XI'AN -- LUOYANG (CAVES) -- SHAOLIN TEMPLE -- ZHENGZHOU

October 11, 2014

October 11th, Part 3

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We left Xi'An early to catch the high speed train to Luoyang. We met our local guide, Shane, at the train station there. Our bags had gone by regular train so we immediately hopped on our bus to visit the Longmen Caves. More...



The Longmen Caves can best be described as natural AND man-made caves which are full of Buddhas. Life size Buddhas, small ones, medium sized ones, tiny ones, huge ones... they are everywhere. It is obviously a spiritual place but it's also a testament to peoples' need to create artistic monuments. We were transported from the parking lot closer to the entrance gate via golf carts. We knew there was a river beside us but the fog was so thick you could barely see it. We still had to walk a bit further to get to the actual entrance. Once inside, to our right, every niche in every rock seemed to have a Buddha. Some were carved on the rock face but some were tucked away in tiny crevices and caves. Not too far from the entrance, we came to a set of three large caves. In each was a Buddha along with an accompanying priest, etc. The figures and walls in these caves had been painted and some of the colour remains. My favourite Buddha in this area was the "peace" Buddha. We passed another set of caves where there were more large Buddhas but more interesting were the THOUSANDS of tiny Buddhas on the cave walls. It was if the walls were textured but upon closer examination, you could make out the thousands of small figures. Finally, we got to the EMORMOUS Buddhas near the end of our 2-3 km walk. They were at the top of a very steep staircase of at least 60 stairs. The figures in this area were at least 4 storeys high.
After admiring the huge set set of figures, we were given the option of walking back or taking a boat. Since (1) it was a long walk back and (2) it had cleared up considerably, the boat ride seemed like a good option. The best part however was the view of the caves from the river. It was outstanding. Once docked, we saw an interesting dam on the walk back to the bus. We went directly to an interesting restaurant for lunch. The restaurant had a beautiful garden and decorations. After lunch we passed the river again and saw a huge rubber ducky!
We then visited the Shaolin Temple. Famous for its association with the practise of Kung Fu, we visited its Pagoda Forest as well as its temples. Next, we hopped back on our bus to travel to a school where Kung Fu is part of its regular curriculum. There, some of the students performed their learned skills for the Sinorama tour groups.