In Kunming

[GeneChing]

I'll be very interested to learn what you discover.

amitoufo!

[ShaolinDan]

Well, if nothing falls through I'll be be interviewing the head monk, Shi Yanbei at the Kunming Shaolin temples on Wednesday. Thanks for the hook up Gene!

Well, that was very cool. It seems they were as excited to have foreign 'reporters' visiting them as I was to be interviewing a Shaolin monk. They treated us (me and my friend/training partner/translator) really well. Had their own photographer on hand, took us out to a very nice vegetarian feast, and gave us Kunming Shaolin brand Pu'er Tea to take home. Totally cool. Also invited us back to train and to attend a couple of Shaolin 'parties' in the city.

I tried not to have any fantasies about China before I came--but any fantasies I did have did not include being treated to a banquet by Shaolin monks. Thanks Gene and KFM!

If I don't screw up the writing too badly, maybe my interview with Shi Yanbei will be in the next Shaolin Special.

[ShaolinDan]

Cooler and cooler. Just a 'right place at the right time' thing. If anyone else on this forum had posted that they were in Kunming they'd be in my shoes now.

So, I'm getting to train at the Kunming Shaolin Temple for free--well, for the price of producing English language publicity material for the temple.

It's totally sweet and totally lucky. After training I'm going up to the Masters' rooms and drinking gongfu tea with them--**** good tea too (if you can't drink alcohol you do what you can). Also bringing home complimentary boxes of "Shaolin Cookies" all the way from Henan (they're delicious, by the way). I tried to put money in the donation box after training the other week and they wouldn't even let me.

Anyway, cool stuff. Got to thank Gene for the hook up.

Right now I'm in the process of advising them about what an appropriate training fee for westerners is...when that's all settled I guess I'll start a "Kuming Shaolin Temple" thread in the Shaolin forum.

For now I'll just say, Kunming is a really cool city (as far as cities in China go), and the training at the temple so far is totally old school--endless horse stance and no modern wushu.

If you're interested in more info PM me.

[GeneChing]

It's all about the guanxi.

See Shaolin in Spring City Guandu Shaolin Temples in Kunming By Daniel Chase in our Shaolin Special 2013.

[Syn7]

That's sweet. Glad it has all worked out for you. Gotta love an adventure!!! I'm overdue.

[ShaolinDan]

Thanks Gene. Thanks Syn.

Totally understand feeling overdue for adventure. Spent ten years working as a cook in the same town (same job for 7 years), without any real adventures (except for taking up gong fu ). It took me three years to get up the nerve to make the change to China. Easy to get settled into a routine, but it feels great to break it.

Actually, I've kind of settled into a routine here in the last couple months. Kunming is a really comfortable place to live. Got my restaurants and bars and friends and gong fu school and have stopped feeling like I'm on a non-stop roller coaster ride. Not worried though, three more months and I'll be free to do some traveling. Really looking forward to that, there's so much here that I want to see!

[Syn7]

Yeah, people always prepare for things like that in the future then they never happen. You just gotta do it. I mean, you have to prepare, but there comes that time when you just gotta leap.

I'm going to Vietnam in the summer, that should be pretty cool. My gf is finishing up a degree at Cambridge and is there for about 6 or 7 months. So that will be fun, and she'll already know her way around and stuff. An added bonus.

[ShaolinDan]

That's sweet Syn! First time in Asia? How long are you going for? It's a **** long trip, I recommend staying as long as you can to make it worth it.

[Syn7]

Yup, first time. I'm gonna stay as long as I can. Couple weeks for sure. Yeah it's a ***** of a flight, for sure. 14 hour time diff.

[@PLUGO]

The Shaolin Temple You've Never Heard Of

by Daniel Chase

[Syn7]

Nice... Props. Looks like you got to live out a childhood fantasy. Gotta love that.

Do you have a blog or a site where you put all your writings?

http://wordpress.com/ looks pretty user friendly.

[ShaolinDan]

Nice... Props. Looks like you got to live out a childhood fantasy. Gotta love that.

Do you have a blog or a site where you put all your writings?

http://wordpress.com/ looks pretty user friendly.

Sort of...it's nothing like the Kung Fu TV series, though.
I'm at least as excited about being a teacher instead of a cook and having managed to do some professional writing as I am about training at a Shaolin Temple. It's a sweet bonus though, never expected it when I came here...the Guanxi thing in China can be really annoying, but it's worked out well for me in this instance.

The KFM forum is my blog. Somewhere in the meditation section is a buried thread where I posted a bunch of old poems... Otherwise I just send 'mass' email updates to my friends. I also write separate mass mailings to my kung fu brothers and sisters back home--I don't think most of my friends want to read several page updates about the kung fu scene in Kunming.

On a side note, about your trip to Nam. If you can manage to stay longer than two weeks I'd do it. They say it takes about one day for every hour of time change to get over the jetlag. Possible to get around that though...My brother-in-law makes regular business trips to China and he's managed to get the sleeping pill timing down to a science. You seem like you'd be able to figure that one out.

[ShaolinDan]

Well, as long as I started posting pics from Guandu in the Guandu Shaolin Temple thread
(http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/foru...ad.php?t=65758), I suppose I ought to start posting some of my pictures from around the rest of Kuming on this thread.

A note about Kunming in general: It's not a super exciting city and there's not a ton to do here, but it's widely considered one of the most comfortable cities in China to live in. The weather is great, the pollution is good (for China), and the people are laid-back and friendly (for China).

However, Yunnan is FULL of things to see (several of them within two hours of the city), and Kunming is the gateway to Yunnan. It's also a great place to travel the rest of Southeast Asia from. Kunming has a big new international airport with short cheap flights to the neighboring countries (Lao, Vietnam, Thailand, etc.).

Might as well start with the big picture. Here is a view of Kunming and Dian Chi (Lake Dian) from Xishan (West Mountain) [note Kuming is a valley city surrounded by mountains on all sides...much like Denver only without the snow]:

[ShaolinDan]

At first glance Kunming may look like just another a big sprawling city (and it is ), but it also has several peaceful and green oasis to escape to. Probably the number one green getaway is Green Lake Park--happily only a few minutes away from my building. Not only is Green Lake Park a nice green place in the middle of the city, but it's also a great place to go and watch traditional singing and dancing. I'm not a city person at all, and being right near the park has been a real life saver this year.

Green Lake Park is also very photogenic.

[ShaolinDan]

Here are a few other spots that are good getaways inside the city:
This pagoda is on the grounds of an old Confucian Temple turned park (a favorite place for old locals to play cards, mahjong, chess, and anything else you can bet on):Attachment 7443
Yuan Tong Temple is probably the most peaceful place I've found in the city:
Attachment 7444
I also like sitting by the East Pagoda, which has a nice little park around it. Also between the West and East Pagoda are a bunch of really good (but expensive) restaurants. (The West Pagoda is pretty much the same as the East Pagoda, but with inferior landscaping.):
Attachment 7445