Not all forests are created equal

Just outside the Shaolin Temple we walked out to a very different type of forest. One I have never seen before, this one was a pagoda forest. In an area roughly the size of a football field stands 228 stone or brick pagodas built as far back as 791 AD. One interesting fact is that the levels on the pagodas are always odd numbers (from 1 to 7) They are based on the achievements of the Buddhist masters they were built for over spanning 5 dynasties. It sort of had this mystical vibe that's hard for me to explain with words.

After the forest we took a chair lift to one of the mountains peak for a view of the temple's grounds and the pagoda forest. Unfortunately, the view was hazy and not as impressive as it could have been. I'm not sure we even really wanted to go to the top but we were trying to lose this Chinese guy who wanted to be our personal guide. It worked, but probably cost us way more than just paying him for his effort.

Kicking it in Zhengzhou

It's seems sorta weird that I became a fan of kung Fu because of Hip Hop, but that's how it happened. When the New York rap group Wu Tang Clan took over the rap scene with sound bits of old Kung Fu movies in the 90's I quickly became a lifetime fan. 13 chambers is still one of the greatest hip hop albums ever made in my opinion. So what does all this have to do with Zhengzhou in central China?

Well Kung Fu was founded here in the world renowned Shaolin Temple in the Songshan mountain range. After taking a few buses we finally arrived where it all started. The temple is still teaching thousands of students at a time and you can hear their kicks and punches from hundreds of feet away. One cool thing you get to see is a Kung Fu performance where they show you their impressive skills with an assortment of weapons.