Travels

During our recent pilgrimages to China, we sent news updates while on the sacred mountains. Those travel logs were sent via email to a select audience. We are moving them to this site for all to see. Follow our path as we lived our lives immersed in the Chinese and martial arts culture, photographing many unknown places and artifacts.

Watch for information about how to sign up for our new email list which will be coming soon!

HERE IS A SAMPLE OF THOSE NEWS ITEMS:

2014 China Book History Trip

China Travel Log – Jan 15, 2015

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Happy New Year with wishes for a prosperous and healthy 2015!

The busy holiday season is over, resolutions have been made, the endless routine of the new year has started and winter doldrums can start to set in.  Do we ever have something to entertain you - Dennis has been busy with a new YouTube channel! Some of you may have seen these movies through the years of our friendships, but these will be new to most!

After our second martial arts school trip to China in 2000, Dennis made a movie to document the trip. Originally an hour long, we've broken the movie into these nine subtitles:

ChinaY2K#5-Pilgrimage
ChinaY2K#4-Tourism
ChinaY2K#2 Culture
ChinaY2K#7 MartialArts Changsha
ChinaY2K#1 Itinerary
ChinaY2K#9 MartialArts ShaolinTemple
ChinaY2K#6 MartialArts Tibet
ChinaY2K#3-Travel
ChinaY2K#8 MartialArts Xinning

Also enjoy these additional movie trailers:
Wudang Tapestry 2014 (a product of our trip to China last year)
China Archeology: Musical Bronze Bells
Driving in China Traffic

To view these twelve short movies, use a browser to go to the following link which will list all twelve movies, in one YouTube window:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=DenEyeFX

Or if the above link doesn't work, just go to www.youtube.com and search for:
DenEyeFX

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – September 7, 2014

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Fall is in the air and we're reminded of our previous trips to China during the fall season.  The Fairy Mountains of Wudang explode with its vibrant hues of yellow, orange and red! With the anticipation of fall and the return to school, our thoughts wander to the daily grind, or more diplomatically stated, daily life.  Life in a different culture and environment may look different to what has become typical in America.

Eating

We talked before about packing snacks for the numerous hours we find ourselves on the trail and away from civilization.  Nuts, granola, dried fruit, snack bars and M&M's make up a large portion of those snacks. And for those times when we're not up to boiled cabbage for breakfast, bring packets of oatmeal to cook up in the hotel room!

When dining out, expect to order one dish each and share on the center lazy susan on the table. Rice is readily available, but not always served unless asked for (it is considered a poor man's food, so the fear is that American guests would be offended with being served rice).  You'll partake in delicious dishes containing ingredients that you don't recognize. We even came across some vegetables for which there is no English word!

The area in Hubei Province where Wudang is located, has a plethora of cuisines to choose from. Everything from the spicy foods common in Szechuan Province, to bland foods only boiled in water with nothing added for taste.

Water

Boiled or bottled. That's all you can trust.  When out hiking, there may be no vendors along the way to buy bottled water from, so always bring enough water to get you back to civilization! However, don't ever use tap water!  Buy water where you can and beyond that, here is the daily drinking water drill. There are hot water teapots in every room (sometimes their cords are too short to reach the plug, so you have to improvise!). Boil a pot of water at night. In the morning, pour cooled off boiled water into your water bottles. Set more water to boil before you leave the room for the day. The alternative is to bring water purifiers and spend time with either filtering water into your bottles, or using ultraviolet light to 'zap' your water pure (SteriPEN)!

Sleeping

Hotel rooms are typically smaller than those found in the U.S. Beds are smaller and not plush (at least not the hotels we stay in). The floor of our hotel on Wudang was tile and an air conditioner/heater was mounted on the wall beside the front window.  The unit was run by a remote control and due to expense, we were encouraged to NOT use it!

Bathroom facilities

Most public restrooms have running water with sinks and more often than not the pit-style toilet.  Most hotels we've stayed in on our journeys had western style toilets in the room's bathroom.  This trip was different.  The hotel we stayed in on the mountain, had a total of three rooms (one on top of the other).  Only the top room had a western style toilet.  That was left open for our use, when it wasn't being used by someone else.  Now imagine hiking all day, coming back with sore knees, hip and leg muscles. Then squat to use the toilet facilities!  Oh and the sewage systems can't handle toilet paper, so you throw away used paper in the waste baskets (and empty your trash daily)!

So, our quaint rooms had private bathrooms (one step up from the room) with a small free standing sink, a hot water heater hanging on the wall and a pit-style toilet. Of interest, the hand-held shower spray nozzle hung right next to the electrical power plug in for the hot water heater, so you had to be very careful about where you pointed the shower spray! And because the bathroom was small, you had to straddle the toilet pit, when taking a shower!

Laundry

In the remote regions of Wudang mountain, there are no washing machines or dryers.  So hand wash what you can in your small bathroom sink, then hang parachute cord across the bedroom, tying one end to the wardrobe and the other end to the window curtain.  Use safety pins or office paper clamps to hang up the clothes on the line (clothes pins are too bulky to pack).

Many hotels will provide basic laundry service. In our case Mrs. Yang (restaurant owner and hotel co-owner) charged us 5 yuan (about one US dollar) per shirt or pants.  The laundry was hand washed in a big red bowl in front of the hotel on the sidewalk.  Needless to say, we washed and dried all of our underwear in our hotel room!

During our three week stay, we only asked for our bed sheets to be changed once. And out came the big red bowl on the sidewalk!

Shopping

Our hotel on the mountain was along the shopping area of the Wuyaling Parking Lot. End of the road on that area of the mountain! Each shop sold pretty much the same tourist items: playing cards; fans; fake jade buddhas; coins; dragon and tiger statues; and scarves. And our favorite - a solar powered prayer wheel! All of this is contained in a room that is no larger than 10' by 10'!  At night, the metal garage door is pulled down to close the shop and owners either walk up the stairway to their living quarters, or they retire to the room behind the shop.

No chance to use a credit card. Hope you brought Chinese currency! Dickering is very common and in the end, the American price is sometimes 10 times more than the price a local would get. One of the beautiful things about living among the people and staying for a period of time is that you get to know the shop owners.  They wave and yell 'Hello' in Chinese, every time you walk by!  We've even been humbled by receiving 'gifts' from the owners, knowing that they have so little and yet have big hearts for their foreign visitors, who are willing to live among them for so long!

Shopping in the city at the base of the mountain was similar to shopping on the mountain. We found a 'hardware store' which became a favorite for supplies!  Because the air is humid, Anita splurged on a Chinese hair dryer (easier to just plug in, than to connect up the adapters each morning)!B

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – June 19

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Two months ago today, we boarded the plane to begin our latest China adventure!  After over 50 miles of hiking and traversing upwards of 20,000 steps, we returned with over 5,000 photographs to sort through and thousands of words of history digest.

In thinking back to those mountain trails, please enjoy some of the flora we encountered along the way!

Blessings,
Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – May 11

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Happy Mother's Day to all!  We've been safely back home now for 24 hours, having been awake for 36 hours straight to get home!

The jet lag has set in such that last night and today is largely a foggy dream.  The kitties Sherlock and Dr. Watson are so happy to have their full-time slaves back!  We owe a big Thank You to our friend Danielle, who took such good care of them in our home!  They were relaxed when we got home and are needing lots of pets, laps and snuggles with us! Dr. Watson, who is only two years old, grew significantly in the last three weeks! Catching up to her big brother, Sherlock!

A big Thank You to Dennis' sister Brenda, who took us to and picked us up from DIA!

We have deposited the suitcases and the shoes we wore on the trip, in the garage where they will stay until we get them disinfected. They have been places and seen germs that you don't even want to know about!

We were greeted this morning with a Springtime Colorado snowstorm - have accumulated about four inches already!  Fortunately Anita had filled up the wood barrels before we left, so that we'd have dry wood when we got home.

Logging into GoogleMail never worked well in China, though it had been fine on the 2012 trip.  Making contingency plans were worth the while, as we were able to keep in touch via our Skybeam email accounts to the ShaolinExpedition list.

While we are connected with some of our Chinese friends on Facebook, we never could login to facebook.com while in China.

We figure in the last 3 weeks, we walked almost 100 miles, including around 10,000 stairs. We rose to the challenges, made adjustments as needed and just powered through seemingly impossible situations at times!

Between the two of us, we have brought back over 5,000 photos, a few hours of video and nearly 100 pages of Wudangshan history, folklore and legends.  That doesn't include what information Master Karl gleaned or the photos he took!

Attached are some snapshots of life in China.

Thank you for following us on our adventure, for your interest and support during this adventure!  It is good to be back home!

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – May 10

We're in the Seattle airport waiting for our connecting flight to Denver!

We left Shanghai at 12:20 pm on Saturday, May 10th and arrived in Seattle at 8:00 am on Saturday, May 10th. Got to the U.S. before we left!

A night without a day!

Blessings,
Dennis&Anita

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China Travel Log- May 6

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Today (Tuesday, May 6th), we finished our To Do list with a successful summit of Tianzhu Peak (also known as the Golden Summit)!  While the crowds were thinned out from last weekend's May 1st holiday crowds, there were still too many people to get suitable photographs for publishing.  So again, the photos taken of the Golden Summit on the 2002 trip will have to do.  Tourism has flourished to the point that we can't repeat the photos with no people in them, anymore.  The hike up from the cable car is about an hour up and another hour down (1,000 or so steps both ways).

The sights from the mountain, however, still remain breathtaking with rugged mountain peaks in every direction as far as the eye can see!  Also mind boggling is the architecture from the Ming Dynasty!  Still remaining is the triple compound curve in the Ming Dynasty era wall that surrounds the peak on all sides.  The stone blocks are so finely fit that you can't fit the edge of a dime between them!

This trek took more than a half day, including the bus ride over to the cable car and back to the hotel. Riding up the cable car, hermit caves can be seen in the cliffs far off to the right!  After returning to the base of the cable car, we also discovered a little known temple complex called Middle Temple at the base of the cable car that is mostly renovated and quite expansive!

Tonight we ate our last meal on Wudangshan at Mrs. Yang's restaurant and said goodbye to her and her husband. We are packing up now, as tomorrow we head back down to the base of the mountain to spend one night in town.  Then early Thursday morning we catch a train out of Shiyan City to head toward Shanghai, which will be an all day trip. So, you may not hear from us until we reach Shanghai!

Mission has been deemed accomplished by all three of the musketeers!

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – May 5

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Amazing!  Just amazing!  We could not have possibly planned today, even if we'd tried!  On our first trip to China in 1996, our first sacred mountain visit and cross cultural performance was at the Purple Cloud Temple on Wudangshan.  We were to perform the Tai Chi Iron Fan form which had been lost in China for about 400 years.  Very anxious and simultaneously honored!

Over the years of China adventures, we've returned to visit Purple Cloud. In 2002 with our expedition members, we got to interview the head abbot, Abbot Li Guangfu.  At that time, the head monk, Master Shi was present and assisted with the interview as did the head nun, Master Zheng.

In 2003 we returned to this mountain to make another attempt to understand the 5,000 years of history at the mountain and again got to meet with Abbot Li, Master Shi and Master Zheng.  During this time, the president of the Chinese Taoist Association gave us permission to tell the story of the Wudang Magic Sword, heretofore untold.  There is a replica of the sacred bronze sword, which weighs well over 100 pounds, which was housed in a museum on the temple premises, but was too heavy to bring down to show us.  Months later, Master Shi mailed us photos of the replica.  

In 2012 we again returned to Wudangshan accompanied by Master Karl, who was one of the 2002 Expedition members.  While Master Shi had left the Wudang area to become an abbot at another location, he travelled to Wudang to meet with us again. Upon inquiring about the old museum and sword, all remnants of those memories had disappeared. No sword and no museum with old artifacts!

This morning we returned to Purple Cloud with Victor to ask about the sword and museum, as well as to take more photographs of the temple complex.  This was one location where we wanted to do a photo shoot of the four of us for the Wudang history book.  So we rode the bus five minutes down the hill with Victor and started taking pictures as we moved into the complex.  

Victor had been in touch with one of the nuns who seemed quite uncertain as to why we would want to see the sword replica, so we went on our way to look in the doorway where the museum had been in 2003 and discovered that some items had been brought back! After wandering around, Dennis spotted the end of the magic sword replica, hiding behind a curtain! The same nun allowed us to move it to the floor (it took the three men,  with all their strength to move it!) and lay it on material to photograph it, then carefully put it back.  Wow, just WOW! Like an Indiana Jones archeology discovery. We finally found the sword 11 years after being told the story in the courtyard of Purple Cloud Temple by the head abbot of China Taoism. (Kind of like the Pope).

After our great discovery, we were offered lunch at the Purple Cloud monastery. So we scooped up our bowls of rice and dishes of stir-fried tofu and vegetables.  Then washed our own dishes as that is the custom of the temple lunch.  Our heads were all still spinning with the blessing of the sword sighting!

After lunch we spent several hours photographing Purple Cloud -- again. As we were seated in the shade on wooden benches, talking about our great blessings, Victor suddenly gets a surprised look on his face, points and says 'Here comes Abbot Shi!'.

Abbot Shi was unexpectedly in the area and remembered us from previous visits. The five of us gathered for a commemorative photo.  So, we are ending Monday, May 5th here in China with a sense of accomplishment that surpassed our greatest expectations!

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – May 4

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Saturday, May 3rd started out with a pleasant surprise!  Victor came back up the mountain the night before and invited us to join him and his students in an early session of Tai Chi Chuan this morning!  So we left the hotel around 6:30 am, walked up the street, through a man-made cave that takes you through the mountain to a patio overlooking the lush terrain and overcast, hazy sky.

Upon arriving we were introduced to Victor's students (about 5 people) and an old master and long time friend of Victor's who led us through some Brocade forms (very similar to what is taught in our Kung Fu school).  So the nine of us followed the old Master in stretches and forms.  Then Victor worked with his students on the first few moves of one of his Wudang Tai Chi forms.  By then, we'd gathered a crowd with many of them joining in the class!  One set of grandparents who joined in had two grandkids with them, the youngest of which had shoes that made a loud squeak with each step!  Helps you keep track of where your young one is, but was so funny to watch and see that concentrating on Tai Chi stepping was a challenge!

Around 8 am Victor and his students headed to their breakfast and the old master asked us to stay and perform some of our Kung Fu for him!  So we had a cultural exchange with tourist onlookers, sharing two forms from our Shaolin Kung Fu art and two forms from the old Masters knowledge!  How fun!  He even gave us a thumbs up, which felt very humbling, as we are not even close to his aptitude!

It started raining in the afternoon which made a meeting with Victor timely.  We had an awesome lunch made by his son, Adam, who also works with Victor's travel agency. And then talked a while about the book project and how technology works here. What do attachments look like, what works and what doesn't? Are there communication capabilities like Skype (yes!)?  Turned out to be a very productive meeting!

Before we came up the mountain from Shiyan City at the base, we had the opportunity to visit the original gateway to Wudangshan which is called Xuanyue Gate (玄岳门).  This gateway was built in the Jiajing Period of the Ming Dynasty (1522-1566).  The road from this ancient gate to the Golden Peak (Summit) is called the 'Wudang Divine Road'.  Here's a picture of the Three Musketeers beneath the ancient gate!

Later today we have a planned adventure with Victor over to Soaring Cliff (also known as Flying Cliff). More about this later!

Good news!  We got our train tickets to Shanghai for May 8th, which will give us two nights in Shanghai for shopping before the long flights home!  Less than one week left of this adventure - time has really flown by!

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – May 2

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

A belated happy May 1st from China!  We are late-afternoon on Friday here and this area has experienced a huge influx of Chinese tourists due to the May 1st, Labor Day three-day national holiday.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists are now wandering the byways of Wudang Mountain!  We made a valiant effort yesterday to reach the Golden Summit, catching a ride at 7 am with a truck and driver down the mountain and then up another road to the cable car that brings you closer to the base of the Jin Ding Temple area, which is the Golden Summit.

Once we got off the cable car, we blended in with hundreds of tourists and quickly realized that even if we hiked up to the summit (about an hour's hike up the mountain from the end of the cable car), we would not be able to get usable photographs because of all of the people.  So once again, we realize that with the changes in China over the last decade, we will never again be able to get the kind of photographs that we took on our 2002 Sacred Mountain Expedition!

So we abandoned our plan to visit the Golden Summit and climbed another peak instead! Here are some details about Jin Ding:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/home/2011-07/11/content_12878171.htm

After photographing the surrounding peaks and valleys, we walked back down the mountain to our hotel.  We say walked, but let us clarify!  From the top of the mountain at Tianzhu Peak (also the Golden Summit), it was about four hours of stairs, both up and down.  This included 1,500 feet in elevation change!  The sign said 4.5 km, but it felt a lot farther! Anita is once again famous in China and had to pose with numerous people along the way!  Once as we headed down a long stairway, Anita saw a small boy, maybe 5 years old, trooping and stomping his way up the stairs.  About 20 feet away from us, he looked up, saw Anita, his eyes opened wide in surprise and he fell backwards into his mother who was behind him!  What a story he'll have to tell to his friends!

We've been trying to wear clothes more than one day in a row to save on the amount of laundry, but today's clean clothes were, well, sopping wet.  We turned in two small bags of laundry to Mrs. Yang, the owner of our hotel and favorite restaurant, who charges 5 yuan for each shirt or pants. There are no washing machines up here - all laundry is done by hand and then hung out to dry. Then we washed out socks etc. and hung them in our room on parachute cord that we strung from the window curtain rod to the clothes cabinet door on the other side of the room.

Today, May 2nd, it was supposed to rain, but is just overcast so far. The air is quite hazy so isn't a good day for much photography. There are still thousands of tourists around here for the holiday.  We're trying to let our legs catch up from the workout yesterday, so are hanging around the parking lot area and hotel.  Did some shopping, though each shop along the way pretty much carries the same items.

Today is the day to buy our train tickets back to Shanghai, as you can't buy them until 7 days before your intended travel.  Victor is in town at the base of the mountain and arranging for that train trip, heading us toward home.  We're also doing an accounting of expenses and funds to be sure that we'll have enough Chinese currency to make it out of the country.

Took an outdoor break and walked about five minutes down the mountain road to get some photos over looking the Purple Cloud Temple.  Gorgeous!

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – April 30

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

What a busy two days we've had!  Yesterday (Tuesday, April 29th) was an adventure up Carefree Valley (also known as Monkey Valley).  To get there was a five minute walk and a ten minute bus ride down the mountain.  Hopping off at the parking lot by the entrance to the valley, we wandered around the garden areas on both sides of the river and lake.  Got some good photos of white and black swans!  Breathtaking!

Then we headed up the valley for a scenic hike to try and find a location we'd visited in 2003 - Zhang Senfeng's (also spelled Chang San Feng's) meditation cliff.  The valley has undergone a lot of construction with concrete pathways and stairs, so we missed the correct turnoff point and ended up walking an extra mile or two.  Heading back downstream, we found the location and were disappointed to find that no reconstruction of the meditation cliff has happened and the entire cliff area we'd seen in 2003 was behind locked doors.

There are many legends written about Zhang Sanfeng, with some contradictions about his birth dates, accomplishments and life.

In general, though, it is accepted that he is the founder of the Tai Chi Chuan martial art and spent some time at Wudangshan.  Check out more details here:

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T'ai_chi_ch'uan

One of the fun aspects of Monkey Valley is, well, the monkeys!  We saw only three (though we heard many more chattering from hidden positions in the cliffs and trees) including a mother and her baby!

This morning (Wednesday, April 30th), we had a great blessing of interviewing a well-known Traditional Chinese Medical doctor who is well-versed in herbalogy (with specific knowledge of Wudangshan plants and medicines)!  Out of around 700 known medical plants, over 400 of them can be found growing naturally on the Wudang mountains!

In the afternoon, we did a self-guided tour down the mountain to visit and photograph the Needle Grinding Well and Guan Di Temple ruins!  More about those locations in future emails!

We're getting ready to go to bed for some sleep before more adventures tomorrow at the Golden Summit!

The most difficult part of putting together this email was picking out which pictures to send!  We've had awesomely wonderful weather and the sights are magnificent!

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – April 28

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Well, just when we think we've had and seen the best of the trip, it gets even better!  We are writing this on Monday afternoon, April 28th China time, so it is about 2:30 am Monday morning for those in the U.S!

We are recuperating today from an adventure yesterday that will be hard to describe in either words or pictures!  Off the beaten path and down the mountain from where we're staying is the oldest remaining temple in Wudangshan which was built early in the Tang Dynasty.  It's called The Five Dragon Palace or Temple.  We might add that it is a LONG way down the mountain as it ended up being a 7 hour hike, instead of the advertised 4 hours there and 4 hours back!  The trek coursed along a breathtaking river and ending with an hour's climb up stairways zigzagging up to the top of another mountain!  And that was for our fastest climber, Master Karl! Good thing we'd packed our own water (two 1.5 liter bottles each) and snacks from granola to dried local fruit!

Here are historical details of these ruins:

http://www.china-tourism.net/natural-landscape/mountain--mtwudangshan-25.html

The Five-dragon Palace was first built in Zhengguan reign of the Tang Dynasty (627-649 AD) at the foot of Lingying Mountain Peak. In 1412 the complex was extended and many constructions were added, such as the Imperial Hall, the Gate of the Palace, the Veranda Wings, the Jade Statue Hall, The Parents Hall, the hall of Revelation of holy Spirit, the Hall of the Founder of Taoism and Sacristy. Until the reign of Jiajing In Ming Dynasty, there were 850 bays of construction. In 1930 the palace was destroyed in a fire, however, many remains and relics can be seen there.

Our story continues from here!  Because it had taken us so long to get to the Five Dragon Palace (there was lots of photography to do along the river hike), it was after 5 pm by the time we finished photographing the Five Dragon complex.  While we had flashlights with us, another 7 hour hike down the mountain up the stream and then up another mountain to our hotel, seemed daunting.  Not to say anything of knees that were sore and hurting.  About that time (we'd already been invited by monks living at this site to spend the night), a small tour group showed up.  Dennis got out his handy translator and found out that the tour bus was too full to drive us to Shiyan City at the base of the mountain.  Instead the bus driver called a private car for us which arrived some 30 minutes later!  The road up to this complex is nice, but not yet open to the public.  There is a heavy metal gate at the base that is only opened for select purposes.  Someone had some pull to get a car up the mountain for us!  We're sure we looked like a rag-tag bunch!

After a 45 minute drive down a different mountain, we arrived in Shiyan City to find out that busses on the tourist route on Wudang only run until 6 pm!  So we were stuck in town!  Found lodging at the Holiday Inn of Wudang (VERY nice accommodations with soap, shampoo, towels, a European toilet and nice big beds).  So we crashed there for the night, letting Victor know where we were (the hotel was only set up to take Chinese credit cards so we had to pay in Chinese cash.  Victor stopped by later, as he was also in town, to check on us and all ended well. Albeit very tired!

In the morning after a Chinese breakfast of corn porridge, Victor helped us re-enter the Wudang area for a reduced fee.  Dennis and Anita had their Wudang tickets with them but Master Karl had left his up the mountain in his room, so we had to show the attendant a picture of the three of us to prove that we were traveling together. Fortunately we'd asked someone to take a picture of the three of us at the Hanging Cliff Palace with its three meter long Dragon-Head Incense Burner. 

Got through the ticket office and on the bus up the mountain, to be delivered a short ways down the hill from our hotel.  So, yes, even though the weather is perfect for photography, we are recuperating today!  Handlng some needed research and communications with friends back home, as well as downloading some photos!

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – April 26

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Wow!  Just wow!  Words can't describe what we're feeling right now!  Yesterday the weather was rainy and overcast which gave the perfect opportunity to review our data, compile additional questions and prepare camera gear for our upcoming hikes.  The weather is supposed to clear in a couple of days which could be just enough time to get ready.

After texting Victor that we'd like to see him a couple of times, he stopped by to invite us to breakfast in a nearby hotel.  We had a good chat about the book idea and upcoming days, then returned to our hotel to do our 'homework' to get a handle on where we are and where we need to be for this project.

At that point, we got a text from Victor, 'Come to my office right away.'  Upon arriving we discovered that he had distinguished guests.  A fellow martial artist master (Master Wu) from Chengdu China, some of his students and a tea baron.  We were served by the tea baron, one of the more expensive teas that China has to offer.  We were next invited upstairs to watch Victor and Master Wu perform a Tai Chi Chuan form and were allowed to video and photograph them.  Then they asked us to join them in a shortened Tai Chi form! To follow along!

Next we were invited to join them for lunch in a nearby restaurant, enjoying local cuisine as well as dishes from Sichuan province (very spicy).  We discovered a special pepper that provides a delicious flavor but that if you eat it, will make your mouth numb!

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

We can't describe how honored it feels to be taken into a circle of people who don't even know us or speak our language!

We also haven't had so much tea to drink in the last year, as we've had in the last few days!  But that is how business is done in China.

As with everything, there is a yin and yang aspect and after such a beautiful day, we listened to construction on the other side of our hotel wall until 10:30 pm!  Not very conducive to sleep, so Dennis went next door and was able to convey the message that people in the next hotel were trying to sleep!  The construction noises subsided and we slept until it was light outside, for the first time since arriving in China!

We had a nice breakfast of noodles with vegetables and rice porridge.  The sun is out today, so we decided to make this a photo day, rather than staying inside to do research.  Walked about 5 miles (Saturday), visiting places like the Hanging Cliff (also known as South Craig Temple or Nanyan Gong) and got to look out over the Purple Cloud Pavilion, where we first performed the Tai Chi Iron Fan form on our Kung Fu School trip in 1996!

We've attached a map of Wudangshan so you can get a grasp of the enormity of this location, as well as another picture taken just this morning!

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – April 24

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Surprise!  We are on the mountain and have better wi-fi in our rooms than what we had at the base of the mountain!

Being 14 hours ahead of Colorado time, we are now going to bed on Thursday, April 24th.  Yesterday, we visited a bank in Shiyan City for money exchange and then sent the luggage with Victor and the driver up the mountain in a small pickup.  We kept only our backpacks with camera equipment with us. Victor sent us to buy our own Wudangshan bus tickets that are good as long as we stay on the mountain.

Rode the bus up to the transfer station, caught another bus and rode to the Wuyaling Parking Lot where Victor met us.  Our hotel contains 4 rooms. A small restaurant on the first floor, then stairs (very narrow, I might add) that take you to the first floor hotel room, again up to the second room and finally up to the third (currently unoccupied) room.

The rooms are very small (the space at the foot of the beds is about a foot, so you have to walk through sideways) and are about 10 wide by 20 feet long.  White tile covers the walls, floor and ceiling.  You step up two stairs to the bathroom which is Chinese style. There is a small water basin in one corner on a table, a pit for the toilet with a flush handle on the wall, our own hot water heater hangs on the wall that is tied into a water spigot (to fill up the water kettle to boil water) and a hand held shower head.

Victor's school building and office space is just down the street a couple of doors.  We met with Victor and his students for two hours this morning to discuss aspects of the book project, show him a sample movie Dennis had put together and present gifts of books. One of those books is a prototype that Dennis created in iPhoto and sent to Apple for printing.  Part of the current printing experiments includes the use of 3D photography that our co-traveler Karl does. It seems that the four of us are on the same path to capture the mystical history, legends and myths of Wudang martial arts to share with the English speaking world!

Tomorrow we must figure out the details of getting laundry done (and in this humidity, dried)!

We've not had time to download pictures yet, but promise to send some new pictures your way soon! The mystical Wudang mountains have been shrouded in constantly changing fairyland mists - a testament to the spirit of this mountain range! Attached is a picture of one of the Wudangshan peaks taken on our 2012 trip to this mountain range.

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – April 23

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

It's been a busy two days with trains, tours and unreliable internet access!  We have wi-fi in our room at the base of Wudangshan, but the signal is intermittent enough that we've not been able to make all the email communications that we need to!

We have spent the last two nights in Shiyan City at the base of the mountain - our Wudang monk friend (English name = Victor) has been engaged here in town with a very important convention for his 15th generation of martial artists teachers and schools.  He is one of 5 - 6 people who have schools on the mountain, so is a pillar for his Master's lineage of Wudang Tai Chi.

Today we head up Wudangshan for the majority of our stay. Our bodies woke us early again, so spent some time drafting more detailed plans for our history research mission. We are looking to glean the legends, folklore and mystery of this mountain's 5,000 years of Wudang martial arts history.  We will be staying at Yang's Guesthouse whose address is Wuyaling Parking Lot.  !?!?!?  Should be interesting!  This house has three rooms and Victor has arranged for us to have the entire building to ourselves. It is centrally located to Victor's school, his residence and two of the mountain's bus stops. WE HOPE!! This will enable us to more readily get around the mountain on our own, as Victor has other obligations and will not be able to spend every minute with us (we understood this before we left the U.S.).

On Tuesday April 22nd, we woke up early (not biologically synched to China time yet), looking forward to a nice hot shower after two days of airplane and train travel! Only there was no hot water.  Dennis shivered through it, Anita skipped a shower this time around! Apparently they turn off the hot water heaters at night and don't turn them on again until 7 am. By the way, the bathroom IS the shower stall - using the shower gets the whole room wet!

We packed up to bring luggage to the lobby for safe keeping while we tour around town, only to find out we're staying in town another night and if our rooms are okay, we can leave the luggage in our rooms! So, lug the 50 pound suitcases back up to the third floor!  No elevator. There is a void in the occidental-oriental communication system. This is a small example of that reality. We know the chasm exists, but we keep trying to fill that gap of different thinking styles as best we can -- a challenge.

We have reflected on our first trip to Wudangshan with our Kung Fu school in 1996.  Back then, things were even more austere and rugged!  We had hot water, but it was brown in color.  We had a tub with a curtain rod, but no shower curtain.  Then the drain in the tub was clogged, so someone had bashed a 6-inch hole in the corner of the tub, so that the brown water could drain across the bathroom floor from the tub to another drain in the floor under the sink!

At that time, it was customary for hotel staff to come and go into rooms at will, without even knocking.  If you were caught in the shower or partially unclothed, they reported you to hotel management for being unpresentable when they entered.  That has changed - we've not had one surprise visit from hotel staff yet! Most try to be very helpful, even though no English is spoken.

We also haven't seen a rat climbing the curtains in the dining hall, as we did during the 1996 tour!  So life at the base of Wudangshan is good this year!

We are truly on our own for the most part - relying heavily on the electronic translator that we brought along. Managed to order a delicious breakfast of noodles, cabbage, garlic and other unrecognizable vegetables at a local restaurant down the road!

Victor (our friend and local guide) had hired a van and driver to take us around to sights we'd requested: the Wudang Cultural Museum which didn't open until 3 pm; Yu Xu palace ruins that are in the process of being rebuilt; a visit to a Tea House to treat our driver; a visit to the the original Wudang gate and finally a visit to the the reconstruction site of an old temple that burned down in 2003!

The Yu Xu palace ruins hold a place in our hearts as this is where our martial arts instructor Sharon, met an old Nun who headed up the school at this location.  While this elder has passed away (2002 early 2003), we had another fun experience at Yu Xu on this trip!  While taking a rest at the rear of the complex, an elderly Taoist nun approached us, holding out a plate of pumpkin-type flakey pastry ball.  While the taste was somewhat unknown to our palettes, they were delicious and energizing!

The visit to the original ancient Wudang gate was breathtaking!  This gate was the entrance to the mountain area and while we had seen it on our 2003 trip to Wudang, our co-traveler, Karl had never seen it before, though he has visited Wudang more that we have.

Here are some links to check out:

http://www.wudanggongfu.com/kungfu/school.htm

http://www.wudangchina.com/index.htm

Oh and the truck with the megaphones just drove by again, talking loudly about something that we couldn't understand!

We were on our own again tonight for dinner in the hotel.  It took 30 minutes to get something ordered for the three of us to share, even with our electronic translator!  A young lady with some English happened in (was clearly friends with some of the dining room staff), so with her iPhone and an English App, she helped us get past their initial understanding that we wanted one whole chicken for each of us, and nothing else. FINALLY we conveyed our order of fried tofu and rice to share between the 3 of us! Exasperating! But, there were many laughs and we hope that they enjoyed the communication challenge as much as we did!  The meal was delicious!

So we've had some busy and very successful days!  Remember I.I.W.I.I. - IT IS WHAT IT IS!

Blessings,

Dennis&Anita

P.S.  Our co-traveler, Karl, keeps getting lost, but we've found him every time so far.  Oh, and Anita is not blending in very well in rural China… Go figure!

China Travel Log – April 20

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

For those we've heard from thanks for the well-wishes!  We are doing good so far and are in Shanghai living the high life! Checked into the hotel here about 9 pm on April 20th and have discovered wi-fi in the room!  That is a first ever for us!  And will change tomorrow as we head to the remote areas, no doubt!

We did connect with Karl (our co-traveller) at the hotel.  Missed each other at the airport because our flight from Seattle came in early, so we were already through immigration and customs, while he was looking for us at the baggage claim!   The times of IIWII have begun - it is what it is!

We won't have time to see Shanghai sites on this end of the trip, but you can check it out online:

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

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/china/shanghai

After living a Day Without A Night on the airplane (the sun was shining on us the entire flight), we're off to Wudangshan tomorrow!  This will begin the unknown internet time, so don't worry if you don't hear from us every day!

Blessings

Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – April 19, 2014

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

We just arrived in Seattle after a very long night! Never went to bed trying to handle the puzzle of fitting 200 pounds of equipment and supplies into two suitcases.

This includes not only equipment, but some books for gifts.

Conclusion - it can't be done. We'll need two suitcases each. Now how many combinations and permutations do we try until each suitcase weighs less than 50 pounds? It took until 2:30 am! Left the house a little after 4am.

After getting on our next flight in two hours, we'll only have 12 hours left 'till landing in Shanghai! Then catch a train on our own to the hotel, for a one night stay!

Blessings,
A tired Dennis&Anita

China Travel Log – April 16

(Logistics)

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

This is a test sending from our iPhone while still in the U.S.

Put a candy bar in your pocket. Grab a bottle of water. Skivvies, socks, 
shirt, jeans, and hiking books.  Plane and train tickets.  Big camera?  
Nah, the cell phone has a camera in it. Let's go!

It's not so fast or easy getting ready for a history research mission in
China. It takes more preparation than stuffing a carry-on bag with a
swim suit and a tooth brush. Because unlike a holiday romp on a beach, 
in China one cannot just bop over to Walmart, 7-11, Starbucks, 
MacDonald's, or Safeway and get an instant fix for the need of the
moment. 

That's not say it is impossible to "live in the now" in China, but to
capture images and stories about thousands of years of martial arts
history, there are concepts of CONTINGENCY PLANNING and LOGISTICS that
are huge factors in our trips.

WHAT IF:
- there is no toilet paper in the restroom/outhouse?
- it rains when you reach the mountain summit?
- the electricity goes out during the night?
- there is no recognizable food in sight?
- you get sick or hurt?
- the ONLY way to communicate to anyone is to talk or write, and we
speak different languages?

A BRIEF LIST OF CONSIDERATIONS FOR OUR TO-DO LIST:
Electricity -- Foreign voltage very different from USA. Our missions
rely on electricity!
Luggage -- Flight restrictions on weight and size.  Carry on and
checked.
Medical/first aid -- No drug stores in remote areas to buy anything. You
get sick/hurt, you are your own doctor.
Travel documents -- Originals and copies of passports, visas, hotel
vouchers, train schedules, plane tickets, names and addresses, credit
card data, US Customs equipment receipts and more. Register with the US
Embassy in China.
Speaking of equipment -- While we've honed down the 720 cataloged items
needed for the 2002 expedition, we will each carry a backpack containing
25 - 30 pounds. What we need, can't be bought in rural China.

Then don't forget:
Things in your photo vest, like pocket knives, can't go in your carry-on
bag at the airport. But when you're on top of a mountain and need to
make a repair, you'll want to have that pocket knife handy!
Everything has to be light enough for YOU to carry by yourself in areas
where there are no elevators in hotels, or smooth sidewalks or even
streets sometimes. And keep the pocket translator handy. English is not
spoken except on rare occasions.

Things that make the trip FUN:
We make friends on the other side of the planet.
We design logos for every trip to go on shirts, luggage tags, etc., 
which we order or make ourselves.
Practice hikes, photo shoots, make small sample movies, build photo
album books. All to savor the memories, and share with our friends.

So, hands across the oceans. Friends over there and friends at home. 
Such happiness is what life is all about. And as our cats, Sherlock & 
Dr.Watson, teach us: sometimes life is SO FUN, you just have to RUN and
play hard!

Says the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, "A journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step".

Much like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes' phrase, 
"The game is afoot".

So off we go….
… adventure in Wudangshan during the Chinese year of the horse.  Our
next update should be from the other side of the planet!

Blessings,

Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – April 8

(Packing)

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

The last China story you heard from us was about the buried Terra Cotta Warriors found in 1974, near Xi'an, China.  These are the life size terra-cotta replicas of the armies of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. We sent that story almost a year ago (April 2013)!

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/emperor-qin/

We've had many questions since then, about how does one prepare for a trip to remote regions of China?

Simple answer: Everything you might possibly need, 'cuz there is no Walmart nearby.

Complex answer: Don't try to pack the night before you are scheduled to leave on your trip! 

Vaccinations: Depending on where you go and what time of year you're traveling in China, you may need to prepare weeks in advance to protect yourself from unknown bugs:

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/extended_student/china

Packing list: Medicines you might need (aspirin, Excedrin, cold, flu, bandages, bandaids, anti-septic salves, disposable ice packs, moleskin for blisters, sunscreen, aloe vera), vitamins to maintain heath (multi, magnesium, potassium, b-complex, probiotic, electrolytes, resveratrol, GreensFirst and AloeCran drink mixes), chopsticks, shower curtain and rings, duct tape and bailing wire for repairs, scissors, powdered coffee and creamers.

Snack bags: Since we tend to hike a lot on these adventures, we are often not near any food sources for 2 meals per day.  As such, we pack 1 snack size bag of granola/nuts mix per person per day and 1 snack size bag of dried fruit per person per day where hikes are planned.  Of course, it's imperative to have M&Ms in constant supply.  Peanut and milk chocolate. Also flavors like Mint, Peppermint and Raspberry!   Even then we typically lose 5 - 20 pounds each on these adventures!

Water and water purifiers: The best rule of thumb when traveling in China is that no water source is safe to drink. Unless it's in a sealed bottle. Some of the areas we travel don't have readily available bottled water vendors, so we bring with us water purifiers or filters. Our favorite are pump water filters like the SweetWater or Katadyn. 

Electronics: This is the complicated part, due to the mission of our trips. Documentary and now book writing!  Computers and chargers. Cameras, batteries and chargers. Phones and chargers. An American style surge protector, pigtail adaptors that allow plugging in more than one unit per plug. A transformer to change Chinese current in to U.S. voltage. A Chinese style surge protector.  Memory cards for your varied equipment, card readers, external drives and thumb drives for backups. DVD's and DVD burner also for creating backups.

POWER CONVERSION: China-220v/50hz -> US-110v/60hz. If you don't hook things up correctly, circuit breakers start to trip off in the hotel. Trust us. So we take this picture as our memory schematic.

Clothes: Keep to a minimum. Depending on when you travel, bring layers to battle the colder evenings and nights.  Pants: 3-4 pair per personShirts: 4-5 per personSocks: 5 pair per person Hooded sweatshirt: 1 per personRain coat: 1 per personShoes: 1 pair of proven walking shoes.  Never, ever wear a new pair of sneakers!  You'll get blisters in no time and will wish you'd packed moleskin!

Compartmentalize the luggage contents:  As we tend to travel to multiple locations on one trip, we learned to buy small, clear bags to pack related items.  This bag holds pants, this bag holds shirts, this bag holds charging equipment, this bag holds toiletries.  That way you can quickly find the item you need and repack in a hurry.  Then the next time you look for something, you're not digging through a disheveled heap to find something.

Chinese Translator: Regardless of where you travel, it is likely that you'll find yourself in a place where no one reads or speaks English.  As such, we recommend hiring a national and local guide to take you throughout the country.  We also brought an electronic translator that even speaks the words.  We had a lot of fun with that when we ran into people who didn't speak English but we needed to ask questions of (like when Dennis was looking for his yellow-haired wife - turns out there is no word for blonde! They laughed and immediately pointed in the direction they saw her!  Guess Anita doesn't blend in as well as she'd hoped!).

Communications: Prepare in advance to communicate with friends and family in the U.S.  We plan on two modes of communication: 1) iPHone with the AT&T international package (this allows unlimited texting) and 2) email. For email we have the email list set up with admin access via numerous email accounts, ranging from yahoo.com to gmail to hotmail.  Because you never know what you might and might not be able to access from within China:

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

Part of communications is keeping a diary of sorts.  What happened when, with whom, what was discussed.  Were there actions items on anyone's part?  Are they to be done in country, or when you get back home?

Gifts: It is customary to bring gifts for those you visit. Anything from an English book about the area you're from, to a silk scarf, to small candy bars, to a high powered pocket size flashlight, to American postcards, to a Colorado calendar or a hand made gift (like an Apple iPhoto book with your own pictures and stories).

Security: Always carry a high-powered flashlight on you at all times.  Carry a pen and paper at all times. Make copies of your passport, travel visa, drivers license and credit cards.  Carry a copy with you and have your travel partner also carry a copy, in case your documents, etc are lost or stolen.  Always keep an eye on your traveling companions, always be aware of who is around you and what they are doing!

On October 30, 2012, we sent an email to our list, talking about our friend Victor who lives at the most remote mountain, Wudangshan.  How we'd met years before (we were looking for an English book about Wudang in the bookstore where he worked), re-established connection via email and how he served as our guide at Wudangshan in 2012.

We asked him again during the last trip, if there was now an English book about Wudang's history to buy.  His answer was, 'No and so you must come back next year and we will write this book.'

We laughed!  Well, we're not laughing anymore.  Instead we're packing for spending 3 weeks in Wudangshan with Victor to get the stories, legends, folklore, myths and history of Wudangshan for the first ever English book about martial arts in this area!  Wudang is the birthplace of Chinese Tai Chi history, dating back 5,000 years.  That is the same timeframe of the Egyptian pyramids!

So here is where we'll be, from about the middle of April to about the middle of May 2014!

Shaanxi and Hubei Provinces:

http://www.maps-of-china.net/province/shaanxim.htm

http://www.wudangchina.com/index.htm

Shiyan City (pronounced SHEE-an) is at the base of the Wudang mountain range and is not to be confused with Xi'an (Xi'an is pronounced shee-ON), which is north west and where the Terra Cotta Warriors are found.

Wudangshan is one of the more remote locations, so internet access will be minimal. Before we leave we will be sending a test email to this list from Anita's iPhone. Though even if that works in the U.S., it may not help us stay in communications with you while we're in China.  We promise to do our best to keep in touch as we can!

We just met with the Lunt Security Team, who will be taking care of Sherlock and Dr. Watson (our two kitties) and watching the house for us.

Now off to finish packing…  Less than two weeks before our departure!

Blessings,

Dennis and Anita

(Flood 2013 emails)

2012 China Trip

China Travel Log – April 22, 2013

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Last month we shared photos of Huashan as well as some stories.  Thousands of steps!  In pelting rain, we traversed our way down the mountain amidst hoards of people and stood in crowded lines to get on the tram that carried us back to the bottom of the mountain. We were wet, cold, arm sleeves dripping with cold water and pant legs soggy from the bottom up past the knees.  Sneakers were soaked in water and sloshing with each step.  In this state we climbed aboard our van and traveled 3 hours to Xi'an China.  Heat in the back two rows of seats was negligible.  The three of us were still shivering on arrival in Xi'an.

Xi'an, China  (Xi'an is pronounced shee-ON).  Home to China's first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang. 246 BC to 221 BC which was the beginning of nearly two millennium of imperial rule. He is known for unifying China (no small task for such a large land mass with no modern amenities like telephones, computers, trains, planes, or automobiles) and also sanctioned much work on the Great Wall.  This was the era that began China's massive national road system.  Like many seekers of power, he ordered the destruction of books and killed scholars to quell the potential for free-thinking citizens.

His amassing of earthly power as well as his fear of death, led him to seek immortality. During his reign many missions to search for the Elixir of life were dispatched in China and abroad.  His alchemists and court physicians, being ordered to discover the secret to live forever, devised of mercury pills to give the emperor immortality.  We now know that mercury is extremely toxic to the human body, so the court's deemed elixir of life ironically eventually caused his early and painful death.  The toxicity is known to cause liver failure, sensory impairment, disturbed sensation, loss of coordination and brain death.

Now fast forward more than 2,000 years.  In 1974, local farmers near the city of Xi'an were digging wells in search of water in their field and came upon a find that would forever alter known human history.  The initial archeological digs discovered three pits containing life-sized terra-cotta soldiers, horses and chariots!  An estimate of 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses!

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

These pits outlay the mountain-like tomb mound of the Emperor's burial site itself.  Modern archeological techniques have confirmed the accounts of China's grand historians, Tan Qian and his son Sima Qian who recorded details of the massive tomb that took 36 years to build.  Sima wrote 100 years after the Emperor's death that the ceiling of the tomb chamber is a model of the heavens and its floor a map of the empire: jewels and other treasures buried within are guarded by devices triggered to release arrows at any intruder; and the workmen who installed the finishing touches were buried alive to ensure that the secret of the entranceway died with them.  Also recorded was that mercury was used to simulate the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers as well as the great sea.

Modern day technology has in fact, recorded high levels of mercury seeping out of the tomb mound and ground penetrating radar shows the layout of a massive (though miniature) underground city.  The potential dangers of hidden traps and mercury poisoning have prevented the tomb mound itself from excavation to date.  The hazy mountain in the attached XianTombMound photograph is the Tomb Mound of China's first Emperor.

http://www.china-history.net/qin.htm

Since our last trip to China in 2003, ground penetrating radar technologies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-penetrating_radar

have discovered an additional 600 pits surrounding the emperor's tomb mound, beyond the original three!  Additional varieties of figures have been unearthed, including acrobats and court jesters.

We had the opportunity to met one of the farmers who discovered the site in 1974, bought the English Terracotta Soldiers book and got it autographed!  

Given that Chinese martial arts dates back to 5,000 years, it was no surprise once the first pit was opened and bronze weapons unearthed that there was clear evidence of martial and organizational capabilities present during the Qin dynasty.  The metal weapons were so finely crafted that after 2,000 years of burial weapons that were intact showed no evidence of rusting or decay!

http://www.chinamuseums.com/qinshihuangt.htm

Blessings,

Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – March 15, 2013

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

On this day we recognize the Ides of March stemming from the Latin word 'idus' indicating the approximate day that was the middle of the month.  More notably, it is also the date when Julius Caesar met his demise by conspirators in 44 B.C.

By 44 B.C. in China, Daoist (also spelled Taoist) monks already inhabited the dangerous peaks of Huashan in the northwestern region of the country.  The ruggedness of the mountain lent itself well to a hermit's life and avoided some of the destruction from the days of Mao and the Cultural Revolution.  Taoism is this mountain's historical religion and the mountain's history is rich with Chinese martial arts.  It is believed that China's most famous physician frequented this mountain, in part due to the plentiful herbal medicines that grow naturally - Dr. Hua Tuo.  Hua Tuo is also credited to having developed some of our Kung Fu martial arts history with the Exercise of the Five Animals.  Learn more about Hua Tuo (last name pronounced like our English word toe) here:

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

For those who were with us during the October 2012 expedition, you'll remember that we wrote some of our day on Hua and with the pelting rainstorm how we got within 30 minutes walk from one of our goals, before the storm forced us to retreat:

http://www.wherecoolthingshappen.com/huashan-crazy-plank-walk/

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

The mountain is solid granite and consists of five separate but connected peaks.  Being in the colder months of the year and with coal the primary fuel for heat in the city at the base of the mountain, the air was quite hazy and dense.  Not conducive to photography.  Likewise, we noted the increased tourism and multitudes of tourists on the mountain, even though late October is not a peak season for tourism in China.

Until recently, the mountain was traversed via hand hewn hand and foot holds allowing access to many temples scattered across the mountain peaks.  In modern times, we now have the (relative) ease of using hand-hewn steps and walkways.  The only way to get water, food, construction materials and goods to sell onto the mountain is by porters.  Likewise, the only way to get trash and sewage off the mountain is by (you guessed it) porters.

There are historically five great mountains in China, representing the center and all four directions. Huashan is considered to be the West Great Mountain.

Hua itself is described as having five peaks:  North Peak where the cable car from the base of the mountain ends, Central, South, East and West. The highest of the peaks is South Peak measured at 2154.9 meters or 7070 feet in elevation. The name Huashan loosely translates to flower mountain because of the five petaled peaks.

http://www.chinatravelkey.com/xian/attractions/mthuashan/mainpeak.htm

One of the main pathways from north peak to the remainder of the mountain is the Knife edge or Dark Dragon Ridge.  This is a narrow ridge with sheer precipices on either side, an approximate 60 degrees of stair walking, over 1,000 feet in length.  Not for the faint of heart!  All of the steps shown in the attached photos are steps we traversed going up and later down the mountain in the driving rain storm!

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – Feb 10, 2013

(Happy New Year)

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Happy Chinese New Year that is!  The Chinese New Year is different than our calendar-based New Year known as January 1st of each year.  Today, February 10th is the start of this year's calendar and this is the year of the Water Snake.  Lunar and solar cycles determine the exact timing of the new year and the Chinese Zodiac plays a large role the new year's celebrations!

Check out the Chinese New Year details here:

http://www.theholidayspot.com/chinese_new_year/

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/focus/calendar.htm

Learn more about the Chinese Zodiac:

http://www.theholidayspot.com/chinese_new_year/calendar.htm

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/story.htm

Following the principle of Chinese yin and yang (the concept of complementary opposites like hot/cold, light/dark and young/old), on this day of National Chinese celebration, we bring to you a story of tragedy from within the lands of China.  We met a warm soul during our travels across the orient, whom we call John. He lived during the time of the uprising of the Red Guard under Mao Zedong, known as the Cultural Revolution.  John's family had for generations been small business owners, passing the business from father to son.  

Under Mao, capitalists and capitalism were deemed undesirable and needed to be purged from society.  As a result, all private business was seized and assets destroyed.  John's father was sent to prison and tortured for years for being a capitalist.  While his father languished in prison, John was sent to work at hard labor with other capitalists' children on rural farms.

John's father nearly died in prison and, although eventually released, he suffered from nightmares to the end of his days.  John later took the college entrance exams and passed with flying colors, so under Chinese law was eventually allowed to attend college. Meanwhile the infrastructure of the entire country collapsed. Only after Deng Xiaoping became Chairman were the mistakes of the Cultural Revolution acknowledged and corrected. But barely in time, as the whole country was on the verge of physical and economic collapse.

While John has persevered and lives life the best he can, it is clear that many emotional wounds exist.

The New Year is a peak travel time in China. One of the big changes we found since our last visits is the huge growth in domestic tourism. Citizens are discovering their rich heritage by visiting places like the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province. While it was once possible to get photos of just buildings at such places, the surge in tourism makes these ancient temples very crowded today.

Blessings,

Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – Jan 1,2013

(Octocopters)

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Happy New Year to all of you!  Now that the holidays are behind us, are you ready for some more China 2012 stories?

A couple of months ago, you met Victor at Wudang mountain.  This story explores perhaps the most un-nerving and weird event during our two week China adventure!

We arrived at the base of Wudangshan late in the day on October 22nd, after a five-hour bus ride.  Victor met us at the outdoor bus stop and we walked 10-15 minutes through town to get to our hotel.  After checking in, we hauled our 150 pounds of luggage up four flights of stairs to our hotel room.  Before saying goodnight to Victor, we agreed to meet in the parking lot the next morning at 6:30 am to walk to the town square for exercise with the local towns folk.

On the morning of October 23rd, it was still dark and the temperature brisk as we headed through town, walking along the local waterway.  Coming into the town square some 20 minutes later, there were many groups of locals already dancing, playing badminton, going through sword forms and doing Tai Chi forms, including fans.

After individual warm ups and stretching, Victor started us out by taking us through some of his martial arts material. Partway through one of his Tai Chi forms, we caught a glimpse of something small and black flying high over and around the town center. 

The unit flew quite high back and forth along the road and over us for about 5 minutes before it came close enough to really see.  It was a version of an octocopter drone containing a remote control camera!

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2012/04/19/the-camera-bag-x88-j-octocopter-is-drone-of-your-dreams-or-nightmares-for-s

Of course, we're thinking, 'Uh oh!  We don't exactly blend in here in rural China!  Why would big brother be watching us?'

Finally the crew running the unit brought it to the ground on the side of the town square and we got to meet them and take close up pictures of the octocopter.  We presume that they were with a local TV station, so if any of you find footage or photographs of us online, let us know and we'll send it to this list!  Look for three Americans with Victor in Shiyan City, China on October 23rd, at the town square. Seven-thirty (ish) am.

There were no elevators in the hotels, but we had robots in the sky watching us… It's enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up!

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – Oct 30,2012

(Victor At Wudang)

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

As we begin to sort through the estimated 6,000 to 7,000 photos that Dennis and Anita took on the China 2012 excursion, memories of stories are coming to mind!  We'll share some of these with our friends and family.  If for any reason, you would rather not receive these periodic emails now that the trip is complete, just let us know and we'll remove your email address!

Wudangshan.  Wudang Mountain.  A magical Taoist-based mountain with a 5,000 year history of martial arts and Tai Chi!  That hearkens back to the time of the building of the great Egyptian pyramids!  These are mountain ranges plentiful with naturally growing herbs for medicine, temples, walkways and walls built during the Ming Dynasty with compound curves!  Block placement even on those curves are so precise that you cannot fit a dime edge between them!  And then there is Victor Gu...

In 2003, we met Victor in a bookstore in Shiyan City at the base of the Wudang mountains. Victor is his chosen English name - his Chinese name is Gu Shiyi.  He spoke very good English, had an understanding of martial arts and an interest in health and longevity,  We were looking for a book about Wudang in English.  Victor bemoaned the fact that such a book did not exist (and still does not, some nine years later).

Sadly, we lost track of Victor over time.  In preparation for our trip, Anita googled a legend of Wudang (called the Needle Grinding Well) and found in the search results a website with an email address:  wudangvictor@hotmail.com

Wondering if this could possibly be the same Victor (after all how many Victors could there be in a remote mountain region in the middle of China)?  Long story short, it WAS our Victor from 9 years ago and he now runs a travel agency and martial arts wellness center!  Our travel agency eventually approved Victor for our local Wudang guide!  So we ended up with not only the 'inside scoop' on Wudang history, but a fellow martial artist who allowed our video taping a number of his performances!  We'll be editing those and will send him the full versions of each!

In the attached photo, we proudly introduce you to one of our Chinese martial arts friends!  Victor is in a tai chi pose in front of one of the peaks at Wudang.  In fact the highest peak you see is the Golden Summit:
http://english.cri.cn/6566/2010/10/08/902s598292.htm

And check out our friend's website:
http://www.wudangchina.com/index.htm

Nine years ago, the only way to get to Wudang was a ten hour train ride through amazing rural countrysides.  This year we took a five hour bus ride on a new highway that runs over and through the mountains from Xi'an, the city of the Terra Cotta soldiers!  We kind of missed seeing the ox drawn carts, children herding their goats and workers in rice paddies…

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – Oct 28,2012

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Home Sweet Home!  We are again struck with the astounding blessings, freedoms and opportunities that those who live in America enjoy and too often take for granted. More about this after we've had a chance to digest some of what we've seen…

In the meantime, jet lag has set in full force, so we're trying to remember what our names are and figure out which side of the planet we're on!  We have two kitty hearts to fill up and think they have partially forgiven us for being gone so long!  A special thanks to Danielle who took such good care of them!

Thanks to all of you for following us on our adventures and thanks again to everyone who touched us with your emails while we were out of the country!  Attached is an overview itinerary of where we've all been over the last two weeks...

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – Oct 27, 2012

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Saturday, October 27th, 2012.  Written at the Detroit, MI airport.

We are back in the good ol' USA!  Still on the way home, but getting close to the finish of our trip!

Walked the Great Wall yesterday at Badaling, outside of Beijing!  Lots more tourists than when we were there 9 years ago!  Then shopping at an international bookstore before re-packing for the long trip home!

There'll be some stories to pass on, once we figure out which side of the planet we're on!

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – Oct 25, 2012

Tuesday, Oct. 23, Wednesday Oct 24, Thursday Oct 25,2012 .   Written on Wudangshan.  Sent from Beijing Friday morning.

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Xi'an, China.  We finished up our tour in Xi'an with a Confucious Temple tour, seeing statues, stone tablets and stone carved calligraphy and poems from ancient times.  Ming Dynasty and before!  We in America have NO idea what ancient history is and it's mind boggling to realize that something you're looking at is older than the pyramids in Egypt!

Confucian Temple (the Stele Forest)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stele_Forest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius_Temple
http://www.chinahighlights.com/xian/attraction/forest-of-stele-museum.htm

We were in American Heaven for a period of time, finding out that there was both a Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks within walking distance from our hotel!  So sitting in Starbucks, Xi'an, we enjoyed Raspberry and Hazelnut lattes, while munching on a plain cake and chocolate sprinkle donut.  The lattes tasted as we've come to expect. The donuts…  well… they looked right but something about the dough was a little different…

Then we fell off of the technological map with no internet access.  We've so many colorful stories to tell, but for now, check out where we've been the last three days:

Yuxu Palace:
http://www.damo-qigong.net/wudang/yuxu.htm

Wudangshan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudang_Mountains
http://www.wudangchina.com/tour.htm
http://www.wudanggongfu.com
http://www.wudanwushuju.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudang_Mountains
http://blog.chinatravel.net/culture-history/wudang-shan-kung-fu-martial-arts.html
http://www.chinatourmap.com/hubei/wudang-mountain.html

Purple Cloud temple:
http://history.cultural-china.com/en/169History8543.html
http://www.damo-qigong.net/wudang/zhixiao.htm

Golden Summit
http://www.taoistgongfu.com/wudang.htm
http://english.cri.cn/6566/2010/10/08/902s598292.htm

Wearrived late on Thursday night in Beijing (10 pm by the time we got to the hotel).  Up early this morning (Friday) for our last day in China before taking the long flight back home very early Saturday morning!

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – Oct 21, 2012

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Well, we attacked Hua Mountain and Hua conquered us!  Again.  This was our third visit to this monumental mountain range that translated is 'Flower Mountain'.  The name is due to the five petaled peaks that make up the mountain: North Peak, South Peak, East Peak, West Peak and Central Peak.  The entire mountain is white granite with sheer thousand foot cliffs, outcroppings and cornices. It is easy to slip and fall in good weather and it's tragic that numbers of people meet their accidental deaths on this mountain every year.

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

But I get ahead of myself….  After checking into the hotel in the city at the base of Hua and getting ready for bed Saturday night, we could not get the room to warm up!  So Dennis went to get the hotel floor attendant (the rural areas have this service on each floor of the hotels to provide assistance, hot boiled water, etc.)  After she made numerous phone calls from our room to the front desk, we were connected with our local guide Jim, who explained that the hotel controls the room temperature and it cannot be changed.  If you get cold, there is an extra quilt in the closet. Okay then!  T'was time to get out the long johns!  Glad we brought them!

Then, to prepare for re-packing our backpacks to lighten the load to hike up the thousands of steps of Huashan, we set the alarm extra early.  But… the alarm did not go off (or we slept through it) and had to miss breakfast in hotel.  So we suffered by eating our instant oatmeal in the room while we prepared for the mountain assault!

The Assault on Hua:  We made the trek from north peak all the way to east peak before the rain came. We managed to get some video footage of the struggle to climb the steep and narrow dragon ridge knife edge along the way. Defeated by Hua weather, we walked down the wet & slippery granite steps and made it back to north peak in about an hour. BUT THEN, we waited in line to catch the cable car the rest of the way down the mountain with thousands of pushing and shoving Chinese for 2 more hours, while standing in the rain. As the rain increased, the temperature decreased. Once, this environment caused some locals to get into a fist fight in the line behind us. A hot shower in the Xian hotel felt very good and helped reduce the chills!

So while we made much progress hiking, in spite of the crowds and weather, we did not accomplish one of our goals. The Huashan Plank walk:
http://www.wherecoolthingshappen.com/huashan-crazy-plank-walk/

We've all decided that we'll have to come back someday for another attempt...

Today, we're finishing some touring in Xi'an and then off to the most remote sacred mountain on this visit:  Wudangshan!

Again, thank you to everyone who is emailing us!  It helps us feel very connected to home while in a very foreign environment!

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – Oct 20, 2012

Friday, Oct. 19 and Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012Written at the base of Huashan at 7:09 pm.

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Oh my!  We have not been letting grass grow beneath our feet!  As mentioned in our last update, we spend Friday at the Shaolin Temple, the Pagoda Forest, rode the cable car part way up the mountain for valley sights, drove to Luoyang, only to catch another bullet train to Xi'an.  It is strange to know that one is traveling across the country at 144 mph (or 240 kilometers). Once in Xi'an, we enjoyed local cuisine at a local restaurant, providing tastes we'd never had before!  This is an interesting trip in that while we have local guides for each city's touring, we are on our own sometimes, getting from city to city!  'Here are your train tickets, go to platform 4, get on car 5.  Don't dilly dally as you have 2 minutes to get on the train with all your luggage and they will not wait for you...'  Ack!

Check out where we've been the last two days!
Shaolin Temple
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaolin_Temple
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/henan/luoyang/songshan_shaolin.htm

Pagoda Forest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagoda_Forest_at_Shaolin_Temple
http://www.chinatouronline.com/china-travel/luoyang/luoyang-attractions/Pagoda-Forest_383.html

Then getting up in Xi'an, we drove out of the city to tour the Terracotta warriors and tomb site of China's first emperor who'd ordered his tomb site constructed while he was still alive.  This emperor, Qin Shi Haung Di sought immortality while alive and was given mercury as a potion to extend his life (mercury lasts a long time, right?).  We suspect that the mercury is what ended his life around the age of 50.  In his tomb mound, he ordered rivers of mercury to be placed, and the site is still so toxic that it has not been opened or excavated!

Terracotta Army Museum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/terra_cotta_army/

Qin Shi Haung Di tomb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/terra_cotta_army/mausoleum_1.htm

West Jade Temple at the base of Huashan. This temple grounds was under construction in 2002 and is a small replica of the Forbidden City in Beijing! It is mostly finished and is new construction that looks very old!  We've not been able to find any information about this beautiful sight on the internet, which is too bad!  If any of you find something, let us know!

Doctor Hua To's grave
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Tuo
http://history.cultural-china.com/en/50History63.html

Since last visiting all of the places above, we are shocked with the changes and construction that has happened since 2002!  Sometimes we could not even recognize the place!

Tomorrow we will be climbing Huashan (Hua Mountain):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hua

We've not had a chance to reply to all the emails we're getting from you, but please know that we enjoy hearing from each and every one of you!

Blessings,
Dennis & Anita

China Travel Log – Oct 18, 2012

Thursday, Oct.18, 2012 Written at the Shaolin International Hotel in Dengfeng, China. (we're getting our days confused - think today is Thursday, but have no idea what time it is as my watch is up in the room!)

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 – Oct17, 2012

Thursday, Oct.18, 2012 Written at the Shaolin International Hotel in Dengfeng, China. (we're getting our days confused - think today is Thursday, but have no idea what time it is as my watch is up in the room!)

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 – Oct 15, 2012

Fellow Virtual Travelers,

Here we are at the Forbidden Palace - taken yesterday, Monday October 15th.  Karl is on the left and Dennis is on the right.

Blending in, in China!
Dennis and Anita

China Travel Log – Oct 15, 2012

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 – Oct 14

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