new years eve...shaolin style

a little background...

we left xi'an by train to the city of zhengzhou, stayed in zhengzhou for a night and then ventured south by bus to dengfeng where 17km outside of the city lies the original shaolin temple and several dorms which would become our new "home". when we arrived at the shaolin temple area it was cold and so we found a place to stay the night and bunkered down. the next day we woke up to falling snow and equally declining temperatures, we then decided to forego our shaolin escapades for a nice quiet day in our new dorm room listening to music and playing gin rummy (sp?). enter day 3...on day three (new years eve) we ventured out of our dorm and down the snow covered paved path to the various sights of the shaolin temple. first it was a very touristy martial arts gallery/museum, then the actual shaolin temple, then another temple, then the "forest" of pagodas...all were lining this well paved path with much vehicular traffic and tourists walking and getting out of little electric cars at the various points. nothing scary and nothing to worry about at this point.

adventure time...

we had previously read in our lonely planet guidebook, and subsequently seen on the tourist map that there was a hanging bridge in the shaoshi shan mountains surrounding shaolin. i was very excited to see this bridge and it was one of the main destination points in our sight seeing for that day...joronda, on the other hand, was very apprehensive and not enjoying the potentiality as much as i. (you should ask her for her version of the story). anyway, we decided to give it a whirl knowing that it was going to be somewhat of a hike. at this point it was just short of noon and we had plenty of daylight remaining, so we headed some 2000 meters up the street towards our destination. it turns out that once you traverse the street portion you then reach what appears to be the base of the mountain, and you are then faced with a series of staircases that are to take you the rest of the way. now it wasn't actively snowing but the ground was covered in snow (just up to the ankles at some points) and the stairs were pretty steep...but we're montanos, so we pressed forward.

we walked for about 15 minutes through a mediocre range of stairs and flat land before we reached this beautiful iced over waterfall. i've never seen anything like it before...the majority of the waterfall was frozen, but you could still hear and see some of the water underneath. over one of the rocks the water had frozen mid fall and was hanging in the air...it was beautiful. because the water was iced over we were able to walk right up on the waterfall itself and get a once in a lifetime look at it...i was thouroughly impressed. so, i just knew that the hanging bridge was somewhere at the top of this waterfall and that we were very close to finding it. so we took several pictures and then continued up the mountain. now by this time the stairs were extremely steep and as we were climbing, both our muscles and lungs were burning from lack of oxygen. but it was good to be working out and the scenery was so beautiful that i felt it was a small sacrifice for our experience. so finally after about 2 hours and some 2000+ steps we made our way to what we thought was the top of the mountain...it turned out to be the stopping point for the cable car/ski lift that wasn't in operation that day because of the weather. we were both feeling tired and hungry, but seeing as how we only had two small steamed buns, a little peanut butter, and less then a quarter of a bottle of water we decided to hold out and continue our journey. we would eat at the hanging bridge and it couldn't be that much farther...could it?

so we pressed ahead, grateful that the path was flat and that there didn't appear to be any stairs in our immediate future. after 10 minutes of easy walking we rounded the bend of the mountain and looked out in amazement at what lay before us. the mountain had completely opened up and the path was precariously perched along the side of it. the path looked like a tongue depresser on toothpicks, rubber cemented to the biggest mountain i've ever seen. we were much higher than i'd anticipated and looking over the railing produced nothing but looming fog and shakey knees. the entire bottom half of this mountainous valley was engulfed in snow, trees and fog...as was the "hanging plank", as they call it, minus the trees of course. joronda was noticably nervous and shaken and certainly did not trust this time tested support system. quietly, i did not blame her, but i knew that i couldn't let our fears and self doubts stop us now, the scenery was too impressive to quit and the hanging bridge had to be close.

so we walked nervously along this hanging plank that was clinging to the side of the mountain and when we got to the scariest point, we turned around and realized that where we had just come from looked much scarier then the point we were at. with our self doubt momentarily subsided we pressed on...up and down numerous stairs, over paths suspended in time, around the circumference of the mountain, through the snow and fog, all at dizzying heights and all fueling our desire to reach our goal...the hanging bridge. after 2 hours of the most scenic hike we've ever taken, we finally reached the hanging bridge. thump thump, thump thump, thump thump, our hearts pounded with fear and our bodies surged with adrenaline as we looked at the 782-step, snow covered, rope bridge dangling across the foggy expanse of this mountain some 1500 meters above sea level. being that i am deathly afraid of heights, it hardly looked safe...my heart was beating in my throat and joronda was on the verge of tears...but there was no turning back now!! i decided to go first just in case some should go wrong, so with all of the bravery i could muster up i gave my teary-eyed wife a kiss and said a heartfelt prayer before stepping out onto the bridge. immediately the cables tensed and the bridge sagged under my weight. from that height the bridge swayed side to side clanking against it's movement restricting supports, but i felt like EVERYTHING was swaying, the mountain, the trees, my courage...nothing seemed to keep still as i walked one foot in front of the other towards the end of the bridge. in the middle, i paused momentarily to look out and down to get an idea of just how high i was. as the mountain and trees moved beneath me and the fog swirled up and wisped my shoes i had no doubt as to just how high i was...enough sightseeing i thought, it's time to get to the other side, so as quickly and safely as i could i continued. having reached solid ground successfully i was exstatic, i could hear my heart pounding out the "eye of a tiger" beat as the wind carried the lyrics through my chest to harmonize with my ego. wiping the sweat from my brow i turned to look at adrian, um joronda, who was very scared and seemed to be miles away. nervously, i pulled out the video camera to capture her harrowing victory on tape...stepping slowly onto the moving platform she gripped the chicken wire sides for reassurance. in much the same fashion as i, she crossed shakily, safely, and thankfully. glad to have reached the safety of the other side, joronda was real cool on ever repeating said feat again. but not me, i was so excited to have done that...i really felt like i'd accomplished something. i mean, i'm still a chicken shit when it comes to heights but it felt good to challenge myself on that level and momentarily overcome my fears. so with that, i ventured out onto the middle of the bridge a couple of more times for some crucial photo ops...i was going to have documentation of this moment!!!

our journey was finally complete and we were very happy to have made it to our destination...but now reality set in. we were 4 hours into the mountain and only had about 2 hours of daylight remaining...shhhiiiit. what do we do? according to the map it was a shorter distance to the ending parking lot if we just continued to press forward instead of turning around and going back the way we came...so we decided to do just that. after a few more last minute pictures we continued forward over equally rugged and precarious terrain. at one point, joronda felt so weak that we decided to break into our steamed buns and water...we each ate 1/2 a steamed bun and drank a sip of water and then continued. eventually we broke off icicles from the overhanging rocks and nawed on them to get water...and let me tell you, that icicle felt so good against our tongues that we didn't even mind the dirt in our teeth as a result. still continuing forward our 2 hours of daylight quickly slipped away and we soon found ourselves in a much more adventurous situation than we had originally bargained for. to make matters worse, the snow had begun to turn to ice which made all of the thin stone steps we had to descend, very slippery and dangerous...plus, there were no hand rails in some spots which would make for a hell of a fall. on top of all that, the fog was so thick that it engulfed our path in a visionless blur...so we couldn't really see what was awaiting us until we were a few feet from it. did i mention that the sun was setting? talk about living on the edge...literally!!!

so there we are, descending into the unknown foggy depths of this snow covered mountain somewhere in central china with very little food and water, a fast setting sun, and no concrete idea as to how much more of this mountain we would have to travel through to get to the other side...plus no one knew that we were out there. but we had courage, each other, and God on our side so i believe that we were good. anyway, about 40 minutes after the sun had gone down we happened upon this very small mountain village who's residents were extremely surprised to see us. they pointed us in the right direction, which was the direction we were already headed in, and we continued on our way. at the very least we figured that if push came to shove we could head back to them and hopefully get a meal and a corner to sleep until daylight. clinging to the side of the mountain we navigated the terrain like a brain surgeon wearing boxing gloves...v e r y, v e r y s l o w l y, and fumbling a whole hell of a lot. so now, about another 40 minutes or so after we had passed the mountain town we were face to face with the longest, snow covered, foggy staircase we have ever witnessed, imagine the yucatan pyramids...on crack!!! slowly we began descending the first 100+ steps praying for an end...no relief, just more steps. our legs burned, our hands were frozen, and my fu manchu 'snot'stache keep dripping into my damn mouth...eww!! on to the second 100+ steps...again, no relief, just more steps. 3 and 4 more landings of 100+ steps a piece all resulted in nothing. finally after 6 hours of mountaineering we made it onto solid ground, through a set of gates, and into the open, snowy field of the parking lot...hoo "muthaf'n" oray! (bernie mac tribute)

but not for long...

the parking lot was pitch black and there were no cars, no taxis, and no cavalry to greet us. instead we were now some 20+ km away from our dorm room and we had no real idea how to get back without venturing through the mountain again. so armed with my little flashlight and my wife's hand in mine, we set out walking down some two lane mountain highway in china hoping that we would eventually see a sign or something that would indicate which way we should go. by this time the sun had set well over an hour ago and it was only about 7 pm, so we figured that people should still be out and about, if you will. while we were walking we had plenty of time to bond like we had never done before...we talked about our relationship and the future of it, kids and time capsules, compliments and apologies, and what we were most excited about for our future...it was beautiful, and we really felt connected. alone, on that mountain highway, with nothing but the foggy moonlight to guide us, we really had a special moment and i believe that our relationship will prosper as a result.

anyway, at the first sign that we passed on the road it indicated that a right turn would take us to dengfeng (the city 17km outside of shaolin) and a left turn would take us to what would turn out to be a temple...how do we know that?...because we took the left turn and then had to turn back around and head towards dengfeng. no worries though, because we figured that when we got there we could hire a taxi and make it back to the dorm in no time. so the next sign we reach is all in chinese, as are all of the future signs that we would encounter on this dark roadway. there were no cars and no lights...who knows if we were even still headed to dengfeng...we never saw another sign that indicated that we were or weren't for that matter. eventually, after about 1 1/2 hours of walking we heard cars and decided to head in that direction assuming that it was the main road of the town. so with new enthusiasm we plowed ahead...when we finally reached the cars we were on a bridge that over looked the freeway. WHAT THE HELL?!?!

both of us were visibly defeated as we honestly believed that this would be the main road...we had absolutely no idea where we were as our guidebook was of very little help at this point. we didn't know if we should keep going forward, or turn around and go back the way we came and take one of the side streets that we had passed, or walk alongside the freeway. joronda went into the woods to use the toilet and i just slumped down and prayed and poured through our guidebook for any glimpse of an answer. eventually we decided to just keep heading straight since we had seen several big rigs going in that direction. so moving a few paces forward, and really just standing in the middle of the road, we spotted some headlights coming in our direction. both of us were hoping that this would be our good samaritan and help us out...zoom...the car whizzed past us. dejected, we turned back around to keep walking when we noticed brake lights and the car making a u-turn...alhamdulillah. the little hatchback pulled up next to us and the front and back windows rolled down to reveal 2 men, 2 women, and a baby...much chinese and broken english was passed between us and thankfully they offered us a ride. we gladly accepted and piled in the backseat...it was the 2 women, the baby, myself, and joronda in my lap all crammed in the back of this yugo-type of economy car. we proceeded to head down the road as our hosts tried to figure out where we needed to go. the vehicle reeked of alcohol and the one girl that spoke english the best seemed drunk. joronda was heavy as hell on my lap, the driver was swerving in and out of traffic, the man in the front seat was trying to extort money from us in chinese, the women in the back were laughing and chatting loudly, and the baby was screaming and crying uncontrollably. it turned out to be a nightmarish test of patience.

when they finally "understood" that we were staying in the dorm of one of the shaolin schools it seemed like everything was going to be ok. soon we were stopped at some school with the people telling us to get out of the car because this was our school...we told them for the umpteenth time that this was not our school and that we were not staying here. they then proceeded to tell us that the shaolin temple was closed and that we should stay here for the night and return in the morning. we told them that was not an option and pleaded for them to take us to our school...the english speaking one kept saying "don't worry we will help you" and so we left again. about 15 minutes later we were at yet another school and the same scenario repeated itself, however, this time we were "forced" to get out of the car and the driver and his drunk male friend left us and the english speaking lady at the front gates of this school that "her friend owns". again she wouldn't listen to our pleas that this was not our "home" and that we wanted to go to our "home". finally we decided to set out on foot again and leave our samaritans...so we thanked them and departed. fortunately, we now knew that we were in dengfeng and we had seen several taxis on the corner. so we walked to the corner and were immediately solicited by a taxi driver...we paid him 50 rmb and he took us HOME. thank GOD!!!!!!!!!!

so after a hell of an afternoon/night we arrived safely at our dorm and we were both never more excited to see the dirty, piss scented place that we had called home. the time was 2230, and we stayed awake just long enough to ring in the new year before drifiting off in a well deserved slumber.



on behalf of my wife and i, we would like to wish all of our family and friends a very happy new year and a blessed 2006. may you all prosper and be shown mercy in this life and the next.

salaam
mateo