China Travel Log

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

We left Zhengzhou this morning by van for a 1.5 hour drive to the Songshan mountain range - this is where the Shaolin Kung Fu art was born 1500 years ago and is at the heart of this art that we study!

Songshan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Song

Dengfeng:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengfeng

Wow!  We had a change of itinerary today that turned into a real treat!  Chenjiagou (Chen) Village turns out to be on roads that are not passable - 3 hours of travel one way and no guarantee that we could get there, as none of the local guides have been on the road we would have had to take.  Not only that, but the Shaolin Weapons Factory has moved and no one knows where it is now…  This is where our art's weapons have been crafted by hand - one hammer strike at a time, etc. We got to see the factory in action in 1996 and had hoped to capture some video of their work.

Having those two events cancelled, we asked our local guide for other ideas that wouldn't take as long and he suggested two other tours.

The Songyue Temple with China's oldest Pagoda (which was built-in 523 AD). And the Fawang Temple which is an active Buddhist temple and Kung Fu school.  Attached is a picture of the rare treat of seeing a local class practicing.

Songyue Temple:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songyue_Pagoda

Fawang Temple:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawang_Temple

This morning we kept our itinerary plan to visit the Zhong Yue Taoist Temple and got to meet the oldest Taoist Monk at the temple who is a friend our local guide. He has been at this temple for 30 years and previously spent time at both Wudangshan and Huashan (both of which we'll be visiting in the next few days).  We got our picture taken with him - he was full of laughs and fun!  Check out the temple here:

Zhong Yue Taoist Temple:
http://www.chinahighlights.com/dengfeng/attraction/zhongyue-temple.htm

Our big event of the evening was doing our laundry in our hotel room, in order to make it through the rest of the trip with clean shirts and socks.  No small event!  Hopefully they dry enough to pack by morning!

Tomorrow, we'll be off to the Shaolin Temple itself and it's pagoda forest. Then back on a train to the next city!

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

We left Zhengzhou this morning by van for a 1.5 hour drive to the Songshan mountain range - this is where the Shaolin Kung Fu art was born 1500 years ago and is at the heart of this art that we study!

Songshan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Song

Dengfeng:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengfeng

Wow!  We had a change of itinerary today that turned into a real treat!  Chenjiagou (Chen) Village turns out to be on roads that are not passable - 3 hours of travel one way and no guarantee that we could get there, as none of the local guides have been on the road we would have had to take.  Not only that, but the Shaolin Weapons Factory has moved and no one knows where it is now…  This is where our art's weapons have been crafted by hand - one hammer strike at a time, etc. We got to see the factory in action in 1996 and had hoped to capture some video of their work.

Having those two events cancelled, we asked our local guide for other ideas that wouldn't take as long and he suggested two other tours.

The Songyue Temple with China's oldest Pagoda (which was built-in 523 AD). And the Fawang Temple which is an active Buddhist temple and Kung Fu school.  Attached is a picture of the rare treat of seeing a local class practicing.

Songyue Temple:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songyue_Pagoda

Fawang Temple:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawang_Temple

This morning we kept our itinerary plan to visit the Zhong Yue Taoist Temple and got to meet the oldest Taoist Monk at the temple who is a friend our local guide. He has been at this temple for 30 years and previously spent time at both Wudangshan and Huashan (both of which we'll be visiting in the next few days).  We got our picture taken with him - he was full of laughs and fun!  Check out the temple here:

Zhong Yue Taoist Temple:
http://www.chinahighlights.com/dengfeng/attraction/zhongyue-temple.htm

Our big event of the evening was doing our laundry in our hotel room, in order to make it through the rest of the trip with clean shirts and socks.  No small event!  Hopefully they dry enough to pack by morning!

Tomorrow, we'll be off to the Shaolin Temple itself and it's pagoda forest. Then back on a train to the next city!

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

While it seems we've been here for at least two days, we got to the Dongfang Hotel at 1 AM only this morning.  Planned and executed a busy day!

We got up at 6 AM to prepare for our first day in Beijing. The Forbidden City is where we spent our morning.  The grounds are expansive and mind boggling!
Then we walked up on Coal Hill, which has a nice pavilion that overlooks the Forbidden City. In the time of the Emperors, this huge hill in the middle of the city was made from all the coal slag, left over from heating the Emperor's Forbidden City palace buildings.

Forbidden City
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/forbidden.htm

Coal Hill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingshan_Park
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/jingshan.htm

We visited the Confucius temple and Lama temple and the famous drum and bell towers of Beijing.

Confucius temple and museum:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Temple_of_Confucius

The drive back to our hotel seemed long in rush hour traffic. There are now 7 million cars in Beijing. It is quite obvious that traffic regulations differ between countries. In the US stripes on the highway are the law, in Europe, painted stripes are guidelines, in China they are merely decorations. We watched an old man dragging a wheeled suitcase across a busy boulevard, head-on into on-coming traffic, oblivious to any danger. He made it across, but we wonder how???

We ate at a local small cafe, and enjoyed a nice "traditional" Chinese meal.

Lastly we walked to a nearby theater and watched a performance of Beijing opera. Still sounds like fighting cats, but definitely a unique cultural experience.

Lots on miles on foot already, with little rest. Definitely will sleep good tonight.

Blessings,
Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Here we are in Beijing!  It took a total of sixteen hours of airline travel with some layover time to get to our first China destination.

So far…  Pre-trip packing until 2 am (Sat Oct 13th).  Who has the duct tape and bailing wire in case repairs are needed?  Who has cold medicine, flu medicine, Advil, aspirin, mole skin, bandaids, hand wipes, alcohol swabs, camera filters, lens cleaners, usb drives, camera cards, Chinese surge protectors, transformer, American power strips, pigtails, etc.  Where we're going these items are not readily available, if at all!

Then to DIA for a 2 pm flight on Oct 13th to Detroit and a direct flight to Beijing leaving Detroit at 10 pm.  We flew over the North Pole and even though it was dark outside the whole way, knowing that we were that far north, felt strange!  Arrived at the Dongfang Hotel about 1 am and caught some sleep before we head out to tour today on Monday October 15th (it's about 8 am local time).

There are three of us traveling:  Dennis, Anita and Karl (a fellow Kung Fu student also involved in our prior Shaolin Expedition in 2002). Our travels now are a follow up to the 2002 and 2003 trips, gathering more photos and stories!

For those who weren't involved in our original expeditions, check out the pages we're in the process of re-building:

shaolinexpedition.info

Now that we're in China, we are planning on only sending email updates (no googlegroups website access).  If you reply to our emails, it looks like we can pick them up just fine in China, so thank you to all who have been sending well-wishes!

Let the adventure begin and we are honored that you're traveling with us!

Dennis and Anita Lunt