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Shaolin Temple: Travel to the Mecca of Chinese Kung Fu
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Today’s article is dedicated to the Shaolin Temple, an emblematic place for Chinese Kung Fu. Here you can find all the information you need to visit this place and much more. Let’s get started!
The Shaolin Temple
Who hasn’t heard of the Shaolin Temple? However, how many people know where it is?
Personally, I have to admit that two years ago, I didn’t even know that it still existed.
The Shaolin Temple is located in a small rural town called Dengfeng in the Chinese province of Henan, right at the bottom of the sacred Song Shan mountain. Currently, the Shaolin Temple is an important tourist center, but in addition to tourists, it also attracts many students of martial arts, as in the temple, monks are still trained in the secrets of wushu. In addition, attracted by the renown of this institution, many masters have decided to establish their schools around this famous temple.
As I have mentioned, the temple is a tourist attraction and as such, you will have to pay to enter it. The entrance price is around 200 Yuan, but changes depending on the season. This prices gives you access to the temple and also to Mount Song, which I will discuss further along.
PS. The cable-cars to climb the mountain aren’t included in the price.
How to get there
Getting to the Shaolin Temple isn’t easy and there are two options: leaving from Luoyang or from Dengfeng.
Luoyang: You can take the tourist bus which leaves every morning at 6:00 and 7:00am from the east part of the train station. It takes approximately one hour to arrive.
Dengfeng: There are regular buses which leave more or less every half an hour from the Dengfeng central bus station.
You can also take a taxi from downtown Dengfeng, which shouldn’t cost more than 80 Yuan.
P.S. You can only get to the town of Dengfeng by bus. You can find out how to do it in the guide we published on Henan.
Where to stay
- Shaolin Traveler Hostel: Located in downtown Dengfeng, this is a decent hostel for tight budgets.
- Dengfeng Shao Shi Shan Zhai Express Hotel: A comfortable hotel with reasonable prices and which is located very close to the Shaolin Temple.
- Dengfeng Chanwu Hotel: A high-class hotel located half-way between downtown Dengfeng and the Shaolin Temple. Even though this is an excellent-quality hotel, remember that you are in rural China, so don’t expect the employees to be able to speak English.
Tours
As I have said before, it’s not easy to get to the Shaolin Temple. In addition, getting around the Henan province is still quite difficult for international travelers, especially if you don’ speak Chinese.
To avoid complications, one of the options is to take a tour with one of the local agencies. These tours often include Kung Fu lessons and/or demonstrations.
You can read more about what the tours to the Shaolin Temple consist of by clicking here.
Source: http://www.saporedicina.com/english/shaolin-temple-travel-to-the-mecca-of-chinese-kung-fu/
