China Day 12 – Shaolin Temple – The Birthplace of Kung Fu

Shaolin Temple at Songshan Mountain. We woke up today super early like before the sunrise just to have breakfast at 7am so we could walk over to the entrance of Shaolin Temple Scenic Area. China has perfected the art of monetizing every tourist attraction, even temples without exceptions.

Songshan Shaolin Scenic Area Grade AAAAA - Unesco Heritage 

Shaolin Temple Main Entrance

Shaolin Temple is known as the birthplace of Kung Fu some might say. The original temple was burn down back in 1929 and then rebuilt completely in 1989. Coupled with the mass tourism of people, some might balk at the novelty of the attraction but for me the essence and spirit of Kung Fu birthplace is still there while you walk around being hazed by monks trying to sell trinkets riddled with donations.

They had a daily performance almost every hour and while it looked really commercialized, it was fun, so I enjoyed it a lot. Seeing some dislocated joints body movement coupled with crazy circus type acrobatics, I have to say that I won’t be doing any Kung Fu anytime soon. The rebuilt temple however was beautiful despite what negative comments others will tell you.

The Famous Tree with Holes due to Finger Kung Fu practice

Shaolin Temple 

Shaolin Temple Main Hall

Shaolin Temple Famous Hall for the Broken Ground from Kung Fu Stomping 

Tsevtan & me decided to really explore the place so we even explore past the pagoda forest and went up a cable car to see the Second Abbot seclusion temple. By the time we got back to the hotel and packed up to start the day’s journey, it was already 1230pm. I had a quick lunch while Tsevtan pushed off early.

The ride for today was miserable. It was raining, cold, freezing, foggy and the damaged roads were wet + slippery. It was all the worst combination for riding minus only being during the day instead of night. That was the only good part for Tsevtan & I decided to break off from the standard daily programme schedule today.

Shaolin Temple Daily Kung Fu Performance 

Shaolin Temple Kung Fu Demonstration 

Second Abbot Seclusion Temple 

Cable Car to the Second Abbot Seclusion Temple 

Instead of riding 400+km to Lingtong as per the guide recommendation, we only did 200km to Sanmenxia, splitting off from the main group and booking our own accommodations. The rest of the group did the crazy dash to Lingtong but then they also did not linger very long at the Shaolin Temple.

I reach the hotel at Sanmenxia just nice at sunset 6pm with both my hands numb and almost senseless due to the cold. A little walk around this normal town of Sanmenxia where the locals barely see a tourist internationally or locally was a very different experience from chasing sight after sight in China.

Sanmenxia 

Life is simple and life is beautiful. Even in a country with 1.4 billion people, there are so many peaceful and open space town like Sanmenxia that is unknown to the world.

Travelled on: Oct 2024