We hit inside a windowsill

I'm finally going to update TO the day the events that have passed since I last posted in Luoyang. From Beijing we took a sleeper car to Zhengzhou, and it was a pretty awesome train ride, considering we spent all of it sleeping. The car was surprisingly comfortable to all, and the trip seemed quite short in our deep slumber.

From Zhengzhou we had our driver Mr. Li take us to the Shaolin Temple on Song Mountain. Legend has it that a great Indian king first established this temple after having stormed out of Nanjing, greatly displeased with his encounter with the emperor. He found Song mountain, and saw that within one of its little valley-like dips was a most beautiful site, and decided to spend his time improving on the little temple that already existed. I think it was said he spend something like 9 years there. The beginnings of the many Shaolin Temples as a training ground for Chinese gong fu is said to have originated at this temple, when the master locked himself in and would not admit any within to take as disciples, until one man stayed outside waiting on end through a terrible blizzard. It is said that the master's will was so adamant that he told the student he would only accept a disciple when the blizzard rained blood. Subsequently, the student took out his sword and hacked off his arm, spewing blood into the air, and was finally allowed into the temple. Now, as grisly as this may seem, the story is meant to show the level of dedication necessary for one to truly ascend to the level of master, in both being a monk and a martial artist.

The temple was actually pretty interesting, but there was a shortage of gong fu masters. Although I was able to catch a glimpse of a few actual monks, not just students in training, and their display of flexibility and precision was more than impressive. We also ventured into the actual temple (before was simply a training ground) and saw an array of a whole mass of pagodas erected in honor of many important monks who had resided at the temple. It was a most fitting subject for photos and such.

After the Shaolin Temple we went to the Longmen Grottoes outside Luoyang. This UNESCO World Heritage Site was probably the most amazing thing I've seen thus far. A collection of small caves and grottoes dug into a mountain wall, the site was a legacy of the first Buddhists to live in China. Many similar Buddhist grottoes can be found in India. The grottoes all depict Buddhist figures, either bodhisattva or Buddhas themselves, along with guardians and decorative ornaments. Many of the statues are defaced however, and I learned by eavesdropping on a Chinese tour that it was the work of many Emperors who were devout Taoists, and thus commissioned the destruction and defacing of a huge majority of the works at Longmen. The most memorable part of the grottoes was the massive work at the highest point, in whcih it depicted five Buddhas sitting side by side, each of which was carved out of an entire slab of the mountain. Towering above us, these five Buddhas were an amazing statement of their architects' labor, devotion, and mastery of their craft. Added to our enjoyment of the site was the previously made sarcastic question (you know us), "Where is your Mt. Rushmore?"

After Longmen, we stayed in the nearby city of Luoyang, which was historically the capital of China for many years. The city was pretty nice to look at, and had a large soccer stadium we could see from our hotel, which was a four-star hotel with extremely luxurious amenities (including an all-glass bath which could be seen from within the room, a digital climate control panel on the wall, a computer with broadband, and a faucet beside the sink specifically for drinking water). I'll let you all guess at how much it cost us a night.


Ok. It was...12 dollars per person per night. Which may be why we are slightly disenchanted with our current arrangement :(

After Luoyang, we left to see the bai ma si, or White Horse Temple, which was the first Buddhist temple established in China. It is more important because of its legendary role in the enlightenment of Buddhists in China. If any of you have heard of the story Journey to the West, known as shi you ji in Chinese, its most memorable character is the Monkey King, Sun Wukong (Son Goku in Japanese...familiar?). However, Wukong's task was to protect a monk, Tang Seng, in his journey to retrieve sacred scrolls from the Western edge of the realm. It is said that Bai Ma Si was his starting point, and his ultimate ending point, when he retrieved the scrolls and brought them back to the temple.

Going back to Zhengzhou...I'd rather not remember the ridiculous show we saw....It was a variety show, but suffice it to say that everything was absolutely ridiculous, and incredibly unentertaining besides a segment which is called za ji, or Chinese acrobatics. We watched a girl balance menorah-esque candleholders in her mouth, hands, and feet, while contorting herself in absurd positions. Then, we watched a girl lay down with her legs upright, and balance HUGE, heavy jugs, and spin/flip them in every direction with only her feet. After that, she moved towards spinning a jug with a little child on it, and then spinning the child herself.

Damnit. I have to go, so this will have to wait until later. Peace.