The last post from Jinan for now, I have decided to leave straight away, and forget the plans for climbing Tai Shan or hanging around Shandong and Jinan for any longer. Today, I got through my two last classes with my least favourite groups, was handed my final pay, said goodbye to people at work, the girl at the massage place and my lovely neighbour Ma Ai Hua.

Now all that remains to be done is to stuff all my things into my backpack and off I go. I'm taking a train to Shijiazhuang tomorrow morning (no seat, surprise, surprise!!) and then trying to get another train to Baoding. I'm planning on staying there for three days or so, just long enough to see some people and sort out my stuff.

And then I'll go to Alan's village to visit his mum for a bit, and after that... still a mystery. I've been thinking about going to spend some time at a Buddhist temple, monastery or nunnery, but all that is still not clear. I was thinking of going to the holy mountain of Wutaishan in Shanxi province, but i was then offered by this girl that she could arrange for me to stay in a really nice temple in the countryside about in the Jiangsi province.

The offer was very kind and the place sounds lovely, just what i've been hoping for: peace and quiet. But I'm mostly interested in Buddhism as a philosophy, and not so much as a religion. Which in practise I suppose means that I am more enclined to learn more about Chan (known in the West by its Japanese name Zen) Buddhism, than the major Chinese Buddhist school, Pure Land.

And this temple that I was proposed, is a Pure Land temple. Now Pure Land Buddhists practise mainly by chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha, who they believe resides in a Western Pure Land. They believe that by trusting in his guidance and by chanting his name, they can also be reborn in the Pure Land and there attain englightenment.

The Chan Buddhists, however, do not include God in their practise, but concentrate on looking inside, on learning to be aware of themselves here and now. And this is what I would want to learn more about.

But as I have this offer from the Pure Land temple, even though I'm not so much tempted by the religious aspects of their practise, it's a very tempting offer, especially to the little anthropologists inside of me. What a great chance to go and learn more about such an important part of this culture from the inside out! And also, there is the promise of that quiet place on a mountain in the countryside... And who knows, I might really like it and might learn something about myself... And there is always time later to try and find a place to learn more about Chan.

So, that might be a place where i find myself soon... a pretty big change to this life in Jinan. But I was told that they have computers and internet at the monastery, so i can keep you updated and send you stories and pictures of the life in a chinese temple!

watch this space...