The long-awaited post is finally here...
BACKPACKING THE TEMPLES OF NORTH-CENTRAL CHINA: THE FINAL WEEK OF CHINA
SUMMER 2017
See part 1, part 2, and part 3 for first three installments of this adventure.
BACKPACKING THE TEMPLES OF NORTH-CENTRAL CHINA: THE FINAL WEEK OF CHINA
SUMMER 2017
See part 1, part 2, and part 3 for first three installments of this adventure.
This post covers week five, the final week of the trip.
Time to board our mental plane and jet off to...
Henan Province, Central China
From our home-base of Xi'an, my dear friend Zach (met in Cancun, reunited in China!) and I hopped on a bullet train heading east, to the neighboring province of Henan.
Our first stop after our Luoyang hostel was this AMAZING grocery store. "Grocery store" is a misnomer; the complex is more like a mall, with a full grocery section, clothing section, book section, and way more!
At a tiny makeshift restaurant on a street near the store, Zach and I got ourselves some dinner. We ordered cooked peppers and green vegetables, spicy green beans, sweet eggplant, and spicy tofu. From the store, watermelon, and beer.
We stayed in Longmen Youth Hostel for three nights while in western Henan. I can't recommend it enough! The people who work there are so lovely, they offer in-house cooked meals for very reasonable prices and provide helpful directions and guidance for getting around the area.
Breakfast courtesy of our wonderful hostel cook!
That day, Zach and I took a short bus ride to the place I had been the most excited to see out of any place in China: Longmen Grottoes, a massive Buddhist cave temple complex near the ancient Chinese capital of Luoyang.
It was SO hot when we got to Longmen that a cool-down break was essential. After a quick purchase of a fan and the best ice cream bar I have ever had (red bean INSIDE green bean ice cream), we were Longmen-bound.
The cave temple system lines the mountains on both sides of the Yi River, pictured above.
The 1km stretch of limestone cliffs contains over 2,300 caves and niches, and features over 110,000 (!!! That is not a typo !!!) Buddhist stone statues.
Carved in the Tang Dynasty (5th to 8th century CE, approx. 1500 years ago), the works in this cave complex are all entirely devoted to the Buddhist religion. The Tang Dynasty is widely regarded as the high point for Buddhist art and culture in China.
To give you a peak into the weather on the day we visited Longmen: felt like 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius), UV index 11, and impending thunder storms!!
One of the niches that I particularly liked. I find the countenance of the center Buddha so peaceful. Notice also the lotus motif on the ceiling above, as well as the smaller buddhas carved up on the wall behind. Buddha is pictured with his main attendants, including Ananda and Aniruddha.
Carved over a millennium-and-a-half ago, yet exhibiting intricate detail even today.
Winding limestone niches jam-packed with Buddhist motifs.
We ascended a staircase, thunder rocking the mountains, rain threatening from above, and beheld the site of the amazing Locana Buddha.
Towering at 17 meters (56 feet), this limestone rendering of Locana Buddha presides over the cave complex at Longmen. She is the most famous statue from this site.
This awesome female divinity was commissioned by Empress Wu Zetian in 675 CE. Empress Wu Zetian was the only reigning empress in Chinese history; all other rulers in China have been male. Locana Buddha is one of the only depictions of a buddha that is female. It is no coincidence that this female buddha was commissioned and carved by the most powerful woman in Chinese history!
A panorama of Locana's residence. She sits with attendants and guards that protect her from evil spirits.
I truly cannot explain the nature of the experience that I had here. The power coming from the thunder, the brewing storm just over the ledge above Locana's head, threatened rain, invoked rebirth. I cried profusely as I felt the spirit of my grandfather there with me. It was the fulfilling of a lifelong dream, to meditate in front of one of the largest Buddhas on earth. I lit incense for her and stayed a long time by her feet.
At this point, a little boy (pictured to my right above) came up to me holding a bracelet. He saw that I was crying and insisted I take the chain of round pink beads and shiny charms from his hand. I thanked him and looked to his mother and grandmother at my left, who were both smiling. The grandmother was crying as I was. I asked his mother if the bracelet was hers. She said that the boy had found it and that he was completely certain it was meant to be mine. I asked him, "Baobao?" ("Hug?") and got the sweetest hug from this little boy, who could not have been more than five or six years old.
The mother spoke remarkably good English, especially for the relatively more rural province in which we found ourselves. We talked for a long while. I think of this conversation almost daily.
Below is the summary of our conversation, which I typed out a few minutes after we parted.
My main takeaway: Do not seek, and what you need will come to you.
(By this, I do not mean to live passively and not take action to realize your passions and goals; more like, if you let go of attachment to outcomes, what is meant to be will be, and you will be free from the suffering that accompanies attachment and expectations.)
My little mala (Buddhist prayer beads) collection. Left to right: wooden mala I purchased at Longmen while hiding out from the rain, pink beaded bracelet from the sweet little boy, mala from Los Angeles Chinatown, red beaded mala from Huashan, and longer beaded mala from Dayanta.
After a transformative experience (to say the least), Zach and I crossed the bridge over the Yi River to see the cave temples on the other side.
More limestone niches jam-packed with buddhas and Buddhist imagery.
The view of Locana's niche from the opposite bank of the Yi River.
We happened upon a beautiful temple on this mountainside. Songs of "om mani padme hum" played from inside the hall, echoing sounds and intentions of devotion.
A little perspective; the temple, with the Yi River and cliff-carved niches behind.
Finally, Zach and I reached a lovely garden at the end of the Longmen complex. This garden was built to honor Bai Juyi, a famous Tang Dynasty poet who deeply valued the sacred nature of the Longmen mountains and who spent much of his time there. You can see the rain dancing on the pond's surface in the photo above.
Dinner was Henan-style noodles.
On our walk back to the hostel, we passed a park filled with spectators watching a "Henan Opera." This style, Yu Opera, originated in this province and is the most popular art form here.
The next day, Zach and I took a bus to Baimasi, the White Horse Temple.
Baimasi is the first Buddhist temple EVER in China. It was established around the turn of the common era, in about 68 CE. This is THE place where Buddhism arrived in China, nearly 2,000 years ago!
The temple complex features three temples which embody the cultural exchange of Buddhism between different countries. Above is the Indian Temple.
The rendering of Śākyamuni Buddha housed in the Indian Temple.
The Thai Temple at Baimasi.
Markedly different style than the Indian temple, no?
Last was the Burmese-style temple. This one featured the most awesome golden buddha on a grand serpent throne.
Epic!
We walked by a sweet pond on our way to the main temple complex, where the centuries-old Chinese architecture awaited us. Check out the cute turtles! (How to say "turtle" in Chinese: wūguī/"woo-gway".)
The lotus-lined pathway to the Hall of the Heavenly Kings. Can you smell the incense smoke?
A tourist got in the way of my photo! (Kidding, it's me.)
Museum-like halls make up a part of the temple complex. On the wall above hangs a calligraphic representation of the character for Buddha, fo 佛.
Zach and I found a little library at the back of the Baimasi complex. They served free tea there and offered free Buddhism books for anyone interested.
A most enjoyable visit to the White Horse Temple! I felt imbued with the 1,950 years of Buddhist spirit that reside in this place.
Henan noodles for lunch. YUM!
That afternoon, Zach and I revisited our favorite grocery store/mini-mall.
Drooling... all of these baked goods were so fresh, with samples at each station, and so inexpensive. For perspective, 5 yuan is about $0.73 USD.
Bus-inception! Man, are these things great. The public transportation system in China is one of the best that I have ever experienced.
Some of the fun Chinese Oreos we bought at the grocery store. There were countless varieties that looked similar to this one; cookies with half strawberry, half kiwi cream; half lemon, half orange; half peach, half grape; the list goes on! This one was the closest to "normal" Oreos: half white chocolate, half dark. Not as good as regular Oreos, in my opinion, but definitely worth a try!
Our room at our hostel. I stayed on the bottom bunk of the bed to the right, and Zach on the top bunk. Very comfortable and copacetic atmosphere.
And a shot of one of the hostel cats! This girly followed me up to the roof, where we hung out together for a little while.
The main room of the hostel, from above. I loved this place!
Some grocery store goodies from the bakery section. Red bean squares, sesame dough bites, and green bean sandwich cakes. Take me back!!!!
Glowing with excitement (and perhaps, acute heat and humidity), Zach and I boarded our long-distance bus to the renowned Shaolin Temple.
The amazing Zach found us a hotel room that was the same cost as the nearby hostel! Two beds, a TV, a bathroom and AC for about $10/night.
The view out our window! Walking distance from Shaolin but in an area devoid of tourists. It is of great benefit to have a Chinese-native friend who can find gems like this! Thank you, Zach!
A fun look into my backpack(s). I lived out of these guys for the five weeks I spent in China.
At last, we had arrived at Shaolin Temple, the home of Chan (Zen) Buddhism and of the martial art, Kung Fu.
Shaolinsi (Shaolin Temple) was built on and named after one of the seven peaks of the Song mountains, called Shaoshi.
From the Shaolin complex, visitors can access a cable-car system that drops patrons off smack dab in the middle of the beautiful Song mountains.
Up we go! It would take literally days to hike the distance that the cable car travels in a matter of minutes.
The Song mountains are nothing short of breathtaking. The geologic formations look other-worldly, towering above the forested mountain range below.
The path was lined with cute signs like these, to explain the formation process of Songshan. (By the way - "shan" means mountain, and "si" means temple. So when I write "Songshan," it is the same as writing "Song Mountain," and when I write "Shaolinsi," it is the same as writing "Shaolin Temple.")
Walking paths wrap around the mountains, seemingly so precarious yet supporting hundreds of visitors each day.
The view of the mountains further away.
Are you impressed yet?
Digging those ripple formations in a major way!
This panorama does a good job of capturing the breadth of contrast we witnessed at this sacred place. Contrasting heights, colors, textures. It was about 100 degrees F at the base of the mountain, but at this height, we enjoyed a beautiful and cool 75 degrees!
This photo still sends shudders of my deep fear of heights through me.
There is a mountainside temple camouflaged into the dramatic Songshan peaks; can you see it?
Spoiler alert!
Pretty wild, no?
Before heading back down to earth, I found a 10-kuai ($1.45 USD) wooden mala that I could not resist. These were the best type of souvenirs because they did not take up space in my bag and provided a memory that I could wear every day.
Down we went...
The cable car dropped us off by the Shaolin Pagoda Forest, a collection of 240 tomb pagodas to honor monks and masters who have passed away there.
The Shaolin Temple, in the flesh (brick?)!
People gathered outside the doors to watch the monks perform rituals inside. The chanting could be heard through the corridor!
Incredibly beautiful and ornate designs characteristic of Chinese temples.
Lighting incense is a major part of the customs at Buddhist temples that visitors take part in. Monks and nuns light ritual incense as well, but they tend to do so in more exclusive parts of temples that visitors cannot access.
We had the great fortune of visiting Shaolin on a relatively less busy afternoon. Hence, a photo with no tourists!!
Inside this temple is a Buddhist prayer wheel, the massive cylinder embellished with golden buddhas visible through the doorway. One prays with this by holding onto a part of the prayer wheel and walking it around, spinning the wheel and generating merit in doing so. A kind monk allowed me inside to spin the wheel myself! This was so special to me.
We left the temple area bound for the areas dedicated to martial arts.
We saw a summer camp of students dressed in yellow and blue uniforms doing fighting stance drills around the park path.
The idyllic nature backdrop gives Shaolin a feeling of sanctity.
The history of Kung Fu in Shaolin stems back to about 581 CE!
The time of our visit was most fortuitous for many reasons, a main one being that the educational camps from the summer were performing their exhibition that weekend! Shaolin has multiple martial arts schools, for a variety of ages and skill levels. Zach said that many parents in China send their kids to Shaolin for the summer, both to enhance the kids' skill sets and to act as a day care. Zach and I got to watch many sparring matches, in which students cheered on their teammates with great vigor.
Flags: Shaolin, China, and Olympics!
Leaving Shaolin, the clouds, sun, and warm air danced around the mountains in divine rhythm.
The bow of the Master in front of the setting sun.
Dinner at this wonderful little restaurant (the only one in the tiny town!) consisted of sweet eggplant, fried rice, and cooked tofu with leeks (probably another Chinese vegetable, not sure).
The next morning, we went back to the same restaurant for breakfast. I am quite certain that we had egg and tomato for dinner the night before and breakfast that day. My favorite meal!!!
Zach and I are both self-admitted egg-oholics! Breakfast was egg noodles, egg and tomato, and...
Egg with peppers! We finished all of our other eggs and decided we definitely needed more. As a vegetarian, eggs were absolutely one of the most essential components of my diet in China!
On our walk back through the tiny town to the hotel, my favorite thing ever happened. Those who know me know that I am obsessed with cows (they are the most precious beings on this planet, I am convinced). So, a farmer down the road was walking his yellow ox and got sidetracked chatting with a fellow townsman. The yellow ox kept walking without his owner.
Hello, angel!
He thought a plant from the neighbors might be tasty...
...so he ripped it out!
He showed off his prize...
...and away he went. Day made, life made. I couldn't stop cracking up about this.
With a healthy dose of sadness to be leaving my dear yellow ox friend and the incredible, sacred, and rural land of Shaolin, Zach and I took the bullet train back to our urban home base of Xi'an.
The train travelled at a speed of 303 km/hr, nearly 190 mph!!
Back in Xi'an, we checked in to our lodging and decided to head to the Muslim market for dinner. These are the signs posted by the subway doors. "Warning crushing" was pertinent to me, as I was crushed in the subway doors in Xi'an just a couple weeks prior.
The beautiful drum tower, lit up in vibrant colors during the night.
Entering the nightly crowd that is the Muslim market!
Sticky rice cakes were the first part of our meal.
Next, Shaanxi style noodles!
This is how they stretch the noodles!
Fried persimmons were a must-try.
Rolled ice cream, naan, and dried figs/persimmons are staples of the Muslim market.
Quail egg delicacies! Fried quail eggs with sauces, then toasted quail egg bread.
Although we attempted to order a much smaller amount of watermelon, the man making the slices was holding a very large and scary knife, so we were scared to ask for less and just paid and went away. (Don't worry, we ate it all!)
A young butcher prepares the lambs in front of spectators. I also saw a child (no more than 12 years old!) butcher doing this, although I did not get a picture.
I got a temporary spray-on tattoo of the character for love, "ai" 爱. It was supposed to last one month, but in the heat/humidity of Xi'an it was gone within one day.
The next morning, with laundry hanging in front of our city view. Xi'an is very urban, with no shortage of skyscrapers, hustle-bustle, and people (the city's population is over 12 million!).
Hotel breakfast buffet, please and thank you!
Today was my last full day in China, and we certainly made the most of it. First, we went to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, Xiǎoyàn tǎ. This is the smaller counterpart of Dàyàn tǎ, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, which I visited earlier in the trip.
Outside the pagoda, the rich shadow puppet culture of the area thrived in the form of shows, shops, and interactive displays.
This artist makes the most beautiful leather-thread shadow puppets by hand. Incredible talent.
Me in front of the 13-story Small Wild Goose Pagoda.
We were actually able to go inside and climb this pagoda! Although it has 13 levels, each tier gets shorter as you rise, creating a most claustrophobia-inducing atmosphere.
Concussion, here we come! (Just kidding - the sign worked, and we did mind our heads.)
After ascending the thirteen stories, we climbed up onto the top through a ladder with a small square opening above it.
The view was gorgeous! Only a few people can fit up here at a time, so it was fortunate that we were there on a 40 degree C (104 F) day where most people wouldn't go near that amount of stairs.
On our way from the pagoda to a temple across town, we got ever-essential ice cream bars. Mine was red bean, YUM.
To attempt to satisfy my insatiable desire to visit Buddhist temples, Zach brought me to Dàxīngshàn Sì, Da Xing Shan Temple.
Originally established in 266 CE, the temple flourished until about 841 CE when the Taoist emperor ordered that Buddhist temples be demolished. This temple was rebuilt in the early 1400s, when a Buddhist monk settled to supervise the new construction and to preach Chan Buddhism.
An abundant, golden Maitreya Buddha (the future incarnation of the Buddha) greets visitors at the first temple entrance.
Quintessential style of Chinese Buddhist architecture.
Here is a place to worship the monk Bodhidharma, the founder of Chan Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu!
This stupa houses a relic of the Buddha.
I wandered into this hall and happened upon a ceremony in which four women were being blessed and (I assume) welcomed into the monastic life as nuns. Watching attentively through the windows, I was blocking the doorway leading in to the ceremony. A monk needed to get through, so he placed his sleeved hand on my shoulder to move me aside. Monks typically cannot touch women, so this surprised me greatly. I felt very honored that I got to come into contact with a holy monk, even though I did so because I was in his way!
"Do not seek, and what you need will come to you."
This day was so incredibly hot and humid. Zach and I of course were resigned to exist in it and be with what was; after all, resisting what is there only increases suffering. In a divine moment of unarticulated prayers answered, a downpour of thick, cool rain descended from the sky. Seeking rain will not bring it; but opening to experience and the magic of the universe, you never know what wonders may unfold.
Washed clean, pure, new. Born.
That evening, Zach's wonderful father picked us up from the temple and took us out to a vegetarian restaurant (to accommodate my diet. Is that not so sweet?). One of the dishes was flaming flavored tofu! And those "eggs"? Mango dessert inside egg shells.
Many tofu and bean dishes with all sorts of vegetables, followed by dessert of strawberry inside coconut pastry.
After dinner, Zach and I decided to bike the Xi'an city wall.
The view from up there as dusk approached was breathtaking.
We rented a tandem bike from the bicycle shop.
Our trusty steed!
Zach and I had the best time witnessing the changing skies from our wheeled vehicle.
A big part of the reason we chose to tandem bike was that my calf was not doing super well (I tore my calf running a few months prior to this trip). He did a lot of the work, bless his heart!
After the sun had set, the structures on the wall lit up in beautiful, ornate colors.
So did the lanterns and the lights lining the features of the wall.
The city wall is 14 kilometers around (about 9 miles). The bike shop rents bikes out for two hours maximum, and with very minimal breaks, this two hours is exactly how long it took us to make our way all the way around!
We ran out of water partway through our ride and there was nowhere to purchase more. I chugged three full water bottles as soon as we found somewhere to buy them by the Muslim market!
Back at the Muslim market for one last time, I picked up some great shadow puppet bookmarks as gifts for family.
A hungry Zach and Roxi happily wandered into a noodle shop and proceeded to order one of everything on the menu. (Joking... kind of.)
There exists a dish called "belt noodle," where there is only one, thick noodle served with chili dipping sauce.
Zach showed me how it's done! This was so yummy and doughy.
After the best last day, it was time to go home.
One last breakfast, with a peak into the weather for the next few days. Even though the heat looks brutal, I was so sad to leave.
Thank you, China, for the best 5 weeks of my life thus far! I will be back, 110%.
A special thank you to Zach for this final week. You were instrumental to this trip being as amazing as it was. This post is dedicated to you! 我爱你. I can't wait to travel together again.
Thank you so much to all for reading. I hope this has been as enjoyable to read as it was to write. I thank you for joining me on my trip to China!
What adventure will ensue next?
-若仙
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