The Golden Lion China Trip 2016 consisted of top class training under Wu Bin and wonderful sightseeing in Beijing plus touring the south of China around the Guilin area.

Once again we welcomed the Golden Lion China Trip 2016,  an amazing trip where all of us on the trip agreed that sightseeing based in Beijing with touring in the south of China around the Guilin area was a very successful and enjoyable combination.

First to the training…

This group were incredibly fortunate and privileged to be taught personally by Master Wu Bin, a famous wushu coach who has produced more Wushu champions than any other coach in China, and has coached the famous Beijing Wushu Team. He was also the coach of Jet Li and also our own tour organiser, Master Tang Lai Wei. He has earned the title of the “father of Modern Wushu” in China and world-wide.

Master Wu Bin does not personally teach many groups anymore. In fact this Golden Lion class is one of the few that he has taught in China recently. So we were incredibly lucky.

In the course of our 5 days of training, we came to understand just why Master Wu Bin has been such a successful coach. His attention to detail, his ability to include theory and principles of Tai Chi alongside teaching practical movements made it both easy and always interesting to learn. Although some of us who knew of his reputation and fame, were a little in awe – even nervous – at the thought that he would be teaching us, he was always considerate and kind, helping us with our mistakes with gentle humour and rewarding our achievements with sincere praise.

Our training venue was special too. Probably a sign of the esteem in which Wu Bin is held in the wushu community in China was the fact that we were able to train at the China Wushu Association in Beijing. So there we were, training on the same floor that had held the greatest wushu athletes in China! What an honour!

Our training consisted of learning a Li-Style Tai Chi routine designed around illustrating the 8 Essential Powers (Techniques) of Tai Chi Chuan. Li-Style is not well-known outside China in spite of having probably been around for almost as long as the earliest of the major styles such as Chen and Yang styles. We found it to be a fascinating, deceptively gentle, elegant and powerful style, well worthy of the description as “moving meditation”. We all agreed that it deserves to be better known and appreciated, and we are fortunate that Sigung Charles is currently following up our training with a short course on this routine at the Berwick centre.

And on to the touristing…

In Beijing as well as our training, we managed to fit in visits to the most popular of Beijing’s sights such as the Great Wall of China, the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace with it’s beautiful gardens. Spring had sprung just as we arrived in Beijing and all these places were decked out in fresh green leaves and blossoms. We were also so lucky that the horrific pollution, that was so much in the news before we left home, had cleared away and we were blessed with warmth, clear air, blue skies and sunshine. A highlight for many was climbing the Great Wall and a group Beijing 24 practice on the Wall. Several people were seen pinching themselves to make sure they weren’t dreaming! Of course, as usual (or even more than usual) we were treated to the most amazing and delicious meals every day. The food not only tasted delicious, but also looked beautiful with the most artistic presentation – as the many food photos taken will show.

After Beijing we flew to Guilin where we stayed in a lovely hotel right on the bank of one of the many lakes in the city. At night the gardens and bridges around the lake were lit up beautifully, and the winding paths amongst the greenery and the pretty reflections in the water attracted us out for long walks every evening. In Guilin we visited the Reed Flute Caves with their beautiful fairyland of limestone formations and illuminations. Here we were impressed by an amazing show of holograms in the caves (the dragon had several people ducking).

We also visited a tea farm (and bought more tea than is probably good for us), set in a gorgeous landscape of limestone peaks, looking just like an old Chinese painting. A day out at the Longji rice terraces, a mountain village of light-reflecting rice paddies and old houses set higgledy-piggledy up the hills was another highlight.

Then, the highlight of highlights… the boat trip on the Li river! The river winds amongst incredible scenery of multiple pointy peaks and bamboo groves. The recent rain only served to deck the mountains in veils of mist, not diminishing the beauty of the trip in the slightest. Our intrepid tai chi-ers even managed to give a performance of their recently learned routine on the deck of the boat. The vision of their graceful movements set against the background of the water and the many peaks was truly magical.

The other end of our river trip at Yangshou was the opportunity for which many of us were hanging out… SHOPPING! Yes, of course we had shopped with dedication in Beijing, but this was Shopping with a capital S! The winding main road and side roads filled with shops and stalls selling such a variety of goodies had us going out again and again, shopping until we thought we would drop, going back to the hotel for a rest and then going out again… and again!

An overnighter at Guangzhou (Canton), and then a R&R  stop in Singapore on the way home was a welcome extension to this fantastic trip (and, yes, I do believe some were able to cope with just a little more shopping).

Thanks to all on the trip for being such a good-humoured, friendly and enthusiastic group of people. The warm farewells and hugs all round on arrival back home in Melbourne attest to the many friendships made on this trip. Especial thanks to Master Charles and Master Tang for providing a wonderful, exciting and interesting training and touring experience, and for keeping us all feeling safe and comfortable throughout.

Si Gung Charles is in the process of organising for next year China Tour from 31March to 16 April 2017. If you’re interested in joining the China Tour, please send him an email on charles@goldenlion.com.au or you can contact him on 9796 1066.

And if you’d like to read about Feedback from the trip, read Bonnie’s  China 2016 Trip Feedback – A Most Wonderful Trip.

Sifu Di Logan