SHAOLIN TEMPLE

My plan after Pingyao was to make my way towards Shanghai - from an ancient walled-city to a modern metropolis!  After discovering that the train ride was going to be awfully long, I decided to break up the voyage with a two day layover in the city of Zhengzhou. From there I could take a day trip into the surrounding mountains and visit one of China's most famous Zen Buddhist temples and the birthplace of Shaolin kung fu - the legendary Shaolin Temple! I don't know how many kung fu movies I've watched in my life, but it's enough that I started to feel really excited about this added detour. The train to Zhengzhou got me in a little after dark and spat me out into a city of two million, surrounded by tall buildings, neon lights, and not a lick of English. I eventually found the cheap little hotel that was listed in the guidebook even though I couldn't read any of the signs, but was turned away at the front desk when they handed me a worn piece of paper announcing that they didn't accept foreigners anymore because their hotel rating was too low. Interesting. I wandered back into the square and spun a few circles. Feeling lost and totally out of my element, I found myself being drawn to the one thing in sight that looked familiar, the ubiquitous golden arches! I could see at least three different McDonald's from where I was standing, so I caved in, bought a chicken sandwich, and reevaluated my situation. I ended up finding a place close by that was a little more than I'd like to pay, but at that point I just wanted to put down my bag and get comfortable. 

The next morning I went to the bus station to buy a ticket to the Shaolin Temple. Since there was no English anywhere and probably twenty ticket windows, I just went up to the one with the shortest line and said "Shaolin Temp-oh". I know that 'temp-oh' is not 'temple' in Chinese, but that's how I'd heard Chinese people say 'temple' in English. I learned this technique when I was living in Thailand. There was a big mall down the road from my apartment called Future Park - that was it's name, it was in English. But whenever I would jump into a taxi and head to the mall, no matter how many times I said 'Future Park' in perfect English, the taxi driver wouldn't have a clue as to what I was saying until I pronounced it 'Fyoo-cha Pahhk'. Anyways, I managed to get a bus ticket to the Shaolin Temple. I guess at the time I wasn't exactly sure if I had, but once I boarded the minibus and saw that they were playing Lord of the Wu Tang starring Jet Li on the little TV in the front, I was pretty sure I was heading in the right direction. 

It was a two hour bus ride up into the mountains and on the way up I found myself surrounded by a group of Korean high school students who were studying in Beijing for the year. Feeling a little confused about exactly where I was going, the group of students and their teacher asked me if I wanted to join them for the day. Traveling solo is great, but it can also be lonely at times, obviously - so I was happy to accept the invitation and join the group. Our visit to the Shaolin Temple ended up being part of a big tour. Which isn't a bad thing, but normally I like to take my time exploring a place, wander about at my own speed, and perhaps try to snap some photos without feeling rushed. I managed to take a few pictures, but a lot of the time my new teacher friend would excitedly borrow my camera and have me pose for a picture with his students. It was fine. Anyway, it ends up that the Shaolin Temple has become something like a kung fu Disney Land. It's still an active temple, but it's popularity has transformed it into a moneymaker. Built up around the temple are a handful of martial arts academies, and the entire walk up to the temple was lined by fields and courtyards full of young kung fu students, fervently training. I could have easily stood around and watched all day, but instead we were rushed up and into an auditorium to take in a quick staged performance.  Much of the day was like this, dictated by a tour guide and pushed along in a muddle of tourists. There were a lot of things I missed out on, I didn't even make it to the Forest of Pagodas! But to be honest, I was distracted most of the time by my new companions. The students were great, kind and curious, and very much young teenagers. It was like smaller cultural experience within a larger one, a microcosm of Korean adolescence on a visit to one of China's most acclaimed temples.

We left the temple in late afternoon and returned to Zhengzhou, and once we got back into town they invited me out to dinner. I finally parted ways with the group around 10 o'clock, after a barrage of photos and a round of hugs. It had been a great day! My trip to the Shaolin Temple hadn't quite turned out as I'd expected, but to quote Paul Theroux, "I sought trains; I found passengers".