Sichuan hotels collection

The Min comes down from the Tibetan plateau, and at Dujiangyan a levee shaped like a fish's mouth splits it in two: one arm carries off the floods, the other has watered the Chengdu plain since the Warring States period. No wall blocks the river; the dykes were rebuilt with bamboo baskets filled with pebbles. At Leshan, it meets the Dadu at the feet of a Buddha cut into red sandstone, whose curls hide channels against the rain. At table, Sichuan pepper numbs the lips before the chilli burns them; this is called ma la.