doc 2004

The new changes at Shaolin are quite striking. And they're not always visible.

I've been there many many times. And I've never paid. Just had to claim to be a wushu guan student. In fact, when I went with Shi De Cheng, we just waltzed right in. The "security guards" at the main gate just let us in. Knew him, in fact. I mean, it was Shi De Cheng's home. He lived there.

He still maintained a residence there after he opened his own school.

But, that residence, like all the others, are now gone. Levelled.

It was an interesting experience, going through the main gate, with the major international magazine team I was working with. And, with, of course, Shi De Cheng. We were doing to do a photo session in there.

The police, yes, police, working the main gate wouldn't let us in without tickets. Wouldn't let Shi De Cheng in either. Talk about an embarrassing, face losing moment for him. Eventually we just wiggled on through en masse, but it was an uncomfortable event.

Things change. The impression that the "team" got from this occurrence, was one of pure, money hungry, greed.

Inside was interesting, we ran into Shi De Yang, and Shi Ming Wu, who were teaching Hong Bu (sp?), a Hong Kong martial arts movie star, who used to be a student of Shi De Cheng's Nice guy, supposed to visit me in Vegas when their current movie production moves there.

I wonder if he and his production team had to pay to enter.