I stayed in the only hostel in Luoyang near the train station. Unfortunately it was slap bang in the middle of the red light district, it took me two days to work this out mind, so I figured if I'd lived with it for that long I can handle it for a couple of more nights, no bother. Though I must say I was grateful to look like an outsider.
This city itself is not interesting though it is known for it's peonies and people flock to the city in April to see these. It is said that in 800AD Empresses Wu Zetian banished peonies from her capital as they alone refused her command to bloom in the snow. Most were transplanted to Luoyang (the second capital) where they have flourished ever since. I used this city as a base to visit the more interesting places locally. By interesting I mean the Longmen Caves and THE Shaolin Temple, where Kung Fu originated from which Karate and the ilk derive from.
Longmen Caves
This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are 1km stretch of cliffs on both sides of the Li River into which 2000 caves and niches containing 110 000 statues of Buddhas and the like have been carved. Though I should point out India did this first and the practice was introduced to China via the Silk Road. The carvings were commisioned by emperors, imperial family, generals and wealthy families hoping to buy good fortune. The oldest carvings date from 500AD. The highest Buddha is 17m high the smallest 2cm. Some are in good condition others have been trashed, three emporers encouraged people to destroy them. Others have been chishelled away and illegially exported and sold abroad. They have an interesting board listing missing Buddhas, when they went missing and where they are. Only one is in our British Museum the majority are America either in the Boston or Washington museums others in France and Japan. The Buddha Caves in Datong date from an earlier period (Emperor Wei's reign) as the capital was moved from Datong to Luoyang and the artists moved with the emperor.
Shaolin Temple
I was determined not to go on a Chinese tour to see this temple as most Chinese tours stop at shops selling trinkets and curios in which the majority of foreign visitors have no interest in. You tyically arrive at your destination a mere two hours before it closes and then on the way home you visit yet more of the same shops. It takes a full day and is hard work. So going on what others had told me about visiting the temple I decided to spend as long as possible there to this end, I was at the bus station at 7 am to purchase my ticket. However somewhere between buying the ticket and getting on a bus I ended up on a tour bus. I then preceeded to wait an entire hour on the bus, waiting for it to fill up before it would set off. I wasn't too worried I figured I'd arrive at the temple at 10 as opposed to 9 o'clock but no, I was taken to four nice but irrelevant temples on route and arrived at the Shaolin Temple at 1 pm. I was not impressed.
First impressions were not good. I felt like I'd arrived at a theme park. There have this really huge and tacky plastic looking statute of a monk with this hands together on a plinth. I took a picture to prove just how bad it looked. Contrary to Chinese policy of not dual pricing, foreigners are charged twice as much as Chinese people to visit this place with government sanction. To get to the entrance you had to run a gauntlet of souvenier shops and old ladies thrusting postcards and hotel brochures in your face.
Once inside I visited a training academy and was able to enjoy a forty five minute kung fu show which was amazing, if you enjoy the shaolin monk shows in the UK you'd enjoy this too. Though it doesn't have nearly as many performers.
Next it was onto THE temple, it was not the original, that has been burnt down numerous times in it's history the last time being 1928. It has been restored to how it looked and obviously is 'newly' painted. At the entrance they have steles listing important people who have visited. The only one in English mentions a visit by American Kung Fu masters. There also have two steles listing the story of thirteen monks who rescued a prince/emperor - I can't remember which now but this rescue made the monks infamous. There are paintings in a temple hall showing the monks fighting. In another hall there are marked depressions on the stone floor where monks have repeatedly stood practicing their stance kicks. I have taken pictures but only when I upload them will I know if they are decent.
There were also outdoor shows during the time I was there too, a different show at each half an hour interval. Like I said I wanted to spend the entire day here, instead I got three hours which was not nearly enough to appreciate this place. I had to rush far too much for my liking and will definitely revisit this place should I return to China.
Whilst there are people of all ages from kids to grown men learning the art of Kung Fu here none are monks in the true sense, no mediation and the one guy I spoke to wanted to become a movie star! The ethos of this place seems to be being a tourist attraction first and foremost, even though I enjoyed the performances I felt sorry for the performers.
Food
Everybody probably thinks I regard my guide book as a bible but let me tell you even it can be horrendously wrong at times. I'd used it to order green pepper in black bean sauce in a small restaurant with no English menu. I got served with a dinner plate piled sky high with chillies in black bean sauce. I did try a couple of mouthfuls with copious amounts of rice but my tongue was on fire so even though I was starving I had to leave and find another restaurant with an English menu
In Luoyang I was truly bored with food I wish I did not need to eat. I also wished I'd packed my vitamin tablets as I'm sure nothing I ate here nourished my body.
The problem was of my own making entirely, if only I could read Mandarin. While the restaurants I visited had extensive Chinese menus the English menu was double sided only. It didn't matter which restaurant I went into the food was identical as were the prices. The food was of the kind you get in Chinese takeways not a patch on the real thing. I understand that we may not want to eat all the types of meat dishes the Chinese eat but I didn't want the plain boring dishes that were available to me either especially since I'd tried such lovely food at other places and knew exactly what I was missing out on. The only light I could see was that I was going to meet Wolfgang and Yi in Shanghai and would be eating delicious food soon.
