Buddhas big, Buddhas small, Buddhas big and Buddhas tall, you want Buddhas we've got them all
at the Longmen caves!


Although the Longmen caves were not my only stop during my week in Henan province, this thought has certainly crossed my mind in view of many places I visited there. The Longmen caves (of which you can see a small section above), Shaolin temple, Zhongyue temple, Kaifeng with its silk road and imperial history...well, maybe not Nanjiecun where I started my week in Henan. Said to be the last Maoist collective in China the images decorating the streets and the parks are those celebrating the working man, Mao, Marx, Engels, Stalin, and Lenin. It was very quiet and clean. And very empty when I wandered through. There's a guided tour but it's all in Chinese and I don't think my Chinese is good enough to justify an 80 yuan tour I can't completely understand. After nearly 2 hours I made my way to the bus station to get to Zhengzhou.

​Henan was relatively easy to get around by bus so that's largely how I got around with the exception of getting lost on the edge of Zhengzhou after (I think) I got on a bus from Nanjiecun going in the right direction but at the wrong time so it didn't go to the city center. After one anxiety-ridden black cab ride I didn't really want to take but kind of got hustled into while trying to find my way to the main bus station, some misunderstandings and crying, I arrived in Kaifeng 500 yuan lighter than I had planned for. I still hate myself for that. There was one point in the trip where we had to stop for gas and he said "Ni jia you wo" (Roughly, "You add gas for me") and I got ticked off because I thought he was demanding I get out and gas his car for him after I already gave him hundreds. I told I him "I already gave you money" and then he made the comment repeatedly that "Ni gei wo qian. yi bai..." and I started to get really angry and anxious. I didn't hear him add a "le" that would have told me he was saying I gave him money and that he used 100 to gas up, so I thought he was speaking in the present tense. I got pretty pissed off that this guy would just keep asking me for money after asking me for so much when I was stuck and I screamed in English "Fine! I'll go!" and began plotting when the best time to open the door and run out would be. Then I screamed "Wo gei le si bai!" (I gave you 400!) and started crying instead. Then he sounded upset as he said "Ni bu dong wo de yisi!" (You don't understand my meaning) and proceeded to tell me off for being a 24 year old woman and crying. It turns out he was just saying that the money I gave him was going to pay for his gas but between my mediocre Chinese and his accent I interpreted wrongly. He kept telling me there was no need to cry and I flat out refused to answer or respond and told him I didn't want any tissues thank you very much. After over an hour of playing out all the ways this kind of thing goes wrong in my head, Kaifeng greeted us with some fake towers. He pulled over to the side of the road, called me a cab, gave the driver 20 yuan to help me find my way and said goodbye. I felt bad, because I cried and had been rude and he had turned out to be honest and got me to Kaifeng. Then I realized if he was actually honest, he would have returned the money I had used when trying to get on a bus back in Zhengzhou that was supposed to go to city center and would have let me pay 25 yuan for a bus ticket instead of taking 500 and looking at me in disbelief when I said I didn't have that much cash in my wallet (and of course, this argument taking place on the side of a freeway). I didn't feel as bad when I realized that I was just fast money to some guy with long nails and too many questions on the edge of Zhengzhou. Then it got funny because either he had to leave me with a taxi because he didn't know Kaifeng well or I scared him pretty bad by screaming and crying. I don't think he understood that I didn't understand everything he was saying until that outburst. So there I was anxious for over an hour while this guy probably didn't know what to do with some wailing laowai in the passenger's seat. I still feel kind of bad about that...

After that madness, Kaifeng was probably my favorite out of the places I went too. I was a little outside of the city walls, which was inconvenient only because I insisted on going everywhere by foot. The walk itself wasn't bad, but the heat was and I've come back from Henan noticeably tanner from being out in the sun so much. The main street, Gulou jie, was very pretty at night and it was hard to walk with all the street food booths and tables out at night.

Kaifeng was actually my main motivation in coming out to Henan. First as the capital of the Northern Song dynasty but in flipping through a guidebook I'd also seen a note about a Jewish community that established itself in Kaifeng reaching back to the silk road. Though there's not much of a strong community today after China's changing winds, intermarriage, and as with many, incentive to go to bigger wealthier cities has dispersed China's Jewish people. Some families didn't tell their children or openly practice either so it's likely a number of people don't know if they have Jewish ancestry. I did find that there was one family still living near the site of where the synagogue used to be located and that there was a guide who spoke English and could provide information about the Kaifeng Jews. In walking down Gulou jie and walking onto Shudian Lu before making my way towards the hutongs and the former site of the synagogue, it became clear that Kaifeng didn't have money to go around quite like Beijing, Shanghai, or even Xi'An where people go to see the terra cotta warriors. The bright lights, modern shopping malls, lines of food carts, underground walkways gave way to pavement and stores more geared to necessities than brand names or slick posters. I did see a few things under construction and in progress while wandering, but the money and lights seemed pretty heavily concentrated into one space.

I arrived early to meet my guide and wandered around her neighborhood for a bit. All throughout the city, there are signs advertising halal food and it seems that the Muslim community is still pretty sizeable. One door surprised me by having a red paper square turned on its point and except for the Arabic writing, looking like any other kind of new year decoration. In a nod to the no longer standing synagogue, alleys have names like "Teaching the Torah Alley". Crawling around "Teaching the Torah Alley" brought me to a mosque that looked more like it was used for living than prayers, though one room was free of laundry or furniture which lead me to believe it was still in use. The hutongs were of course narrow, the living space looked a little tight, it was a bit dusty and dirty and I saw a few woks and pots set on what looked like old brick or mud stoves. When I passed some of the hutongs I was startled to find a big white Catholic church that looked rather pristine and recent. It was certainly a neighborhood with character and I liked it a lot, but that's easy for me to say as a traveler. I hesitate to romanticize when I sense that it wasn't the poorest part of town (no one was starving or begging or struck me as desperate), but neither was it the wealthiest. My guide later told me that part of the mix I saw was because the foreigners from the silk road lived together in one part of the city and that a Catholic group in communication with the Jewish community had built the church. I can honestly say I've never been to a corner of China quite like it. I made my way back downtown where I visited Da Xiang Guo Si, a large Buddhist temple. I normally really enjoy temples and taking time to study all the different details but this time I just kind of wandered and didn't really look. I saw nothing of the big thousand armed Guanyin so I missed out big time or timed things badly. But in the following days I'd make up for it in sheer number of Buddhas seen in the course of a day at the Longmen caves.

After Kaifeng, I made my way to Luoyang. Luoyang is also a key city in Chinese history but it hasn't retained much of its imperial structures (though the city museum has some really cool things). I should have taken the time to see more, but most of my time was spent at the Longmen caves. I had my fill of Buddhist art, paid a visit to the poet Bai Juyi, and then began to make the trip towards Dengfeng where I planned to stay for three nights and explore the area after seeing Shaolin temple.

 I had something of a strange greeting at Dengfeng and the hostel overall seemed safe and the staff was friendly, but it was sort of weird too. I had a moment at the bus station where I was trying to convey where I was a going and a man told me it was going to cost 30 yuan for a ride. I'd read that it should only cost 7 yuan, so I kept insisting otherwise but he seemed firm. I started going with him, worried that after working so hard to convey what I wanted it would be rude to step out of things. Then I heard one of the other guys laughing and I turned around and glared. He waved and told me to go. I began to realize that if someone is ripping you off, you actually may not owe them anything and wound up leaving him and asking one of the cab drivers. The driver wouldn't turn on the meter and charged me 15. Not 7, but not 30 either. (30 is the flat rate that all drivers charge for going to Shaolin temple from Dengfeng, but I was trying to find my room in Dengfeng and felt it was ridiculous to get the same rate I would have for going out of town.) Losing that 500 yuan on the way to Kaifeng really hurt and made me realize I waste too much energy believing that people will compromise and respond well to politeness. There's nothing wrong with saying "That's not what I want" and walking the other way or not responding at all. I've been kicking myself lately for all the times I've struggled to say "no" to people who honestly don't deserve any other response (ie, some guy touching me in a Swiss train station talking about how much he misses his good obedient Japanese girlfriend and asking about my virginity, I'm getting frustrated with how I'm running out of ways to politely suggest I'm not interested when I should really be screaming "NO"). It's not selfish or rude. It's assertiveness and looking after myself. I can't believe I still have to work at fighting off that part of myself. I have to admit, one of the joys of learning tai chi this year has been tui shou. For an hour or two, my teacher gives me permission to and asks me to push him or throw him. It's better than being passive aggressive, it's really fun, and I guess it's one way I've begun to quietly assert myself.

As someone who's spent some time nerding out over the philosophical side of China's martial arts, I was excited to finally be at Shaolin temple as not only a sightseer, but as someone who now had some experience in a martial art. I wanted to see what I'd pick up on in Shaolin that differed from what I learned with tai chi. I also really love images of Bodhidharma/Damo, the monk said to have meditated in a cave above Shaolin for 9 years and have developed exercises for the Shaolin monks who were a little out of shape after largely focusing on spiritual matters. He came to China from India as a result, has a very distinct visage as tends to happen with foreigners in Chinese art. You'll find him around Chan/Zen temples throughout China.

The crowds weren't as bad as I thought they would be, though there were a number of tour groups coming through, easy to see with their yellow flags and headsets which ensured everyone could hear what the guide was saying. It tended to be most packed directly in front of the temple, everything else was pretty mellow. I was surprised when I was able to walk right up to the pagoda forest and take pictures until I realized I was standing out in the sun and that all the other Chinese tourists were nearby under the trees. Pale skin is the ideal here, so most likely people were trying to avoid getting a tan (which I didn't bother thinking about while wandering around and as a result, am now in two tones, might have the second sunburn of my life, and came back to people practicing the words "Do you use sunscreen?" when they saw my face). So I had a big sunny patch all to myself to look around and take photos before moving on to some of the other sights around Songshan.

I kept looking up at a big statue of Bodhidharma a few kilometers up the hill behind Shaolin temple.  I kind of wanted to see it, but I wasn't sure what would really be waiting for me at the top other than a cave. After lunch, I decided to go for it and buy a few bottles of water for the walk up. I think the hardest part was when I got really close and asked a nun who was selling a variety of goods if I could sit for a bit and she just repeated "Wu fen zhong"(In 5 minutes) while pointing up the mountain. So I made my way up sweating and tanning as people stared and commented on the state of my face. When I did get to the cave, there wasn't much but there was a sense of peace not found below at the temple. A few of us sat down in the shade just outside of the cave and two men sat inside the dimly lit cave meditating as Bodhidharma supposedly sat there staring at a wall for 9 years. (One story has it that his eyes closed for a long period of time and to ensure that it never happened again while he was sitting there, he cut off his eyelids and they became tea leaves. The tea was useful for keeping monks awake and focused.) I took a peek inside at the pink and green lotus shaped lights and as my eyes adjusted, I was able to make out Bodhidarma's facial features rising out of the shiny yellow robe covering the rest of him. As someone who doesn't really identify with any religion, I didn't feel right stepping into the middle of the meditating men and poking around too much so I just went outside, bought another bottle of water and rested. I gave up on going all the way to the statue since the cave was my primary interest and I didn't want anymore stairs. It's been a while since I've gone on a hike. It felt really good and being surrounded by trees, rocks, and bugs was kind of like home though the obvious lack of oak trees and douglas firs combined with the humidity reminded me I was in China. When I got to the bottom, I rested some and grabbed a few things to eat. People kept asking if I was a wushu student. Maybe it's because I was a sweaty mess. There were students of all ages and all nationalities who would pop up around the area. I was surprised when I ran into a whole American family wearing the loose grey pants worn by all the monks and again when I saw two tall Americans holding weapons and posing with tourists (it looked like they lived at the temple and had been asked to do this). The idea of coming back as a student rather than a sightseer is tempting. I made my way out and picked up a few souvenirs before heading down into Dengfeng and making my way to the hostel. I wasn't sure if I'd have energy for the next day, but I figured out the buses and made my way to Zhongyue Temple and Songyan Academy (Songshan, where Shaolin is located, is actually a really important Taoist mountain and it seemed right to visit both the famous Chan/Zen temple and the Taoist temple).

Zhongyue was also a tourist site, but much less so. It was very empty, more a place of worship than a place for sightseeing but I did see a tour group on my way out and had to pay about 30 yuan for admission. People saw me alone and I felt bad turning them away when they told me I could get a tour for 20 yuan since I was alone but then I remembered that it's kind of ok to say you don't want the things you don't want. I felt a little shy about going inside the halls since people kept calling me in to pray and I don't really identify strongly with anything, so it seemed kind of wrong for me to come in and start posing (though I know China is a sort of fluid place when it comes to religion). After quietly slipping in and out and trying to politely step away from women calling me to kowtow, I went to the hall of 60 gods where people find the god of their birth year and pay their respects. A woman working there followed me in, told me to get down and pay my respects to Buddha and the god for 1991 (and other years, the traditional Chinese calendar has 12 animals for each year as many know and in addition to this, there are 5 elements, so 60 years makes a full cycle and that's why they had 60 instead of 12 gods). I had to pay 10 yuan for a charm that I put in my wallet too. I walked away trying to figure out if it was super disrespectful for me to not pay my respects to all the other main gods or wrong for me go through these rites without any claim to Taoism aside from practicing Tai Chi. I finally decided that the temple probably needed the money to support itself and if nothing else, I was helping the temple with my small contribution. It was a really nice temple, older than many I had seen and I studied the peeling paint and designs that told me they either didn't have the money to restore or had managed to preserve a lot. In one hall, there were 4 impressive figures, all carved out of wood and elegantly dressed. One was an emperor, as indicated by his bright robes, one was a concubine (and she had a beautiful headdress with wooden pearls hanging in front of her face), and there was an elegantly dressed girl on either side of the pair. They were smaller, so my guess is they were serving the much larger two in the middle. In the courtyard, there were some metal soldiers dating to the Song dynasty. Aside from visitors, guides (most of whom were sitting and talking without much to do), and myself, there were men with top knots quietly watching over the halls, altars, and the fires that burned for offerings. It was quite a contrast to the crowds and shops at Shaolin.

I made my way back to Zhengzhou to catch the train to Zhuzhou with my charm from Zhongyue in my wallet and another charm from Shaolin, feeling confident that I'd make my way home without issue (and except for the train running an hour late, I did). It's not really my style to speed through a place, but in order to get a little sightseeing in this summer after waiting for my visa and still squeeze in time to go home before school starts again I didn't have much of a choice. Thanks for sticking it out with me this far into a long post. This week was a little wild at times, but it taught me something important about asserting myself and saying "no" in between letting my nerd self indulge in old capitals and temples and learning about Henan's unique place in Chinese culture. And at the other end of things, Nanjiecun's focus on the working man over gods. It was a satisfying week and now I'm happily looking forward to two weeks back in the mountains where I grew up before getting into another school year and more China adventures. Till next post!