Long distance bus transport in China does not work well. Trafic congestions, road works, not reliable timetable, long delays before you get to/off this dinosaur cities… Better relay on trains… But sometimes you will have no choice – like me today.
No rails to Shaolin… I took a bus from Luoyang (19 yuans) but it took us more then 2 hours to get there. Rainy day. Limited visibility of the surrounding mountains. Bad luck! I decided to get in anyway. No discounts for the foreigners! I paid 100 y entry fee and started a walk along long alley heading to the Main monastery buildings under pine trees. Buddhist monks in the grey costumes checked the ticked again. They do not meditate? Crowd of Chinese tourists with umbrellas and rain coats. Gold-painted statues of Buddha. Then the other buildings and “forest of pagodas” – the cemetery of high-ranking monks.
Shaolin is the birthplace of kung-fu. Yes, there are still academies of this art. But now it is more like popular tourist place (even in the rainy days there are crowds of Chinese… Sorry, it does not make any sense to take one of two cableways up to the mountain…
But I have noe the idea how one more UNESCO site looks like…
