Luoyang

Our first stop on this excursion was in Luoyang.  Luoyang is an important religious city because it is the birthplace of Buddhism in China. The Shao Lin temple is where Buddhism and Kung fu hook up to inspire Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, etc...  It was cool to be there and see all of these little boys and men studying kung fu and Buddhism.  Finally, the last thing we saw in Luoyang was the Longmen Caves. The Longmen caves are these grottoes with enormous carved out statues of the buddha and various bodhisattvas.  What really struck me was the fact that these caves and been carved out 1500 years ago!  I’m not exactly sure why they were carved, but I really believe that it was just people showing their devotion and practicing their religion to the best of their ability.

Yup, that is indeed a monk texting while on duty at the White Horse Temple...

Oh yeah, I also got a haircut before I left.  I figured I'd get a sneak preview of what I'm going to look like in a few years...