Life> Travel

My backyard Shaolin temple

By Karl Arney (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-17 09:04

China's vast assortment of historic temples is enough to impress just about anyone, but Westerners in particular are often drawn to them for the simple fact that we have nothing like them back home.

That said, though, it's understandable that after seeing a few and spending enough time in China, the magic of new temple experiences can sometimes fade. Beautiful as many are, once the initial exotic novelty wears off, so too can the excitement.

As it happens, one of the country's most famous and divisive, Dengfeng's Shaolin Temple, is located in my backyard. Having been there twice now, I've had a chance to experience it with the wide eyes of a new temple-goer and the more jaded eyes of someone two years into his China stay.

Shaolin is many things to many people in the West, but its original role as the early center of Chinese kungfu remains its greatest claim to fame across the world.

In spite of this, I've heard a number of critics dismiss the 5th-century landmark as having been "Disney-fied", which is to say it has been changed and commercialized to cash in on its famous name.

Going there today, these dueling reputations are on full display before you even step foot on the temple grounds.

Driving into Dengfeng, you get the feeling that the city is one immense training ground for some kind of kungfu army. Martial arts schools line the roads and seem to always have students practicing their craft in the yards, which makes for interesting sightseeing.

On reaching the outside of Shaolin Temple, however, you're greeted by a giant electronic billboard advertising what waits inside, followed by a massive stretch of merchandise shops. This is not something one expects to see when visiting an ancient kungfu temple. Even on my first visit, this struck me as strange.

Were this another temple, that kind of commercialism might validate the critics. But Shaolin has a few things working in its favor that help transcend their complaints.

In terms of what is actually there, the temple grounds have some excellent kungfu displays and performances.

On a given day, a visitor can see people balancing on spears, throwing needles through glass and into balloons, breaking metal bars over their heads, and much more, as well as some fun combat reenactments and weapons displays.

But Shaolin truly has a special place in the heart of many Americans because of its long-standing place in our cult-culture, having enthralled multiple generations with its legend.

A big part of that comes from a 1970s TV show called, simply, Kung Fu.

It focused on a Shaolin monk roaming around the US' West of the 1800s, solving problems and imparting Eastern philosophy to those he encountered. If the plot sounds a bit silly, the show itself was done quite well, and many - from my dad to my college roommate - remember it fondly.

Shaolin was tied to another generation of American culture in the 1990s when it was championed by the massively successful New York hip-hop group the Wu Tang Clan.

Wu Tang comprised nine rappers who shared a love of old Shaolin kungfu movies and often began their hard-edged songs with spoken clips from those films. To many of my generation, Wu Tang and all things Shaolin are almost synonymous.

Devoid of certain context, the Shaolin Temple could arguably be seen as a tourist trap with some fun kungfu shows and not much else to distinguish it from the many others scattered across China.

But for my money, any place I can visit that can turn both my Dad and arguably the greatest rap collective of the '90s green with envy is always going to be a winner.