Shaolin Temple Monks of China

Kungfu and the Shaolin Temple of China are famous all over the world. Tourists come from every country to visit the Shaolin Temple between Luoyang and Zhengzhou in Henan Province. I visited there a few years ago and attended a performance by the Shaolin Monks. During the performance the lead monk came out with a bowl attached to his mid section by pure strength of his muscles. He challenged anyone in the audience to try and remove it. Being the only western person and sitting in the front row everyone wanted me to try. I have always thought there were some tricks to their feats of strength but had few doubts after I seen the breaking of bricks and the eating of light bulbs etc. I noticed that the monk was sweating and that maybe if I twisted the bowl rather than pull on it that I could get some air behind it and take it off. Sure enough, that is what happend although I made it look very difficult. I thought the crowd would be pleased but it was dead silent as I had caused the monk to lose "face" in front of his fellow monks and the people. I sat down quietly. After the performance the monk came out and asked the crowd to remain seated and called me up onto the stage. He bowed and offered his bowl to me as a sign of humility. The crowd seemed very pleased and of course I accepted it and still have the bowl to this day. Tours to China can include the Shaolin Temple and I will be glad to plan a tour just for you and your personal interests. See my web site at www.interlakechinatours.com for more interesting places to visit.