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Doc Journal: China/Shaolin, Summer 2004

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  • #16
    so...how do we get to the architect and tell him to leave that gaping hole in the floor, the one they just carpeted over, alone...it did wonders for increasing the height of my jump kicks, lol...very effective training tool that.
    "Arhat, I am your father..."
    -the Dark Lord Cod

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    • #17
      Thanks for the update.
      practice wu de

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      • #18
        Anyway, while you're out at shaolin , there's a question floating around Genes' forum regarding the destruction of shaolin songshan......are they levelling pre-tianjin '08, or is it is nothing more than a full scale reno??......If you could check it out officially, like from the horses mouth , we'd appreciate it.......I'm sure your form members'd not be uninterested themselves....

        cheers babe



        I can remember it well.

        You travel to the nearest major city hub by regular commercial transportation, and then you get on the brand new highway on the road to your entertainment destination. The highway, because of it's necessity to move large amounts of tourists, is one of the larger and fastest highway thoroughrares in the area. It most definitely cuts your travel time in more than half, from what it used to be. Upon your arrival, you're ushered into a huge parking lot, which is organized by letters, numbers, and signs, so that you can either find your car or the tour bus that you took to get to this place. From there, a shuttle takes you to the entrance to the theme park. An entrance, huge and grand, which includes hotel accomodations, many restaurants, and many, many shopping centers. You pay for your ticket at one of the many ticket boothes, and then jump on another shuttle to take you to the park. A park, incredibly manicured and neat, thoroughly well designed to be not only ergonomically efficient for it's many tourists, but organized so that the greatest number of people can be hurried through in any given amount of time. The object, of course, is to move as many guests as possible through the attractions in order to maximize your income potential.

        My first trip to Disneyworld was memorable. As was my first trip to Disneyland.

        No doubt, I might have the same feelings one day next year, when I return to Shaolin.

        It's incredible. It's also very controversial. But first, the facts.

        The highway between Zhengzhou and Shaolin is completed. In fact, it's much better than the part of the road one uses when one travels from the airport. Given the fact that most people in China travel by train, it wasn't a bad choice. The road has been under construction for the last few years, and is finally finished. It takes about one hour to make the journey, as opposed to the two plus god knows what, in the past, depending on truck traffic, breakdowns, accidents, and the usual and general Chinese **** that one finds in the typical and general Chinese road.

        The highway ends at a parking lot. A rather large one at that. It's being built by the local Dengfeng government, and from what I've heard, some local entrepreneur has spent one hell of a lot of money to "lease" it for the next ten years. The expected profits are supposed to be huge. It lies on the outskirts of Shaolin village, directly to the east southeast of the huge monk statue that greets you, in the triangle between the road to Shaolin village, and the road to Louyang. It's still under construction.

        Next, directly to the south and west of the monk statue, is a new village. A rather large one at that too. About eight large two to three story old Chinese style architecture. All of which, is supposed to contain hotel accomodations, restaurants, and shopping centers. Oh, and the ticket agency. You have to buy a ticket to see Shaolin temple. (In all my journeys through China, Tibet, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, Shaolin was the only temple that I've ever seen a ticket counter for).

        The old Tagou school still stands, but it's future is grim. For the new one, a structure which reminds me of the Pentagon in the US, (but higher), is starting to become functional. In fact, the new Tagou school is just incredibly huge, most definitely the largest group of associated buildings I've seen in China other than the Oriental Plaza structures in Beijing. But, the rest of the village in that area, is just about gone, with the exception of one school area to the south. Many of the structure remants (pads, etc) still remain; the area closest to the original Shaolin temple area gate, which is next to the Wushu Guan, has been relandscaped, in the typical "grass, mature tree, better than God" approach. The remaining Shaolin village foundations will be removed, and the new Lord of the Landscaping will work his magic there once again.

        The Wushu Guan's renovation is complete, with the exception of the hotel area, and, the new five star hotel complex that will be built with the help of an unknown Singapore corporation. The arena across from the Wushu Guan, along with all of the other land to the south of the temple road, is completely landscaped. In order to maximize the flow of visitors to the temple, a road has been built to the south of the river that runs through Shaolin valley; it is primarily for automobiles and buses. The old tree lined temple road apparently is just a walking road now.

        Transportation takes you past the old temple to the south of Shaolin, to the large parking lot near the Pagoda Forest. The shopping stalls are still there, living precariously with an unknown future. The Pagoda Forest is unchanged. Shaolin temple, is not

        There has been a lot of construction at Shaolin. I first saw it over a year ago, when Guanyin Hall was torn down. It had startled me at first, but, upon a subsequent visit, it had been rebuilt, identical to what was there previously. Yongxin had the thing rebuilt because the frescoes were in danger of being destroyed by the expected collapse of the building. But what is being done now, is a different story.

        The four guardian statues at the second gate have been removed, repainted, and replaced. The Bell tower is undergoing renovation, as is the Drum tower. The museum area with the clay statues of the monks is still partially obliterated by the eyesore performance arena, where Yongxin has monks from his associated three Dengfeng schools perform modern wushu. And, of course, banners with his picture abound. The first main temple hall upon entering the inner gate is undergoing renovation. As for the buildings directly to the east and west of that, they're completely gone. In fact, they are being "reconstructed", not according to what was there recently, but supposedly, according to what was there in the pre-1928 times. Someone dug up old Japanese photos of the temple; these temple buildings are being rebuilt according to those photos. I saw one photo, which the temple used as an advertisement. It looks nothing like what they are building. And, if that is what they have to go buy, their architects have one hell of an imagination. God knows what will be put in these new huge buildings.

        The other temples, in line with the north-south axis, are the same. Some are undergoing some minor revisions, such as painting and cleaning. Floor areas are being rebuilt. New handrail partitions have been raised. It doesn't look much different. At least, at this point.

        The second major temple hall is the same, except for the fact that there are many pictures of famous Buddhist monks adorning the east and west sides. I saw no wuseng whatsoever in these pictures, at least, none that I knew.

        There is a lot of major construction occurring on the east and west lateral sides of the temple grounds. Shi Su Xi's house is gone. As is Shi Su Xi. He's currently in Guangdong, doing well, or, as well as can be expected for a man with severe Parkinson's disease. The reason for his absence is unknown. No doubt the loss of his house may have something to do with that. The monk areas on the east side have been torn down also. What will go there is not known to me.

        Oh, and there's a new shi bei in the stone tablet area..... (see the Shaolin Politics section: Stella! A new Shi Bei in town....)

        Cheers, babe.
        Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

        "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

        (more comments in my User Profile)
        russbo.com


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        • #19
          The new changes at Shaolin are quite striking. And they're not always visible.

          I've been there many many times. And I've never paid. Just had to claim to be a wushu guan student. In fact, when I went with Shi De Cheng, we just waltzed right in. The "security guards" at the main gate just let us in. Knew him, in fact. I mean, it was Shi De Cheng's home. He lived there.

          He still maintained a residence there after he opened his own school.

          But, that residence, like all the others, are now gone. Levelled.

          It was an interesting experience, going through the main gate, with the major international magazine team I was working with. And, with, of course, Shi De Cheng. We were doing to do a photo session in there.

          The police, yes, police, working the main gate wouldn't let us in without tickets. Wouldn't let Shi De Cheng in either. Talk about an embarrassing, face losing moment for him. Eventually we just wiggled on through en masse, but it was an uncomfortable event.

          Things change. The impression that the "team" got from this occurrence, was one of pure, money hungry, greed.

          Inside was interesting, we ran into Shi De Yang, and Shi Ming Wu, who were teaching Hong Bu (sp?), a Hong Kong martial arts movie star, who used to be a student of Shi De Cheng's Nice guy, supposed to visit me in Vegas when their current movie production moves there.

          I wonder if he and his production team had to pay to enter.
          Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

          "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

          (more comments in my User Profile)
          russbo.com


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          • #20
            well hey, score one for capitalism.

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            • #21
              This is highly significant ****, if you think about it on a deeper level. More later.
              Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

              "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

              (more comments in my User Profile)
              russbo.com


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              • #22
                damn doc, sounds like everything is changing rapidly. can't believe they wanted the great bald one, oh yean shi de cheng to pay! so deyang was inside the temple grounds.....i guess that is still a good sign, unless of course he had to pay too. please tell shrfu hello from me and that i hope to see him in october.

                keep the stories coming....i'm glued to my seat, and i like reading your posts too.

                laterz,
                kungfud0rk

                *** hey how the hell did i become nightkeeper.....what the f@%k?

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                • #23
                  Not sure if Deyang had to pay, lol. The whole thing was quite bizarre. Decheng is supposed to come to the US in November for a few months; I think he'll be in France and Italy in October.

                  As for stories, not too many this time. Got some things to write about, but mainly this trip has been about work. Spent about five days with a team from a major international magazine, helping them accomplish their goals with respect to a very large story due out sometime next year. I'm not sure I'm free to say much more about it at this time. It was an interesting, worthwhile experience, that took quite a bit of my time. To the point, where I only had one day to train before I had to leave for the Philippines, where I am now.

                  Manila is a parking lot full of crime, sawed off shotguns, prostitutes, and dirty malls. What a place....
                  Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

                  "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

                  (more comments in my User Profile)
                  russbo.com


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                  • #24
                    Hi Doc.

                    Very sad that shi de cheng have to pay. I could be only that the guards didn't know him, I think if they knew how he is, you would not have any trouble. Who knows.
                    Sad because Shaolin its getting a park, not a place to find the meaning of life.

                    Saludos,
                    Hector Villarruel
                    Guadalajara, Jalisco
                    Mexico

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                    • #25
                      doc, i have a question, you say that shaolin village is gone, does that mean shi de cheng and de yang and whatnot dont have schools anymore?

                      amitabha
                      "did you ask me to consider dick with you??" blooming tianshi lotus

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                      • #26
                        The schools all moved to nearby Dengfeng city.

                        Video to follow of the area (along with video from last year, of destruction, which we have not yet edited), to follow upon my return home.
                        Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

                        "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

                        (more comments in my User Profile)
                        russbo.com


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                        • #27
                          i guess doc will just have to turn vegas into the new place to go to discovery the meaning of life.

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                          • #28
                            Finding the meaning of life in Vegas?
                            Perhaps in a Monty-Pythonish sort of way...

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                            • #29
                              i didn't know there was any other.

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                              • #30
                                Incredible filth. Overcrowding. Shanty town slums built two levels high on the sidewalks, so much so that children routinely get hit by cars walking in the streets. Streets, I might add, that are overflowing with automobiles of all sizes, shapes, and states of complete and utter disrepair. Pick up truck / jeep hybrids called jeepneys, that private individuals use to run bus routes. Two benches, with a low roof, that I'd barely fit in, fit a good twenty people, with two or three hanging off the back. All moved by some Jeep four cylinder put put engine. Hundreds of them. Diesel exhaust. And more diesel exhaust. Traffic jams, to the point of the main arterials being parking lots. In fact, on the way to a bachelor party, a two kilometer journey took over four hours in constant bumper to bumper traffic, all due to the fact that the drizzle that was falling that day caused flooding on one road, two cities away. Families with two, three, four, six children, the more, the better. The more children, the better opportunity one might get a job out of the country, and send all sorts of money back home to support the others. Shopping malls that range from "not bad" to ghetto; fully outfitted with all sorts of western apparel and appliances, and, pirated software and DVD's. In fact, a complete mall full of just pirated materials. Poverty, to the extreme. Filth. Humidity. Crime, to an extent that you'll never imagine. Bomb checks at every entrance to every mall, hotel, bank, movie theater. Guards, armed with pistol grip sawed off shotguns, at every mall, club, bank, hotel, and even, most stores. Bomb sniffing dogs with armed guards at the local five star hotels. Physical searches. Gun control out of control, everyone has one, the better to protect oneself. Drugs to a rampant extent. Prostitution, as common as candy bars. Young 18 year old girls who will bang you for twenty bucks. Throw them an extra five, and they'll not only scream your name, but they'll wholeheartedly profess undying love and affection for you. Homes, with high walls topped with broken glass, iron spike fences; the few upper class have their homes not only within one set of walls, but, in some cases, five. Private communities, with private armed guards. Personal bodyguards, to protect one's children from the ever present and near constant threat of kidnapping. Ya Ya's, nurse maids, maids, and other servants, who work for forty dollars a month, and, room and board. And do so happily. A small home can easily house twenty people, once you include family members, maids, servants, drivers, and security guards.

                                Welcome to the Philippines. Manila. Cebu.

                                A population that is 95% Catholic.

                                And a great deal of them go to church every Sunday.

                                Don't go.
                                Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

                                "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

                                (more comments in my User Profile)
                                russbo.com


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