Wing Lam EnterPrises - The Premiere Source for Martial Art Supplies and Knowledge!

Stories of traveling to the birthplace of Chinese martial arts often begin by describing the feeling of a special honour that accompanies a visit to the land of Kung Fu and TaiChi (among others), and this travel journal is no exception. Indeed, in many ways it feels akin to a pilgrimage; a sacred journey to seek out the origin of an activity into which we pour so much of our time and dedication. In early July of this 2002, a group of intrepid students joined Sifu Wing Lam in a study tour to China, visiting the Shaolin Temple, Mount Wudang and spending some time enjoying the capital city of Beijing.

The drives behind undertaking such a journey are many. Often it is the human need, born in the psyche, to feel a greater connection to a place, an event or a tradition by making the pilgrimage and spending time to visually and spiritually absorb the 'sacred' site. Those of us on this tour were exceptionally fortunate to be able to add a study component to our journey, training with life-long devotees in the very heart of these historic locales. We were also especially privileged to be led by Sifu Wing Lam, who's expertise and care allowed us to gain the most knowledge and growth we possibly could from the trip. Thank you, Sifu.

Rather than lead you along a direct, day-by-day account of our travels (which could prove quite tedious for there were many days!), this journal will attempt to break the trip down by events and observations, providing what I hope will be a more coherent impression of the trip as a whole.

Our band of adventurers

Shaolin GrandMaster Liang Yiquan and Sifu Wing Lam

Our arrival at San Francisco airport indoctrinated us with a lesson that would serve us well for the remainder of the trip: be flexible. Due to a typhoon, our flight had been delayed by five hours, which would force us to play catch-up when we landed in China. We didn't let this little postponement get us down, however. On the contrary, we used it as an opportunity to learn more about our travelling companions. Finding a wide corridor along the back of SFO airport, we proceeded to demonstrate for each other our respective styles of martial experience. Besides the Northern Shaolin system, our tour included Hung Gar, Yang and Sun style Tai Chi, Hapkido, Mantis Style Kung Fu, Kempo and Wing Chun practitioners. In total, there were 32 of us accompanying Sifu Lam across the Pacific, some who were local to San Francisco and others from lands themselves distant, including Bermuda and Switzerland.

A Brief Introduction to China

Ask one of the participants what China was like, and the most likely answer you will receive (in a joking tone) is that it was hot. Certainly the constant on our trip, temperatures ranged from 35-40C (95-105F) with relative humidity at 95%, give or take a percentage. Add the blazing sun, still managing to bore down through the ever-present grey haze above, and it certainly made for a 'scorcher'. One drank a lot of water to cope.

This heat was but one of the many layers that made China was a remarkable place to experience. Despite any research and reading that may be done before visiting, actually traveling the country by rail/bus and visiting the small villages and big cities is still a learning encounter and the only way to truly understand the country. Describing China and its intricacies, even only those that could be gleaned in two short weeks, would fill an entire article in itself.

Shaolin Monks Demonstration

Comments can be offered, however, on our prime window of China, that of the various trains and busses we took across the land. China possesses a very extensive and well-run train system that criss-crosses a vast part of the country. One of the most popular and efficient modes of transportation in China, the trains are run on amazingly strict schedules. During our stay we experienced all manner of onboard accommodation, among them day-rider seats (sets of 4 recliner-style seats facing each other), hard sleeper (six beds--2 upper berths, 2 middle berths and 2 lower berths--in an open room with no door towards the corridor) and soft sleeper (four beds--2 upper berths and 2 lower berths--in a closed compartment with nice sheets, blankets and carpeting). We spent a great deal of time riding the rails to reach our far-flung destinations, accruing a 6h, 17h and 23h ride. If one has the time, riding the rail is a safe and comfortable way to see the country and experience its vastness, as well as an opportunity to interact with the locals (including, in our case, one pair of young girls who taught us some Chinese). The stations can, however, be a bit of a nightmare if one is unused to a sea of people. Finding the right departure lounge through this mass of people can be quite the challenge, and tended to cause a lot of stress (likely the most stressful times of the trip) to our tour leader and attendant tour guides.

Road travel is considerably more of an escapade, for lack of a better word. While "super-highways" are the exception, the roads are populated by an eclectic mix of vehicle types including 3-wheeled delivery carts, horse-drawn carriages and even vehicles kit-bashed from farming equipment, as well as cars, busses and large transport lorries. While this mix was more heavily weighted towards the more "normal" cars, trucks and busses in Beijing, the rules of the road were pretty constant throughout. Lanes and traffic lights were generally a suggestion more than a rule, and the horn was an essential car accessory (as often for simple warning as much as for "I'm faster, please get out of the way"). Despite the chaos this brought, traffic nevertheless flowed quite well and, save one or two death-defying instances, we (and those around us) traveled with no problems. Being aware of the surroundings is definitively a key skill in Chinese driving.

While we were the ones out to visit a foreign country, we often found ourselves being a tourist attraction (or at least a bonus attraction). As noted in several travel guides, the Chinese people will often stare at anything, especially unusual events or something out of the ordinary. To have an especially large group of foreigners in their midst was, then, quite the cause for great excitement. No harm was ever meant by this, of course, even when we found ourselves literally surrounded by a mob at the train station, all gawking at us. While this fascination with our troop was more pronounced in the remote regions of the country, it was still evident near Beijing, where one small group of us were stopped no less than a dozen times in the span of 5 minutes by people asking to have their picture taken with us. At the major tourist spots, that seemed to be the action of choice: having your picture taken with a westerner-a request we all obliged quite happily.

In the end, our schedule for the 16 days abroad would turn out to be quite different from the original itinerary, planned 6 months prior. Not counting our inbound flight delay, with what could be arranged for training, travel and hotel, our schedule morphed quite a bit and ended up affording us more time at Shaolin and Wudang, at the expense of some time in Beijing. All in all, it was a near-perfect mix of training, tourism and travel.

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