Visiting the Shaolin Temple

Local hospitality

My former boss Ivan from many years ago married Cynthia from Zhengzhou. They had recently been here but have now returned to Auckland. Cynthia’s brother Yao and his wife Suen offered to take me out for the day. They had planned on taking me to Shaolin and Longmen but I did the latter yesterday.

They picked me up from the hotel around 0830 then collected Suen’s mother and nephew before heading to Shaolin Temple some 80km away. As part of the driving was within the metropolis of Zhengzhou, the ride took about 2 hours. Being Chinese hosts, I had no chance of buying my own ticket and or buying them lunch in return for their hospitality.

Shaolin Temple

Much of the Shaolin Temple was rebuilt in recent history due to war and fire. It is set against a backdrop of the Songshan mountains which are accessible by foot and cable car (seems too hot and hazy for me). The walkaround was assisted by a minibus in parts as we had an 70+ veteran with us, as an excuse. It took us through a series of temples which, to be honest, are like any other Chinese temple.

For something different, there was the Pagoda Forest which is a collection of 246 small pagodas, each with ashes of an eminent monk. The entire complex was pleasantly free from hawkers and touts. Drinking water fountains were readily available for free.

When lunch time approached, we were beckoned by a man to follow him uphill into a side road. We were put in a minivan and driven to the “middle of nowhere” of the Shaolin property where a diner operated, perhaps somewhat fly-by-night. Presumably this is a cheaper place than the official eatery for visitors.  The Chinese spirit of free enterprise knows no bounds.  It seemed strange though that meat was readily featured in the dishes despite being a Buddhist place.

After lunch we were returned to a spot off the main drag by minivan to continue our walk to the Shaolin monks’ performance. This appears to be a short 30 minute teaser so that they can sell you their DVD with 75 minutes of programming for CNY10. Having caught their world tour in Auckland, this show is a pale comparison but nevertheless briefly enjoyable.

I was dropped back to the hotel around 1700 amidst a cool change and sandstorm.  My hosts repeatedly offered dinner for which I politely declined. I felt that they had already been too hospitable; they had driven 4 hours for me, paid for everyone’s entrances, have probably been to Shaolin umpteenth times and also paid for lunch … all on their single day off for the week.

The 4h30 spent at Shaolin (including lunch) had turned into a full day due to the 4h of driving. I’m glad I did Longmen yesterday as it would have been an extremely long day otherwise … but it was hotter yesterday and that seemed to have sucked the life out of me.