Shaolin Temple
Shen Deng county (Shaolin Temple area)- view from hotel
Shaolin Fighting Monks
12/25, Day 5: It turns out that no one trains at the temple. I’ve heard rumors about this but I guess I had to see it to understand it. Instead we went to a large martial arts school in the area. The students were all lined up along the entrance chanting and popping firecrackers. They all looked like high school students. The oldest student is 25. The students at this and other schools are called Fighting Monks. They are not Buddhist but are instead training to become cops or to try to get into movies. There are also real monks that I guess also did martial arts and were Buddhists. The fighting monks gave us a show- very wushu but still pretty impressive. Lots of weird stuff too like headsprings and breaking metal plates over heads. It wasn’t as real as they made it out to be though. The sticks they were using looked like they were drilled down the middle. Honestly although they were impressive I’ve seen Wushu competitors who are better than they were. After the show we got lessons. I went with the fighting group and got thrown around. It was kind of neat learning from them although we didn’t do any sort of exchange like Sifu had planned. It was much different than what he expected.
Forest of Pagodas
After lunch we went to a sword factory and then the Forest of Pagodas where the old Shaolin monks’ ashes are buried. It was very beautiful and peaceful. Again there was snow but the sun had come out. The taller the pagoda- the more important the monk. The tallest were 7 levels. I wished I could have stayed there more. The landscape was also beautiful- rocky mountains and open space like Albuquerque. A cute German Shepard with floppy ears begged for yams and marked his territory throughout the forest. On a hill above the forest was a giant Buddha statue representing Bodidarma- the monk from India that established the temple and sat staring at a rock for 9 years to reach enlightenment.
Shaolin Temple
After the forest we finally went to the real Shaolin Temple. It was much fancier than I expected and quite beautiful- many buildings in a courtyard area. The monks were adorable- one old guy in a puffy coat and old man hat with high broad cheekbones and a kind, happy face was carrying a can of coals. It was getting darker and cool and was also very peaceful. We were basically the only ones there except for a few other straggling tourists and the monks that lived and worked there. The area around the temple was a total tourist attraction. There was a street full of stores selling trinkets and weapons, and a little marketplace nearby that was mostly closed. We are very lucky to have gone in the winter even though it is cold because we are not fighting crowds. After the temple we take the bus to Louyang.
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