Shaolin Temple Monks at Wushu Temple

Kungfu enthusiasts all know about the Shaolin Monks of China. Wushu Temple and Monastery is located between the cities of Luoyang and Zhengzhou in Henan province of China. You can go there by flying into Zhengzhou or by train from Xian. Although many tourists now go there it is still the meca for Kungfu classes and students of Kungfu. The web site www.shaolinkungfu.com is the largest school with over 7000 students. During the day there is a performance put on by the monks as you can see above. I visited there just a couple years ago and was the only foreigner attending that day. When one of the monks came out with the bowl being held in by his stomach muscle, he challenged anyone to try and remove it telling us all that only one time it had ever been removed. The audience all called for me to give it a try since I was the only foreigner there. I saw that his skin was moist from previous activities and thought if I twisted it, I may be able to get some air inside and it would come off. It did almost too easy. I thought the crowd would cheer but the monk had lost "face" and the crowd was silent. After the show the monk came out and asked the crowd to remain seated and called me up on stage and bowed presenting me with the bowl as a sign of humility. I accepted it gracefully and still have it yet today as a rememberance of my time at Wushu Temple. If you would like to visit the Shaolin Monks, I do private custom tours to China at www.interlakechinatours.com I do Tours to China Only as China Tour Operator and China Travel Agency