Cross Off Buddhist Monk as a Possible Profession

Just outside of Shijiazhuang, known to be the most polluted city in China, is the Bailin Buddhist Monastery.

My friend Jonathan and I took an overnight trip to the monastery because it is one of the few in China that allows foreigners to stay overnight in the dormitories and live the life of a monk.

We arrived in the afternoon around 5PM and dinner was served promptly at 6PM.  This is the dining hall.

The monks sit in the row of tables closest to the center. Note the monks on the other side that are facing us. Guests sit behind the monks.  Male guests on one side, female guests on the other.  Each person is provided two bowls and a set of chopsticks.

All means are vegetarian.....actually vegan if I'm not mistaken. Monks walk by with bowls of food and pour some in your plate.

Here's Jonathan powering down his food.  No waste allowed.  You have to eat all you are served.

After dinner, there really is nothing to do.  So we just walked around the monastery and talked and had moments of silence.

I decided to go out in the dark, without my phone and just sit and reflect.  I tried to let my mind wander.  Just sit and be calm.  Meditate.

I tried to observe what was around me.  To feel the breeze, to do all those things they tell you about being present.  Too look at the lighted prayer area here.  I lasted less than an hour.  I couldn't take it.  I needed something to occupy my mind.

Having gone to sleep at 9PM, the gong started ringing at 4:45AM for morning prayer.  The start of the day has the monks arriving at 5AM in the prayer hall.

I'm not joking!  5AM

There were probably 100 monks in prayer.  I wonder if there used to be more.  We stood and faced the center.  There was one monk on the microphone chanting the prayer while the monks chanted in unison.

There were three types of sounds.  A very low gong that came from hitting a large vessel.  A nice medium gong sound and a bell, like a desk bell at a hotel, that signaled it was time to kneel down and bow your head.  I was expecting prayer to last a couple hours, but it ended right at 6AM.

Time for breakfast!  In the morning the monks wear brown robes.  In the evening, they wear gray.

After breakfast, the monks go and pray again (no visitors allowed this time) and then the monastery is opened to the public.  It's a rush of worshippers and the quiet and peace of the night time gives way to the voices of the day guests.

I'm not sure what they are picking here and I asked one of the women, but she didn't know either.  By the time it was 930AM, Jonathan and I were bored.  Having planned on staying until 3PM, we decided that we had experienced enough of Buddhist monk life and went home.  It's clear I am a product of our modern society.  I need more than prayer to have a happy life!

10 Gay Men for Dinner at my apartment in Beijing

Remember a few weeks ago, I wrote about the birthday dinner for Onions friend, my FRENEMY?  If you don't remember, here's the story.  Anyway, this past weekend, Onions invited my FRENEMY and the core of that group of friends over for dinner.  I promised Onions that I would be on my best behavior and NOT get all sullen.  In my opinion, I don't get sullen.....it's just that I really have nothing to add to these conversations but I'm not going to argue the point with Onions.

There he is!  On the left, with his back to me, the Frenemy!!!

So, the two guys at the end of the table are not part of "the crew" but are a couple play volleyball with Onions.  These guys are great, have nice normal conversations with me, just talking. 

Food is served.  Being the bachelor that I am, I didn't have enough plates and bowls to cover serving and dining.  You'll notice some people eating out of plastic Tupperware. Onions had recently made a trip home to Quanzhou to visit his parents.  He brought back some specialties that his Dad makes that I like to eat.  His

My man is a ROCKIN cook!  I need to go to the gym just to make sure I don't put on too much weight eating his cooking.  I've also gotten really good and washing dishes!

On the left, Nick. I get annoyed at talking with him because he always asks me about the United States, but in a comparison way.  I know he means no ill will, but it doesn't come across as inquisitive, but a bit as if he's judging everything I say about the United States. On the right, is Hua.  Hua is the nicest guy in the group and always gentle in speaking with me and talking to me in a level of Chinese that he knows I understand.  Yes, I have a little crush on Hua!

On the left, Onions.  To his right is Frenemy's boyfriend,  Xun, who is quiet and I also like a lot.  Xun is an interesting story.  He has a PHD in science and because of that the Chinese government will NOT let him travel abroad to certain countries, including the United States.  The group is VERY happy that Xun is a partner.  I also realized why Frenemy doesn't talk to me or talks to me in an infantilizing way....it's because he is embarassed that he doesn't speak English and that I do speak Chinese.  That's my current working theory.  The guy next to Frenemy is single.....and totally looking for a boyfriend.

Even though I didn't say very much, I enjoyed the evening and felt more connected than ever.  Perhaps that was because they were on my turf and NOT drinking too heavily.  But mostly I sat there in amazement that here I was in Communist China sitting with a group of gay men, some coupled, some single and all talking about the same things gay guys do everywhere. 

Lvshun (aka Port Arthur) -- Russians, Japanese and Chinese

The history buff in me came to the Liaodong Peninsula to see and learn about the history of Port Arthur, or as the Chinese now call is Lvshun, 旅顺.  This tower dominates the city and can be seen from everywhere.

Why was Port Arthur the site of so many battles from the 1890's to the 1950's?  Because at the end of the Liaodong Peninsula, it was the site of the best harbor in the region, and it never freezes over.

First stop, the memorial to the Lvshun Massacre.

In November 1894, the Lvshun Massacre took place here during the first Sino-Japanese War.  The Japanese, with their modern military after the Meiji Restoration easily defeated the Qing Dynasty forces and then massacred local citizens.

The hypothesized number of victims is 20,000 and the Japanese burned the bodies.  The first Sino-Japanese War ended with the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the Chinese ceding the Liaodong Peninsula to the Japanese and independence for Korea.  However Russia, wanting a warm water port was leased control of Port Arthur.

Hill 203, the highest point in the Port Arthur area.

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, this was the site of a major battle between the Japanese and the Russians.

Eventually, after thousands of casualties, the Japanese defeated the Russians and built this monument out of old military hardware. 

The tower that overlooks all of modern day Lvshun is now called Baiyushan Tower.  Originally, after the Japanese victory, the Japanese forced the local Chinese to build this "loyalty tower." The Soviets in the 1945 scraped off the words "loyalty tower" and in 1986 it was given its current name.

The entrance into Port Arthur.

In 1931, the Japanese again invaded Manchuria and occupied it through World War II.  With the help of the Soviets after WWII and during the Korean War, this area was finally liberated with the help of the Soviets.  The Chinese have built a monument and maintain a cemetery for the "Soviet martyrs" who helped liberate this area from the Japanese.

These markers without names are for soldiers on boats that drowned without identification.

Next to the Soviet Cemetery is one build for the Chinese soldiers.

Each deceased soldier has his story and history written on the back of the grave stone.