We checked a box off Matt's bucket list today with a trip to the Shoalin Temple! The Shoalin Temple was a two hour drive from our hotel, and a few families joined us to split the cost of a small tour bus and guide.
The children were somewhat unimpressed to be standing in the birthplace of kung fu, until Melinda reminded them it looked a little like Ninjago at Legoland. Then they thought it was awesome.
Their fierce kung fu poses next to the murals on the fence.
Don't be deceived by Eleanor's smile, she's fierce!
At the gates of the monastery grounds. Don't mind
Eleanor, she's pouting because she didn't have time
to think of a cool pose.
In addition to being the birthplace of kung fu the Shaolin Monastary is home to the Pagoda Forest. Some of the pagodas are over thirteen hundred years old. They were built as burial shines to honor eminent monks of the order. The most recent one is a little less than 20 years old.
Posing again! How many pagodas can you count?
The Shaolin Temple itself is a large Buddhist temple with several buildings in the complex. We were told that the monks of the highest order would practice in secret behind closed walls at the temple to ensure no one could learn their secrets. But, now, most of the temple buildings hold shrines to Buddha. There are sprawling, modern training grounds surrounding the monastery where hundreds of young men were learning kung fu.
Matt and Jefferson at
the entrance to the old temple.
Guardians at the front gate (and
Eleanor thought up a pose!)
Another snap from inside
the temple grounds.
Eleanor was excited to pose next to a statue of
Bodhidharma, credited as bringing martial arts to Shaolin.
She just liked his dragon though.
The grounds of the monastery were beautiful, with many old trees and stunning views of the Songshan mountains. We could have walked around for hours and admired it, but alas, we were on a tight schedule for a quick day trip.
Melinda and Steven, admiring the mountains.
We ended the afternoon by watching the kung fu performance put on by the students of the monastery. It was incredibly impressive. High kicks. Flips. Men bending spears with their rock hard abs. Whoa! The kids were inspired when we left... and we may yet regret our decision to take two, two-year old boys to a kung fu performance (Steven has been striking poses and yelling war cries all evening).
Kung fu master in the making!
It was a long bus drive back - three hours after our drive took a wrong turn. But, we are so glad that we were able to fit this day trip in while we were still in the Henan province. Jefferson's passport was issued today (while we were out and about our adoption agency guides picked it up for us), so tomorrow we'll be flying to Guangzhou to work on the last step in our process - getting Jefferson's immigration visa.
Wow Grasshopper, you guys Rock!
ReplyDeleteHi eeeeeeee ya!