Shaolin Village is no more
Posted by doc on Mar 16, 2003, 7:00pm, from Beijing, China.
Just this week, Henan government officials drove through the streets of Shaolin village (outside of the Shaolin gate, near the Tagou school), with loudspeakers and informed the people and the shopowners that they had to leave by the next day.
The village has been emptied, and it is slated for destruction soon.
This is the final remnant of what used to be referred as the "Shaolin village". It is only a step in the long process of China's desire to get the Shaolin Temple onto the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
It may also be the final step in the process of fulfilling the Henan government's desire (and others), to make the Shaolin Temple Wushu Guan, the sole destination for foreigners who are wishing to train in Shaolin gong fu. All the Shaolin village schools have relocated either to Zengzhou or Dengfeng.
As I've been told, expect a "new Shaolin" by August, 2003. It's probably going to be all cleaned out by then.
More details as they become available.
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