Traveling to the Kung Fu Capital The Shaolin Temple
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In the early years watching Kung Fu the television series and having Bruce Lee as one of my childhood idols never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that one day I would become a tour guide to the place that I worshiped when I was a teenager. During that period, we just came out of the Viet Nam war and visiting China was almost an impossibility let alone taking celebrities there to visit and train kung fu. Training Martial Arts were an obsession with me I could not get enough, almost like a drug addict. Little did I know that not only would I travel to Shaolin but I would become personal friends with most of the Martial Arts Stars. Live, and teach Martial Arts in the Capital of China Beijing.
This is someplace that is easy for the most Martial Art student to travel at a very inexpensive rate. You first travel to the Capital city of Beijing this is where you want to spend some time sightseeing and climbing the great wall of China. There are several different locations to climb, and daily bus tours travel from the heart of Beijing to the Great Wall. You will spend about 90 minutes on the bus ride to get to your destination.
After getting there you will have about 3 hours to climb and return to the bus, and you will probably want to get a foot massage that evening when you return. On your trip back to the city you will stop by jade museum where you will have a late lunch. This is one of the largest collections of Jade anywhere I have seen and of course the Chinese are eager sell you some of their Jade while you look at the amazing jade carvings. 
After your climb, you can get a 60-minute foot massage for about $20 USD per person. This includes soaking your feet in Hot water with Chinese herbs, arm massage, shoulder massage, and a side of hot Chinese Tea.
The next day you will want to visit the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. The evening would be spent at Silk Street to do some shopping and look at some of the old designs of Beijing.
The Next Day you would want to spend the morning going to the Temple of Heaven where the Emperor would pray for a good Harvest for the upcoming season. This is a great park to visit and sightsee, and when it is all done you can become an Emperor also.
After spending the day at the temple of Heaven you can travel on subway line #5 just a few stops and visit the Lama Temple this will take you about 60 to 90 minutes to visit.
After this visit, there is another Temple to visit just walking distance from here called the Temple of Earth the cost to get is at the low price of 35 Cents
After this visit, you can top it off on one of the best restaurants in Beijing and is one of the oldest. Located next to the temple of Earth.
Now you have spent only three days in Beijing but have seen some of the major sights there. You can spend 4 or 5 days more. Most people want to make this a 10-day trip. Your first day of arriving after that long 12-hour flight. You will need to rest upon the first day to get ready for all of the sight and travel you will be doing.
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Now after seeing Beijing now you are ready to take to high-speed bullet train to Zhengzhou China, this is where you will catch a bus to take the 2-hour bus ride to the Shaolin Temple. The ride from Beijing will last about 4 hours on the high-speed rail it is quite amazing if you have never ridden on a bullet train before.
This is a great place for a Martial Arts Teacher to take his students who are getting promoted to their next belt rank. When people ask when did you get promoted the student can boast not only he got his Black Belt but he was promoted at the Shaolin Temple in China. Something they will never forget.
If you are expecting a nightlife here well the only thing here is Martial Arts and more Martial Arts. So, if you love Martial Arts you will think you have died and went to Heaven.
The Pagoda forest where all of the past Shaolin Monks have been laid to rest.
To finish off your trip between your morning kung fu training and mountain climbing the must-see is the cave of Bodhidharma
After your three-day visit to Shaolin you will return to Beijing to get ready for your fight back.
You will want to spend one more day shopping and getting some of things you missed before returning home. Just spending a day on your own to travel around the city the following morning you will be taking the Airport express rail to Beijing Capital Airport where you will catch your international Flight back home. All in all, about 10 days but something that everyone has enjoyed and many have return to do again with some of their student.
The air flight can be under $800 dollar round trip and it is a very affordable trip and adventure that every Martial Artist should do once in their life.