen­turies, the cul­tur­al trea­sures grew in num­ber. The most remark­able is the Giant Bud­dha of Leshan, carved out of a hill­side in the 8th cen­tu­ry and look­ing down on the con­flu­ence of three rivers. At 71 m high, it is the largest Bud­dha in the world. Mount Emei is also notable for its excep­tion­al­ly diverse veg­e­ta­tion, rang­ing from sub­trop­i­cal to sub­alpine pine forests. Some of the trees there are more than 1,000 years old.