The Shaolin Opening Ceremonies for the International Shaolin Wushu Festival (Shaolin Guoji Wushu Jie Kaimushi 少林国际武术节开幕式 ) takes place at the Shaolin Temple and its presence can be felt all throughout Songshan and Dengfeng area. It is a precursor to the International Shaolin Wushu Competition that is held in Zhengzhou the following day. A strange, confusing and exciting day would be how I’d describe the experience. First off, in order to get into the Shaolin Temple’s compounds, I had to leave my house at 7 AM. I was picked up by my Shifu, Master Song, and accompanied by one of his students, a 14-year-old boy. Our Shifu drops us off on the road next to the Shaolin Temple and we wind up having to sneak in the front gate wearing full on monk gear from head to toe, and claim we live inside the Shaolin compound. Now my Shifu runs his own school about a 5-minute ride away and a 20-to-25-minute walk (depending on which route you take). Apparently the Temple is closed to outsiders during the opening ceremony/performance this day, even though there are some obvious tourists inside the compounds.

So now we are inside and originally I am told the performances will begin at 2:30 PM. With a bit more asking around, I am informed that there will be performances starting at 10 AM. With free time and arriving early, my shifu’s student and I decide to walk around. Along the way from the front gate, we pass the huge and famous Tagou training ground. Eventually we reach the main Temple buildings. All along the paths are signs of media, from TV vans to cameramen to a DJ booth set up in front of the main Temple. We befriended a nice lady somewhere in her mid-50s I’m guessing, and she was able to get us a free pass inside the Temple walls where I got to take some beautiful photos on a rare occasion where the Temple is not swarming with tourists. Inside the Temple, we got to witness some monks performing some religious ceremonies.

After that, the three of us made our way back towards Tagou where all the action seemed to be. In this area, we had the pleasure to see the famous Tagou training ground fill up, which is a spectacular sight in itself, with thousands of Shaolin Kung Fu students. There was a performance of forms, weapons and other theatrical Kung Fu exhibitions. Behind this area a spectacular Sanda show was going on, with two teams, dressed in red and blue respectively, fighting each other, along with some really interesting pad routines. There were also rows of heavy bags lined up, intended for some upcoming event. In the southern park-like area were some metal Plum Flower posts. The students here were wearing interesting black and white Wushu outfits and performing a beautiful two-man set on top of the poles. One can only imagine the expertise it takes to stand atop these head high-metal poles swinging, jumping, twisting and banging arms and limbs with a fellow Shaolin student. In another nearby area students were scaling a tall blue wall with grace and speed as part of their training regimen. Next to this, Shaolin students did acrobatics that involved a trampoline and high stacked mats.

Now here is where things got weird. In the excitement of all this and feeling like I was at some kind of Woodstock or Grateful Dead concert where there's so many interesting things to see, I lost my fellow student and new friend. After watching some filming and talking to some of the Tagou Sanda students, I made my way back to the Shaolin Temple under the impression there would be a performance there as well. However, when I arrived, there was still no activity there. I asked a worker when the performance would start and he informed me at 2:30. So I went to a secluded place and did some solo training to pass the time. I contacted my Shifu on the phone and told him we split up and that the student can return to the school, I am fine on my own now that I’m inside.

A short while later I bumped into my new friend again and she invited me to lunch, for which I recommend a small restaurant near the Wangzhigou (King's Finger Community 王指沟) area that serves a mean Disanxian (potato, green pepper, and eggplant 地三鲜). So it is now 2 PM and we are eating lunch. I tell my new friend I don’t want to miss the performance and we better hurry up. So we go back down to the Shaolin Temple main area and now it is closed off to whatever non-students are within the compound this day. So we are in the compound but have to remain on the outskirts. There are guards everywhere, even military people working here today, to close off the entrances to the areas being used for performances.

From the distance we can see that they still have not started performing and all the students and monks are sitting in front of the Temple. While the lady I met is talking to the guards at the gate, trying to schmooze her way inside, I decide to make it on my own back towards Tagou, assuming there will be more performances back there and that visitors will be allowed in to watch. I still hadn't seen what those lines of heavy bags near the Tagou school would be used for, or the other apparatuses lined up throughout this area. So I hurry back to the huge Tagou training field, and now it is blocked off too. So I wait around a bit, feeling a little disappointed and confused, but at the same time happy to have gotten to witness the beautiful events of the morning. I decide to call it a day.

So I am about to leave when the road that leads to the exit is blocked off by a row of Shaolin students acting as security. They inform me and others wanting to leave that we have to use the small road, as this area is closed until 5 PM. The small road is literally a dirt road leading into the surrounding farm area. So I make it out along the dirt road along with some other Chinese tourists. This road leads up and around and back into the parking lot area where all the tour busses are located. Since I'm not really a tourist, I decide to continue along another small dirt road, hoping to find my way back to where I live (in the Songshan mountains). I follow a bunch of weird little paths and cross some fields, and before I know it, I figure out where I am – a few minutes from home. From where I live I can hear the activity still going on at the Shaolin Temple. The festival-like atmosphere, with music blaring, is still going strong when I arrive home at 4:20 PM.