Shaolin, Kungfu

Our intention was to get up early so we could benefit from an entire day in Shaolin and be back in time to catch our mid-night train to Xi’an for the Terracotta Warriors. We ate a breakfast of dumplings, and green bean soup together before boarding the bus. The Malaysian woman was travelling China and had many stories about her adventures around the world, we were also joined by a student from Xi’an who was going to the town of Dengfeng (a town close to Shaolin) to take an exam (a kung fu exam?- we did not ask). The bus to Shaolin was a memorable experience. Instead of taking just one hour the journey lasted close to three as the bus driver thought it would be quicker to take a dirt road rather than
the express highway direct to Shaolin. Along the road there was an epic traffic jam on a scale only imaginable in China. Finally we arrived at Shaolin, two hours after we expected (but still early nonetheless). An entire complex of shops, boutiques, restaurants and the works met us as we headed for the entrance to Shaolin. There were dozens of Chinese tour groups, and a handful of foreigners but the entire sight of the Shaolin tourist area was large enough so it did not feel too crowded. Despite Shaolin being the birthplace of both Zen Buddhism and Chinese Kung Fu its significance has been overshadowed by its commercial appeal to
tourists and fans of Kung fu movies. I was not that disappointed as I expected there to be many tourists and for the entire sight to be commercialized as I had read about it before, and it is just the reality of contemporary China. My room mate had the immense patience to take many pictures of me doing kung fu movements and poses in front of the iconic architecture and scenery of Shaolin. This aroused the attention of some of the Chinese tourists some of which wanted me to take photos with them. For me visiting to Shaolin was like stepping into a dream, a kung fu dream although I was dishearted not to have seen any real monks, except those wearing monks costumes selling crap outside the temple. I was also very excited to see the famous kung fu schools next to the temple and was lucky enough to witness a massive rehearsal for a martial arts performance featuring hundreds of young students. The temple itself was smaller than I expected but I was glad to see that it had been restored and kept clean. The pagoda forest was very cool and I took many photos here. Luoyang is really a very good place to visit.