Since a child the Shaolin temple had been on my list of places to visit and it was worth visiting, but there was a touch of 'cheesiness' about it too. The history was astounding and the temples around the site were very decorative and nice, but it is a ‘working’ site, so busy and bustling. The show is worth a watch, as training monks of, some very young, show off their martial arts skills, weapon use and general contorted body positions that will amaze you. We arranged a private taxi to take us to the site – you certainly need a full day to walk around everything. The site itself is beautifully set within lovely Henan Province countryside with large mountains surrounding it. Make sure you visit the temples and sights on the periphery that tend to be overlooked – well worth it. For example, make sure to see the ‘Pagoda forest’, which is both eery and stunning.

One of the most internationally renowned Chinese religious establishment made popular by the many Chinese martial arts movies and movie star Jet Li. The visit to the temple was a little disappointing as it is now more a commercial tourist attraction and a business with scheduled performances and souvenirs. The architecture and artifacts are there but the calm and 'zen' anticipated for a ancient Chinese temple (first constructed in the 5th century AD) are absent

I am not a fan of Shaolin gongfu but the place has enough artefacts to make the trip worth it. I thought I would be bored by the gongfu display but I was wrong.

Wonderful temple, and huge complex. Worth the detour!

A tourist trap. Detailed descriptions below: 1. Fantastic nature. Dense forests, soaring cliffs, the din of cicadas, humidity in the air. 2. Very well developed infrastructure. Easy to get to from multiple cities, big parking lot, lots of bathrooms, paved roads, benches, signs, a hotel and loudspeakers playing modern music. 3. Super touristy. Thousands of people flocking here with huge tour groups, tons of vendors and stalls selling kung fu figures, ice cream, taking photos. 4. Bored monks. More like tour guides and clerks. The young disciples had tracksuits on and looked more like a gym class than anything. 5. Kung fu show was 30 minutes long and fun to watch. A lot of audience participation and crowd pleasers with superhuman feats.

So I posted a lot of videos and pictures of various things inside the scenic area as opposed to just the temple. What you make of this place depends on your interpretation. If you’re like me and you love Chinese culture and Wuxia and stuff this is great as it is a culturally significant place. If it weren’t for that it’s really just a temple and a mountain with a few extra features which is still fine but nothing to rave about.

This Shaolin Temple has a long history of fighting. When I first arrived, it was beautiful and grand You must not miss visiting this place.

A good historic place. Try to get a guide to better know the place

A very historic place that should be visited by anyone but best to have a local guide who can tell you about the rich history for a better appreciation of the place.

Was really looking forward to this but was sooo commercial and crowded. I visited in august so I’m sure it’s much more enjoyable (both crowd and temperature wise) in the off season. Take the gondolas up the mountain for great views and hikes. Other highlight is the pagoda forest

Took didi from Zhengzhou to shaolin, and back too. Cost about RMB200 each. Mixed feeling on this tour. Before heading over was very enthusiastic since being a 金庸 fans, with what we read and saw on TV about Shaolin. I guess it all started wongly when we agreed to have a “tour guide” following us. It’s like the UGLY side of Tourism Scam. These are so called “knowledgeable” guide who will share with you the details of this historical site and charge a mere RMB100 for their service, but sadly, bring you to all sorts of corners where you will fork out more money for joss sticks, prayers, “donations”, gifts etc very willingly. They even end the tour asking if you want to see 舍利子 but is actually a small temple outside where more con men awaits. Suggestions for friends coming over. Just head over with your passport and get the entrance ticket RMB80. After that, pay another RMB25 for a tram ride (the guide say you have to walk 3km if not). Don’t get joss sticks in front of the temple, that’s another (at least) RMB100. Just head inside and there are free joss sticks and donation is at free will. Don’t go inside those smaller corners like 观音庙, theres monk that do “special prayer” and likewise charges a nominal. Don’t ever go for those name fortune telling. It have a price list there but they tends to overcharge. There’s a kungfu performance by monks, but you have to pay RMB30 to go in. It’s a 30 mins performance and starts at 2pm. I think it’s worth the additional. It is a great experience. Experiencing the great history but the bad tourist experience…

Nice place but used to monetise and didn’t live up to the name. How can vegetarian food costs RMB50 pp? So crazily overpriced.

It was an amazing trip full of beautiful sights. Climing to the Dharma statue was a tough adventure and a memorable highlight. At the temple, we got to witness monks during a ceremony. Everyone was friendly. Unfortunately, there were a lot of new structures in the complex that are not historical, and it has been highly commercialized as well. After paying admission, a lot of things cost extra, like the tram ride, fee for watching kung-fu show, etc. There were some English signage, but not a lot of info in English, so I suggest going with someone who can speak/read Chinese.

Really cool place! If you get the chance to go I would definitely recommend it! And get the full pass. It will get you access to everything, including the demonstration, which was so cool! Be careful buying a sword there if you have to take a train. Thankfully we were able to take care of it. The hike up the mountain is hard but totally worth it! Be sure to give yourself a lot of time there. There is a lot of cool things to see and experience!

(Translated by Google) There are not many cultural relics in the museum... (Original) 館內文物不多.....