Travel Destinations: Song Shan and Dengfeng, Henan Province, China

Song Shan, rising to a height of 1512m, is considered to be the central mountain in China, symbolising the element of earth. Situated around 80km west of Zhengzhou in Henan Province, Song Shan is also famous for being the sacred home of the world renowned Buddhist Shaolin Temple.

Directly underneath the mountain, lies the quaint little town of Dengfang. Used mainly as a base for travellers hiking up the mountain, it may be a little rough around the edges in terms of prettiness, but nevertheless it is still a place to visit.

The Shaolin Temple (Shaolin Si) is the legendary birthplace of gongfu (kung fu). Because of its fame, it has become a victim in itself over the years; a target of war, the temple has been ruined, rebuilt, destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout the decades. The last fire was in 1928 and since then has seen restoration ever since, especially with the droves of tourists who visit each year.

At the Shaolin Temple, there is much wushu (athletic Chinese martial arts) instead of true gong fu. True gong fu takes years of intense mental and physical study instead of just physical training.

Coming here, you enter the temple just past some of the most wonderful stelae, some are delicate works of art from abroad. You can also see the Pilu Pavilion (Pilu Dian) with its famous depressions in the floor, as well as the Guanyin Hall (Guangyin Dian). Here are some wonderful frescoes depicting fighting monks.

Directly opposite of the entrance to the Shaolin Temple is the beautiful Arhat Hall which lies in the Shifang Chanyuan. Here you will find some coarsely sculpted luohan (monks who have achieved nirvana on their death). Outside is the Pagoda Forest (Shaolin Talin), which is a cemetery holding 246 small brick pagodas, including an important and famous monk. Some of the stupas here are not in perfect condition, others are completely ruined. However, it’s a beautifully haunting location.

Left of Shaolin Temple is a path that will lead you up to Wuru Peak (Wuru Feng). It gets quite busy up here with tourists, but you can escape them by visiting the cave (DAmo Dong) where the Domo Bodhidharma meditated for nine years. Although the signs say it’s only 500m away, it’s really 3km.

The tallest of the three peaks is Shaoshi Shan at 1512m above sea level. There is a pleasant trail which will take you on a hike around craggy rocks and a path that will make your heart race as it hugs the cliffs! The trail will take about six hours to do a complete return trip, and covers a distance of 15km, leading you to the 782 step Rope Bridge (Suo Qiao).

You can reach the Shaolin Temple from Dengfeng by taking the number 8 bus which takes about 15 minutes. When you get to the drop off point, you then take a buggy to the entrance or else you can walk. If you are coming from Luoyang or Zhengzhou you can catch a minibus which will take around an hour and half to two and half hours. You can catch your return trip from the Pagoda Forest.

If coming to Song Shan, then there are more places to visit apart from the Shaolin Temple. Why not take a trip to Songyang Academy (Songyang Shuyuan), located at the foot of Taishi Shan. This is one of the oldest academies in China, and in the courtyard are two cypress trees which are believed to have been growing for 4,500 years! Songyue pagoda (Songyue Ta) is nearby and is one of China’s oldest brick pagodas, dating from the Song Dynasty.

If the Shaolin Temple is not enough for you, pay a visit to Zhongue Miao, an active Daoist monastery complex which gives more of a sense of mysticism than the Shaolin Temple. An ancient building, the complex dates back to the second century BCE. The main hall is dedicated to the Mountain God. You can walk through the Huasan Gate and expel the pengju, pengzhi and pengjiao – the three insects which inhabit the brain, the stomach and the feet. Visit the Ministry of Hades (Qishier Si) where you can rub the four Iron Men of Song, which is said to cure illnesses.

Travel Destinations: Fujian Province, China

Fujian Province is one of the most beautiful regions in China – a lush coastline, deep clear blue waters, steep mountains and fertile snaking river valleys; Fujian Province is everything that you could possibly want in a trip to China.

For centuries, Fujian has been a flourishing region, the coastline being important in trade, and still today you will find it a busy place. However, Fujian is much more relaxed than other places such as Beijing and Shanghai. The mountainous interior remains virtually unexplored by tourists; these mountains and lush rolling hills provide fantastic hiking trails for the curious.

FUZHOU:

The capital of the province, Fuzhou is a thoroughly modern Chinese city but still remains proud of its long history dating back to the 3^rd century CE. Even Marco Polo travelled here and called it a ‘veritable marvel’.

There may only be a few cultural attractions here but what there is here is definitely worth taking a look. The Jade Hill Scenic Area is a green oasis in the middle of the urban jungle where you will find the White pagoda dating back to 904 CE. Black Pagoda is nearby. A trip to West Lake Park, the Fujian Provincial Museum and the Taijiang Harbour are also sights to see here.

TAIMU MOUNTAIN:

Taimu Mountain is a beautiful rugged mountain, surrounded on all sides by impressive views of the sea and its peaks wrapped in an ever-lasting sheath of mist, making it look like something out of an ancient Chinese fairytale. The trails here are brilliant and there are many other things to see here – you will find a number of karst caves, ancient temples and hoodoos. There are 36 temples on the mountain; some of the best are Guoxing Temple and the One Tile Temple.

XIAMEN:

Known more popularly to the West as Amoy, Xiamen is considered the prettiest city in Fujian. You will find many old colonial homes here as well as a popular waterfront district. Come here to visit the Nanputuo Temple which is over a thousand years old; the Xiamen University; the Overseas Chinese Museum; and a trip here is never complete until you take a visit over to the island of Gulang Yu just a short boat ride away.

YONGDING:

This is a rolling farmland region, lush and fertile, and home to the Hakka people. In the Jin Dynasty, the Hakka people were forced to migrate to the south to escape persecution and famine; eventually, they settled in Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces.

This area is simply beautiful. It is a landscape full of emerald green fields, lush vegetation and serene hills just waiting for you to explore. It is famous for its tulou (earth buildings) which many are available to visit.

GUANZHOU:

Quanzhou was once one of the most important trading ports in China and one of the stops on the maritime Silk Road. Today, it is a smaller city than Fuzhou and Xiamen, but it makes up for it in cultural attractions and personality.

Come here to see the Kaiyuan Temple, one of the oldest temples in the city, dating to 686 CE. The Qingling Mosque is a great place to visit, as well as the Puppet Museum, the Guandi Temple, the Mazu Temple and the Maritime Museum.

Fujian is a beautiful province and a place to explore if you are able to spend a week or two here. What are you waiting for?

Travel Destinations: Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, China

Mudanjiang, with a population of 767,000, is a town that may be nondescript on the first glance, but offers much more. Travellers mainly use Mudanjiang as a transit point for the nearby town of Jingpo Hu, known as Mirror Lake and the Underground Forest.

Jingpo Hu is a beautiful place where both Chinese and international travellers flock to year after year. Mirror Lake covers an area of 90sq km and 45km in length, and was formed on the curve of the Mudan River around 5000 years ago when lava fell from five volcano explosions nearby.

You can take a boat tour of Mirror Lake, which is a beautiful way to explore this remarkable place. If boats aren’t your thing, then you can take a slow hike around the lakeshore. If you want a great place to take some amazingly beautiful photos, then search for the Diaoshuilou Waterfall, located not so far away from the lake. Around 20m tall and 40m wide, during the rainy season it can swell but can evaporate to a small trickle during other times of the year.

Popular all year round, October to May is the best time to visit Mirror Lake as the rest of the year sees thousands of visitors. You can get here from Wudanjiang by train or bus. The train will take about an hour and a half to Dongjing, then an hour to Mirror Lake itself via minibus. However, these buses only run from June to September, so if you want to visit at other times, you will need to take a taxi.

The Underground Forest (Dixia Senlin) is another reason why people come to Mudanjiang. Located another 50km from Jingpo, the forest grows within the craters of volcanoes which erupted about 10,000 years ago. With 10 craters and a beautiful forest filled with pine trees, hiking here will take about an hour. You can get here from Mudanjiang by taking a bus or a train to Dongjing. From here, you can then catch a minibus to the forest. You can also catch a private taxi from Mirror Lake, but it is very expensive to do so.

You can get to Mudanjiang from anywhere in China. Buses and trains depart to and from Haerbin (taking about five hours), Suifenhe (four to five hours), Yanji (seven hours), Tumen (six hours), Jiamusi (eight hours) and Dongjing (an hour and a quarter).