Outstanding Shaolin Temple Experience! - Hidden in the Song Shan mountains this beautiful temple complex and other areas of interest (Forest of the Pagodas, and the 2nd Patriarch Temple via cable car) is a must see tour and worth every dollar. I would highly recommend the tour guide option as I chose as Jimmy, my tour guide made the whole experience very rich and informative - he was absolutely excellent! We saw the Shaolin Monk demonstration as we arrived and I was fortunate to be selected to go on stage to learn some Tiger Boxing techniques from one of the monks. This is a must see! Open hand techniques, weapons techniques, and the amazing Shaolin hard Qi Gong demonstration. As a kung fu martial artist for 45 years, it has been a life long dream to visit Shaolin and the origin of the martial arts. Arriving at the Mountain Gate was breathtaking. As we walked through the temple grounds and courtyards we stepped back 1500 years in time. The buildings are restored and immaculate. Each courtyard, new pavilion or "Shaolin Treasure" offered interesting stories and great perspective on the rich history of Shaolin. There are too many details to add here - one must experience it directly. The Forest of the Pagodas contains about 240 stone monuments to abbots and senior monks throughout the long history of Shaolin. The more levels to the pagoda, the more important the individual was to the Temple. The last area I visited was the 2nd Patriarch Temple that can be reached by cable car. There is a small fee (but I received a free pass for participating in the Shaolin Monk show) and this is a must see. The ride was about 15 or 20 mins and you get a great aerial view of the Temple complex, Forest of the Pagodas and the whole Song Shan mountain ranges and valley. On the opposite mountain range you can see an enormous stone statue of the 1st Patriarch Boddhidharma on the crest of the mountain looking down on the temple grounds. As you approach the end of the ride up the mountain the air starts to warm up and a lush bamboo forrest appears. Making your way to the 2nd Patriarch Temple it is again noticably warmer and a beautiful oasis halfway up Song Mountain. The temple is very large and is famous for its 4 natural wells one at each corner of the courtyard. By donation you can extract samples of the water - each well has a different flavor: sweet, bitter, spicy and sour. Sweet and bitter were my favorites. When we finished our tour of Shaolin I still had a 2 hour private kung fu lesson at the International Shaolin Kung Fu Training Centre. As I have several years of Kung Fu training, Master Wang was able to teach me an open hand set and a Shaolin cudgle (staff) set. Jimmy was kind enough to video parts of my lesson and take photos (as he did throughout the entire day). We were even able to exchange techniques on broadswords and tiger hook swords. It was a full day, and exceptional day, and a day that I will never forget! I highly recommend this tour especially with the tour guide option and the kung fu lesson, it is well worth the money! Gordon M. Canada