Temples at the Shaolin Monastery

The temples at the Shaolin Monastery are very beautiful... bright/vibrant colors, intricate carving details, and textures aged to perfection. Each building has its own unique features, but is in unison with its surroundings. These are a few photos I took while walking around.

Enter This Door to Enlightenment

Stone Creatures

At the top of each building at Shaolin Monastery, little stone creatures stand guard. Each creature has unique features and they are positioned at the building's four corners. I couldn't quite understand why they were there or what their significance was... but they appeared to be acting as guards to scare away evil spirits. 

Burning Incense

Burning incense at the Shaolin Monastery. People would make a small donation, grab an incense stick, and then walk into the temple to pray. The group I was in tried to do the same thing... but we were blocked by the monk from entering the temple. I think there was a non-white people policy (or at least they didn't believed we were buddhists).

Selective Focus

Getting a close up of some of the textures that have been created over the last century. In the top photo, a woman peaks through a narrow passage way.

Stone Wall

As I was walking through the Shaolin Monastery (aka Shaolin Temple), I came across a stone wall that had a narrow rock shoved into a crevice. Everything I saw at the Shaolin Monastery seemed to have some sort of significance. Therefore, I thought there might be a story behind this as well... and I started taking some photos of it. As I was doing this, a tour guide walked past (that spoke English) and I asked for an explanation of this specific wall. She just giggled at me and said something in Chinese that sounded like "silly white person"... so I don't think there is anything special about this wall. Nonetheless, the picture came out pretty well and I can pretend that kung fu masters use this wall to practice throwing rocks and swords. 

Pagoda Forest at Shaolin Temple

The Pagoda Forest at Shaolin Temple refers to the 228 stone or brick pagodas built from 791 AD during the Tang Dynasty through the Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty. The levels, or storeys, on the pagodas must be odd numbers (from 1 to 7) and are based on the achievements of the Buddhist masters they were built for. The higher the pagoda, the more "badass" the monk. The era the pagodas were built, affects the shape (round or square) and the number of sides (4 or 6). The pagoda forest in Shaolin stands at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain and is one of the largest pagoda forests in China. It was named a national scenic spot in 1996 (and is now a UNESCO world heritage site).

Most of the Pagoda Forest is stone and brick structures, ranging from one to seven storeys, less than fifteen meters high -- much smaller than pagodas for Buddhist relics -- and all carry the exact year of their construction and many carvings and inscriptions. They are in a variety of styles, but are mainly multi-eaved and of pavilion-style. Their shapes are varied, including polygonal, cylindrical, vase, conical and monolithic, making the pagoda forest an exhibition of ancient pagodas, carvings and calligraphy of various dynasties. Besides the pagoda forest there are many invaluable tomb pagodas scattered around the Shaolin Temple, including the Faro Pagoda built in 689 in the Tang Dynasty, the Tongguang Pagoda constructed in 926 in the Five Dynasties, the Yugong Pagoda erected in 1324 in the Yuan Dynasty, and the Zhaogong Pagoda built in the Ming Dynasty.

Reference: Wikipedia

Kung Fu Masters in Training at Shaolin Monastery

This was a pretty impressive site to see as I was departing the Shaolin Monastery... 1000s of students were quietly sitting at attention and listening as their masters gave instruction. I was surprised that not a single student looked distracted by the tourists (such as me) walking by. It was like we did not exist. 

Finger Punching Tree at Shaolin Monastery

The little "divots" you see in this tree are caused by monks that are practicing "finger punching". I didn't quite believe it at first (sounded like something out of a Kill Bill movie)... however, when you get up close, the divots are definitely the size of a finger. I'm not quite sure what else could have caused it (wikipedia also confirmed this information). In this photo, one of my work colleagues decided that he needed some practice. 

So You Want to Learn Kung Fu... Statues at the Shaolin Monastery

During a work trip to Northern China, I was lucky enough to take a detour to the Shaolin Monastery (aka Shaolin Temple) in Henan province. The Shaolin Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is famous for Shaolin Kung Fu! It was a pretty awesome place to visit (apparently, it's every Chinese kid's fantasy to learn kung fu here). These are a couple photos I took of the various statues on the property.

Neon Nights in Lan Kwai Fong

Hong Kong is a very interesting city... densely populated, modern, efficient transportation system, delicious food (except Mexican), fun bars, great shopping, and some of the most incredible urban views you will ever see. People that live here seem to move a mile a second... however, if you take the time to get to know the locals, you will find that they are extremely friendly and genuine.

On this particular night, I had finished eating dinner at Lily & Bloom... and decided to walk around the streets of Lan Kwai Fong. These are a few photographs I took as I tried to document the urban scene.

A Walk Through Golden Gate Park

After eating brunch at the Cliff House in Ocean Beach (highly recommended), I had a few hours to kill before heading back down to Santa Barbara. Since the weather was beautiful, I decided to take a little walk through Golden Gate State Park. I had never been on this trail before. In the past, whenever I had gone to Ocean Beach, all I did was surf. The weather was usually quite foggy and there wasn't much of a view. However, on this particular day, the sun was shining and it was just about as beautiful as it could get... could see for miles. These are a few photos I took along the way.

A Walk Through the Muir Woods

On past trips to San Francisco and Northern California, I had never really thought about going to see the redwoods in Muir Woods... after all, how impressive could a bunch of trees be? Nonetheless, I had several friends (and my mom) recommend the place to me... and as I was on my way to surf a spot in Marin County, I happened to drive past a sign pointing to Muir Woods. I made a mental note of the location and on my way back from surfing, decided to check it out. I was really impressed (wish I had brought my good camera with me... all of these are Galaxy SII images). The trees are so massive that they almost look "cartoon-like" in stature. In many cases, the leaves or branches don't even start until about 100 feet up and many of the trees have been here for over 1000 years. Apparently, the redwoods in this forest are considered to be "coastal redwoods" (which are smaller in size)... the really big redwoods are further north by the Oregon border.

If you have a bit of time while in San Francisco, I recommend taking the short drive over the bridge to see the Muir Woods. There are also a bunch of shuttle buses that will take you from the city.

4 Days in the Portlandia

Documenting my recent trip to the lovely city of Portland.  

Central Coast Beauty II

This image is one of the reasons why I don't mind making the drive up north to San Francisco... the coast line north of Point Conception is spectacular. This is a little cove just north of Pismo Beach. 

Mission San Miguel Arcangel

Remnants of one of the many missions in California... Mission San Miguel Arcangel. I came across this place on my way up to San Francisco (was looking for a place to eat) and really liked the lighting at this particular time of day. I decided to quickly stop and take a picture before continuing my search for food. As I was cruising through the town, I randomly found what looked like an incredible restaurant: Tenth Street Basque Cafe (only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday)... however, I didn't have enough time to sit down for a full meal. I will definitely need to make it back up there one day. 

Central Coast Beauty

Another random/beautiful beach in Central California. There was supposed to be a good surf spot somewhere around here... however, the swell was a bit too small and I don't think it was breaking (or I couldn't find it).