10 Oct 2019
Wonderful experience! My guide Shane (pronounced Xian), was terrific. She really new her history about both the Longmen Grottoes, Buddhism and Shaolin temple. I learned so much from her like how Shaolin temple became truly famous after the first Tang emperor, Lee Shi Min, was rescued by the Shaolin monks at that time (this is the story in the original Shaolin movie with Jet Li). Also, most of the temple was rebuilt after a warlord destroyed most of it in the early 1900s (similar to the stort in Andy Lau's Shaolin film from 2011). Although it is not part of this tour, I highly recommend people to hike up Song Mountain and Damo cave near the temple. The views are stunning and absolutely worth the blisters on your feet haha. The kungfu experience was cool too. You get a glimpse into the lives of some of the boys living in the nearby Kung Fu schools and see how hard they train everyday. Overall, a great experience especially if you love wushu/kung fu.