China 2011-2012

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I’d visited the Buddhist Temple. I stopped at the Confucian Academy. It was time to hit up the Daoists and see what they had going on in their temple.

There was no sign of Henry as I made my down to the curb on a chilly and foggy New Year’s day. The weather report had called for clear skies, but what do weather men anywhere know about the weather?

I had gotten better at my routine for hailing a cab and telling the driver where I wanted to go. I gave them my Yao Choo Zhonyue (Yao Choo courtesy of Mr. Ching). Pointing at the tourist map I have seems to be the most useful. I also need to cross reference it to the pamphlet I have to make sure I’m pointing at the right picture on the map. Originally I was thinking Zhongyue was north of town. Picture to map comparison showed it was actually east.

The fog seemed to be getting a tad thicker as I stood at the ticket window for Zhongyue. Firecrackers exploding echoed to me from the grounds. In front of the temple, vendors had tables set with what seemed to be large fireworks. They sold these long gold tubes with wood bases on them. They looked like either roman candles or bottle rockets. Using my vast intellect combined with the sounds of explosions, I deduced that people were coming to Zhongyue to light off fireworks to celebrate the New Year. This was going to be awesome.

As I made my way up the stairs into the first courtyard, I noticed a family carrying bunches of these candle rocket things. I decided to follow them to the fireworks field.

First stop was a pavilion, complete with Daoist priest and altar. He had some incense sticks to burn for 30 yuan. That was outrageous. I wasn’t go to pay that. I also noticed these thick incense sticks looked just like the larger roman candle rockets things. When I looked at the altar in front of the pavilion, I could see several of these huge sticks burning. The sticks weren’t fireworks, just really big incense. No fireworks for Greg. But I still heard the occasional sound of firecrackers going off and I swore I saw bricks of firecrackers in some my new families’s bags.

Beyond the first pavilion, are four giant statues of what are known as the iron men. If I checked my pictures I could tell you why they are called the iron men and what they do, but I’m busy writing. Suffice it to say, there were plates in front of the statues for offerings. And my new family seemed very intent on hugging one statue in particular and rubbing it’s belly as well as taking pictures with it.

As I wandered around doing my picture video routine, a woman came up and thrust some incense sticks into my hand. Before I knew it, I’m bowing at this little pavilion in the center of the four statues. The woman has taken my camera to take a picture of me in the act. Then I’m putting my lit sticks in the brazier near the pavilion. Yet another round of offerings in Mr. Ching’s name.

I knew what came next. I pulled out my wallet. I’m sure they said these sticks were thirty Yuan, too. But the Daoist priest manning the bowl, gave me back ten from my fifty and offered me that screw you foreigner smile. The priest did hit the gong when he took the offerings. I’m sure that made it all worthwhile.

There were some more ancient Stele in the fields on either side of the path. I visited them. When I returned, another vendor thrust two red envelopes with gold plastic rectangles in them into my hands. I reached for my wallet. They said twenty. I gave them a ten and my screw you Chi-com priest smile before walking away.

I followed my family hoping for big explosions. People asked me to take their picture with them which is an ongoing experience. I gave out Nei Hao’s to the people who stared at me. This got me Nei Hao’s in response and a lot of laughter. Look, Sang Yin, the upright bear speaks!

There were some nice big guardian statues on either side of the next gate. It’s amazing the detail that goes into these fifteen feet tall pieces. I’m not sure everyone realized that under each statue is another smaller statue. Under the one that was on the right, was a lizard peaking out from under the skirt. Opposite him under the other giant, was a man dressed in black looking around. I’m sure it’s all very symbolic and if I could ask, I would get a great story.

I finally made it to the top pavilion. I was operating under the no pictures in the pavilions mode because I’d been rebuffed when I had tried. Which was sad because that upper pavilion was quite beautiful. Plates were in the doorway on a little table. The plates were piled high with cakes and fruits and candies. People kept coming up and throwing more food on the plate.

While I watched one of the priests went into the back room and returned with a large red tub. He took the plates and dumped all the food into the tub, making room for more offerings.

In front of the last pavilion, down a small set of stairs, were two large ovens. They stood hot and ready on either side of the stairs. A group of women stood at one of the ovens. They were folding gold and grey pieces of paper into little boat shapes and feeding them into the flames.

My family continued to hang out at the brazier, adamantly refusing to light their firecrackers. I wandered into another hall where I saw an altar in front of an eight foot tall demon or god. I asked this priest who had been watching me as I watched him if I could shoot some pictures. He waved me the go ahead.

Now next to this god statue was another statue. To either side of this statue, like the first statue, were also two smaller attendant statues. As I stepped into the corridor, I noticed there were probably five or six of these each with two attendants. The corridor ended at a corner, like all good corridors do. I walked that way, taking photographs of each of the statues in the dim light. I pulled out the flash to better aid the picture taking.

When I turned the corned, I finally realized the Daoists had taken nutty to a whole new level. The corridor in front of me was really long. I could dimly make out the end of it. Running the entire length of this corridor was statue upon statue. They alternated Demon and God the entire like of this pavilion. My mind boggled at the sight of them. And each demon or god had two attendants. No two statues were alike and they went on and on and on. I wasn’t lugging the tripod (curse you, you fool. Didn’t you carry that damn thing up a mountain?) so I had to make due with overexposures and creative use of the flash.

As I’m taking my shots and going dizzy from the sight of so many statues, I hear drums and gongs going in the courtyard. A lot of them. Something must be happening in the main pavilion.

It turns out, they were holding a full ceremony complete with about ten Priests. Three Main priests were standing in front of the altar while the remaining priest were on either side of them chanting along and hitting drums and other noise makers.

Best of all, two other Chinese photographers were already shooting the ceremony. I figured one more laughing talking bear wouldn’t be noticed. I shot a lot. I mainly stood in the doorway. iI was nice enough not to use my flash, although the other photogs did.

It was also interesting to see the three main priests carrying this curved wooden board. When I did my interview of the Daoists who came to Los Angeles, I was asked to make a similar board for those Priest so they could do a ceremony, I believe, for the Tsunami victims. My board looked nothing like this board.

After awhile I figured I had bagged my limit of photos and decided to move on. As I left the pavillion and entered the forecourt, my New Year’s prayers had been answered. On the ground was the longest string of firecrackers I had ever seen. It had to be fifty feet long and made a big u shape. When that thing went off, I was going to be nearby.

But there was time and a thought had occurred to me in the pavilion as I still contemplated my corridor of statues. The area was built on a square. Directly across from my corridor was a building that looked exactly like it. I found the opening and went in. Sure enough another insanely long corridor full of unique statues.

I had only taken a few pics when I heard the unmistakable sound of firecrackers going off. They had lit the fuse on the mammoth strand. I ran over from the statues to watch and see what it would be like to photograph them going off.

During this entire time that I had been making my way up the temple to the top, the fog had been getting thicker and thicker. When the firecrackers started, I couldn’t see ten feet. Firecrackers, when they go off, while producing a noise pleasing to my twelve year old inner child, also produce a lot of smoke. It’s very hard to focus a camera on smoke, but I tried. The firecrackers didn’t seem like they were ever going to stop exploding. Smoke billowed in the forecourt so much I couldn’t see two feet in front of me. It was glorious, but made for crappy pictures. You win some. You lose some.

I went back to the room and downed my french cakes, salty-sweet rice cakes and some green tea as part of my healthy and nutritious lunch. My plan was to walk to the other end of Dayo street and find the CITS office and see if they could help me get to Longmen on Tuesday. I wanted to travel there to see the grottoes and Buddha statues.

I arrived to find them still closed. Since I had the afternoon free, I walked down to the center of Dengfeng. I wanted to see of I could locate the bank where I had changed money the first day I was in town. Not being able to use credit cards is indeed one giant pain in the ass. Despite Sal’s warning that he couldn’t give me directions to it, I did locate it. And in fine Chinese fashion, it was open on a Sunday. It was open on a Sunday that was also New Year’s day.

I walked into department stores to see what they were like. They sold stuff, Not so different. I did watch a man who was making cheese puffs with some sort of industrial engine on the street corner. His wife was busy sifting and bagging popcorn for sale. I would have bought a bag, but I got a gander at her less than hygienic hands.

On the way back to the hotel, I spotted another building with the ‘Chinese International Travel Service’ logo on the building. Crap. What if I had been going to the wrong one this whole time? And they were open. But the girl did not understand a word I said when I asked for Mr. Ching’s friend, Wang Yan Min. She made phone calls that didn’t help. I finally just left, but it did seem like I had been at the right office the first time.

I was feeling good about my navigational skills going around town. I spotted my river. I knew I just had to turn at the next block and I would be back at my hotel. It was a long block until my turn. The walk to the hotel after I had made the turn seemed to be much steeper than it should be and I was already really exhausted from walking all the way to CITS and the bank from the hotel. Although the journey did let me see a fake Apple store, which are all the rage now in China.

After looking up the hill and knowing I was wrong, I turned back down the hill. I made a left at the bottom and headed towards the river, hoping I would get another turn before I actually reached it.

I did. It was another slog uphill. I kept thinking I should get a Taxi. But I knew if I did, I would get in and the driver would drive me a block to the hotel and then laugh at me. But I eventually saw the big letters and white facade of the Rome Holiday hotel.

I finally reached Sal late after promising to call him at 3. They were still recovering from the night before. Phil had finally arrived. I told them that Shaolin didn’t open until 8 so there wasn’t any point getting there earlier. But Sal made a point of wanting to be there by 7:30. Just to be ready to race to the gate to start doing forms. I said fine.