Shaolin - The Home of Kung Fu!

We spent one night in Shaolin, which is a small town with lots of Chinese culture! When we arrived we visited an orphanage a short walk from the hotel. The children are all either orphaned or have families too poor to care for them, and so have been taken in by a monk who has taught them all kung fu. They're taught from morning until night every day with only Sundays off! The kids put on a kung fu show for us which was AMAZING! Some of their tricks included breaking metal blocks with their heads and throwing a pin through a piece of glass to pop a balloon on the other side!!

Yesterday on our second day in Shaolin we visited the temple, which is home to 8000 kung fu students!! Some of which put on another cool show for us. We then climbed a mountain within the temple grounds, on the top of which a nun has been meditating for 4 years!! Don't worry though, she does have a mobile phone and apparently just makes a call if she needs food!! The views at the top of the mountain were spectacular and made it worth the hour hike.

A prayer tree at the top of the mountain. People write messages or prayers on the red material and tie it to the tree.

Last night we left Shaolin by night train, travelling for 10 hours to our next destination - Beijing! We arrived early this morning, and am very excited for all we have planned here!