Tashi delay from Lhasa :-)

Firstly - we are both well and are acclimatising gradually, we have not had any need to buy any oxygen either. We have both had the odd headache or two and certainly some breathlessness but we are taking it easy and allowing our bodies to adapt to the environment.

Now, I could write a post about how absolutely amazing it is here in Lhasa but I am not going to - this is because I have not yet finished with the rest of China and I have some more photos to share...

I am going to rewind back to Louyang and our bus tour to the Shaolin Si - this is the infamous temple from which the Shaolin kung fu style originates from. I have to say that having been a martial arts fanatic in the past, I was bouncing off the walls with excitement. We had planned to take a normal public bus (and all the complications that go with it due to our lack of Mandarin) out to the site but when we asked the receptionist at our hotel she told us that there was a tour there for thirty yuan and that it would take in some other sites too. At such a fair price we could not refuse - we also had a free breakfast thrown into the equation. We had expected to be on a tour bus packed with foreigners but much to our amusement we were escorted at 8am the next day to another hotel to board a coach that was full of Chinese tourists. We were the only English speakers.

We found our seats on the back row of the coach which was now full. To our left sat a pair of middle aged women who were dressed very smartly and to our right sat an old cadre who donned a flat navy blue cap and wool coat. We assumed that he was an old cadre because he had a special ID card that was in a red wallet with the communist insignia on the front (similar to the Red Book covers of Mao's sayings that we have seen), there was a photo of him as a young man inside too and with this he could get a discount into all of the attractions en route. In front of us to the left sat a pair of incredibly happy grandparents who were in their fifties and to their right on the opposite side of the aisle sat their daughter and baby grandchild. It was an interesting journey for us. Firstly before the coach even left the child needed to pee. The mother sat the child on her lap and spread it's legs apart, with the ease of the spilt pants the child could then pee all over the floor of the coach. The encouraging mother and happy grandparents then moved the lino on the floor over the wet patch that had been made and the matter was over and done with. This happened on several occasions. Later on in the journey we would watch the happy family suck on vacuum packed chickens feet and peeled apples. Occasionally the grandmother would spit out the window and I would think of the cyclists that may have been in it's path. The pair of seats that the grandparents sat on was not bolted to the floor of the coach and when we went up and down the switchbacks in the mountains later their chair would tilt left and right and take them by surprise every time. The grandparents were so proud and loving, the mother was gentle and entirely focused on her baby, they were obviously having a special day out together. The old cadre to our right had a kind and sincere face with soft lines from age, he would stare out of the window peacefully looking content, he had a wonderful smile. Other people on the coach - there was a twenties something couple who were very much in love and hugged the whole time, they would also return to the coach later than everyone else and nearly got left behind on one occasion. There was another couple with their young toddler son who was highly energised due to the amount of sweet things his parents kept giving him, he was double trouble as a result and after acts of mischievousness he would be reprimanded and would bawl his eyes out. This couple did not seem to give their son much affection which is quite unusual to see here. There were other people who ate vacuum packed sausages and spat seed shells on the floor, hacked up a lung or two, spat out the window or talked animatedly.

When we thought that no more people could get onto the coach seats were flipped out into the aisle and thus created another row of seats which were soon filled. There was so much going on in this coach that would contravene any number of health and safety regulations in the UK, it would be a risk assessors nightmare. With a packed coach we eventually got on our way. The young female tour guide was full of information and talked constantly and loudly into a microphone in Chinese, there was a lot of response from the people on board, unfortunately we were not part of the fun. In fact, although the tour guide could speak a little English, she would often forget about us and we would not know where we were or how long we had to wonder around the sites. K was great and chased her up for information every time, she would beeline it through the thicket of camera wielding tourists in order to talk to the tour guide, with her mission accomplished we were free to abandon the group.

Onto the photos...

Our budget tour coach :-)


A view from the back row - you can just make out the seats in the aisle.


Our first stop was at a temple, we chose to not go inside because we did not know anything about it, we were also told by the guide that it was a minor site. So we sat outside in the sun and enjoyed the fresh air and freedom from the cramped coach and enjoyed our surroundings...

The temple was adjacent to a small hamlet and was surrounded by fields. Most agricultural land is terraced as is shown in this photo.


In a field there was a man crouching whilst attending to his crops, surprisingly he was wearing a suit. This is a typical sight in the countryside where people meticulously grow vegetables and crops.


Villagers were sitting around gossiping and watching the tourists.



It seems that many villages or residential areas have a blackboard near to their entrance. I assume that this shows the latest pricing or yields for crops although I am not entirely sure and can only go by what I have read in the past.


The village comprised of two very narrow lanes.


Some of the doorways to the houses... I wondered what histories belong to the families that have lived behind them.




Next it was onto the Songyang academy on the mountain of Songshan. If you have time it is worth having a read of this link on Songyang Academy -- The Highest Seat of Learning in Ancient China

The steps leading to the entrance of the academy - we love those steps :-)


The Tang tablet (774 AD) which stands at the entrance is about 8 metres tall.


The gardens at the temple were pretty despite them not yet being in bloom. There was bamboo...


... a rockery that was almost as big as any of the masterpieces that my own dad has created in the gardens of my childhood :-)


...and a peaceful pond with bridge.


The "Two General" Cypress trees are over 2000 years old!




Songyang was a centre of learning for many different doctrines, but especially Taoist.


Next we went to a Sakyamuni Buddha temple, unfortunately we do not have the name for it or any information regarding it's history. It was not in our travel guide and the tour guide did not have time to try and explain in pigeon English any information about it. Nonetheless it was still interesting to see.



There was an abundance of incense burning, it is possible to purchase huge spirals of incense which burn for hours.


The temple was set against a backdrop of mountain cliffs.


Devotees were prostrating and focused on silent prayer in front of the Buddha figure.


An image from one of the temples walls. It shows Sakyamunia and Bodhisattvas.


When we entered the temple we were given a small yellow sticker to wear, upon exit we were to place it inside the outline of a big character. We could not find out what the big character read though.


Eventually we got to the Shaolin Si. It was not quite what I had expected but I was still enthralled to be there.

Firstly we were greeted by this huge statue of a martial artist. I don't think that it was lifesize though...


As we made our way towards the temple we were quite tickled by the decorative phoneboxes :-)


...and this interesting way of separating your recycling :-)


Our first sighting of any martial arts was this group of young monks practising for their showcase. They would take it in turns to run across a row of backs.


Next on approach to the theatre where there were live kung fu performances we encountered more statues sporting different stances and poses. I was getting really excited at this point and was lost in a kung fu nostalgia. If I had come here a few years ago I would have prayed that I would be left here for all eternity!




The Shaolin Si is also the birthplace of Chan (Zen) Buddhism which differs to much of the Buddhism that we had seen in China so far which had mostly been of the Mahayana sect.

The fierce looking Lokapalas guarding the temples of Shaolin.



Some scenes from the temple grounds.




The temple has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, in fact the temple that now stands is a recent rebuild based on information about the original. There were some old steles and one old building at the back where the floor (see below) and some very old paintings have been preserved.



This is pretty amazing - the floor in the old building at the back of the temple grounds has sunken in places due to monks practising their kicks on the same spots. Over time this has created many indentations. WOW!


At the Shaolin academy there are still many thousands of students, some of which are residents, we saw many of them practicing and training as we left the grounds. There were sparring matches, people kicking kickbags, syncronised stretching, punching and going through forms. It was incredible to see.



Overall the Shaolin Si was not what I expected it to be. I did not know that the temple had been rebuilt and I did not know that the whole area had been redesigned to cater for the high volume of tourists which visit each year. I was disappointed by the commercialisation of this great art form and it did not have the spiritualism that I thought it would entail. Perhaps it can be found if you are a student there (or at least I would like to think so) and that the true spirit of Shaolin Kung Fu continues despite the thousands of prying eyes. Still I will always remember my visit to have been a Shaolin adventure park so I will prefer to think of the surrounding mountains and what it may have been like many years ago.

All was not lost.


Our final stop for the day was the Baima, or White Horse Temple which has the claim to fame of being the first Buddhist temple in China. For a temple that is on the tourist trail I was amazed by it's peacefulness and serenity. Perhaps it was because we visited a little before it was due to close that day and as a result the monks were tidying the grounds and winding down for the day which may have added to it's atmosphere. The monks would also say "nia hao" and smile which was very welcoming as well as unusual because at many of the temples I have not experienced this.

We watched monks who whilst chanting walked single file into a main temple.




Keeping the grounds immaculate...


A white horse statue.


In the temple grounds there were some beautiful gardens which were full of Peonies in bloom as well as blossoming trees.






It was a great place to end our day of touring...


Phew, that was good to clear that backlog. There is much more to write and photos to post but heads are pounding and tummies are grumbling - until next time :-)