Fellow Virtual Travelers and Historians,
Happy Chinese New Year! Today marks the beginning of 2017 - the year of the Fire Rooster:
http://www.thechinesezodiac.org/
Toward the end of last year's trip (October - November 2016), we mysteriously disappeared to research another sacred martial arts mountain. This time we ended up in Fujian Province along the eastern coast of China. Our discovery, it turns out, is quite significant to the Shaolin Kung Fu martial arts. It seems that we are some of the first caucasians to visit the site.
After leaving Beijing we arrived in Fuzhou for a two-night stay with meetings and touring in the city. Then we boarded a small bus for the trip through the city of Fuqing and into the wilds of rural China. The ride was bumpy at best, along pot-holed and rutted roads through small old-style towns and past rural farms that were spread out along the way. Rain had crowded in on us as we headed out but as we got closer to the temple site, the clouds lifted and the rains stopped. Our excitement was not in the least bit hampered, even by the dirt-laden windows of the bus!
Exiting the bus, the three musketeers were encouraged to wander the temple grounds unhampered, for about 2 hours. From the grand entrance gate, through the complex and finally coming upon ancient ruins in the back that we could wander through on foot, our eyes and minds could hardly comprehend the great honor bestowed upon us.
Meeting in person, the Head Abbot and the Monk in charge of martial arts were icing on the cake! Both of these gentlemen where young boys at the Northern Shaolin Temple when we visited China with our Kung Fu school in 1996. Seeing our sea of purple tour shirts and watching our group perform, changed their perspectives on life.
While the ruins were originally discovered in 1996 and much of the temple grounds have been rebuilt, the location is largely unknown, even within China. At one point, it is believed that this site housed, fed and taught up to 1,500 monks at one time.
We were challenged during our visit, to build an English presence for this Shaolin temple site online, since very little information is available anywhere. So, we are pleased to present to you, our contribution to the Southern Shaolin Temple of Fuqing:
https://www.southernshaolintemple.org/
Here is a bird's eye view of the temple site, complements of Google. Zoom out and pan around as you wish:
To pan around, click and hold the mouse on the map, then move the mouse.
There will be much to learn about this temple's history and we'll need more photographs than what we could muster in our 2 hour visit. Watch for updates, as we glean more history and post more photographs! We'll be adding a 'Links' page as we uncover more information about this area. Updates on our SacredMountainOdysseys.com website will also be made, adding the Fuqing temple location as a sacred martial arts mountain.
Blessings,
Dennis & Anita
Happy New Year - the year of the fire rooster!
West Lake in Fuzhou, China. The lake at night outside our hotel.
Fuqing Southern Shaolin Temple Trek: Tracing the route from the city of Fuzhou, through Fuqing, into rural China, through the town of Shaolincun and finally arriving at the Southern Shaolin Temple.
Life in rural China: The side of life in China that not many tourists get to see (pardon the dirty windows of the bus!).
One of many buildings on the Southern Shaolin Temple grounds, outside of Fuqing, China: Once past the main entrances, the grounds open up showcasing many buildings, ponds (with turtles and koi fish), walkways, grass, flowers and trees.
Continuing construction at the Fuqing temple area: Workers hard at it, using manual tools in their labor.
Original Southern Shaolin Temple ruins: Crumbling walls, staircases, covered sewage troughs and strewn rock from ancient buildings. Words cannot express the feeling of walking in ancient times.