Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting

Well here it is, a brief look into my trip Song Shan, the famed Song Mountains, and of course, the Shaolin temple. Arriving in Luoyang was interesting, as I left the train station I was assaulted by what is perhaps the most touristy place in China I have thus-far scene. Granted I was travelling in the low point of the 'tourist' season, so I'm sure to most of the various hawkers trying to sell me tours, Hotel Rooms, and other... ahem... things, I appeared as a walking wallet with Legs. However the experience over-all was fantastic. The Tour I took involved a Bus tour and led up right into the mountains to a host of sights without those mountains. Below is a picture to give you an idea of what I saw, from within a 14th Century Confucian School.















This school is famous for a host of reasons, but one of the coolest things within, is this tree, which has been tested as being over 1200 years old and Still alive. I could figure out how to easily rotate the picture within Blogger, so you'll have to tilt your heads or something... but the tree is awesome looking.















Okay, so on the main event. I have dozens of pictures of the famed Shaolin temple. From the forest of Pagoda's, which is basically a massive grave-yard filled with tombs dating back centuries; To the Local Buddhist Nunnery, to the large touristy area out from with Giant Government constructed Statues. However, I picked the following two;

This one is just what it is, the True Entrance to the Shaolin temple Proper, as the three Characters on the sign attest. This simple entrance is the opening to the famed temple.















Now what is the temple famed For? Why Kung Fu of course, and I do have a variety of pictures of the Kung Fu demonstrations, as well as statues, placards, and ancient carvings depicting the famed martial arts of the temple. Most of them would not translate well into this blog, so instead, I'll leave you with my one of my favourites; After the demonstration several of the Martial Arts students, still in their garb, in a respite while their buddy go grabs the basketball.