Walker

Nomad, you should definitely head on down to a doctor or your local free clinic and get checked out for STDs. Chlamydia sounds like a possibility. Chlamydia can manifest UTI-like symptoms, and can lie dormant for months or years after your infection before starting to cause any noticable trouble. Question for all you current and former male "voracious sexual beasts," how're you doing on grey hairs?

What happens if it's a thousand-year-old demon?

Hahahaahah, man, you need to holler at Cappadonna. He may well be willing to part with that joint for the right price, as in the last interview I read by him he was pushing a cab in Baltimore and not receiving too many good looks from the Wu. Word is intra-Clan strife has only gotten worse since then, tsk tsk.

I can't answer your question, but I'd like to add another. Are there not some prescriptions to cover the body in certain ways in both Daoist and Buddhist practices, for reasons of energetic health and etiquette, even when one is unordained and practicing alone?

Very interesting, Gold Is Heavy, very interesting.

What's you guys' take on getting acidopholus in non-yogurt forms? Yogurt seems to give me pretty horrific gas if I eat it regularly, even when it's a brand meant to be specially formulated to help people with IBS and other trouble. Also, I had a recurring stabbing pain feeling in one of my tonsils twice in the last three weeks. The first time it lasted for about a week and was quite pernicious. It wasn't connected to any cold symptoms. When it came back the second time I started oil pulling with sesame oil, four days ago. That seemed to knock it out quickly and as a bonus has greatly diminished my post-breakfast mucousy ahhheeemmming. I'll have to stick with it for some time before I can say the oil pulling was the causal factor, but maybe others here have found similar results with this method and sore throats.

I am no expert in this field, not even close, and know no more about Kunlun than the bits and pieces I've come across about it online, mostly on this forum (not exactly a source of consensus on the topic, though always entertaining). However, as a male in his mid-twenties I've certainly had occasion to have a number of discussions related to this topic with my teacher, who is a Daoist, so there might be some value in my trying to interpret some of what he's told me here for the sake of discussion, even if much of it has been said or disproven here in the past. For one, my teacher has not explained the desire for sex as something that is purely mental--and if my understanding is correct then this is a viewpoint echoed throughout Daoism and TCM. Sexual desire stems in part from a buildup of sexual energy which, he says, Daoists view it as quite natural to express in moderate amounts of sex. He has stressed that to attempt to hold in your semen when you are without a technique to work with the energy can and will lead to stagnation. Physical and mental problems will then follow. One can see such advice play out in Western medical science in studies which demonstrate that regular ejaculation is correlated with lower rates of prostate cancer. Needless to say, the vast, vast majority of men in the world who don't ejaculate regularly also don't do any sort of work with their sexual energy. It stands to reason (and this I have run by my teacher) that such non-ejaculating, non-energy working men are facing higher cancer rates than those who ejaculate because of stagnation and its complications. I have wondered if perhaps some of the sexual deviance in the Catholic priesthood, for example, may partly stem from mental disturbances caused by incomplete celibacy practices. At some point in 2007 I mentioned to my teacher that after about seven to ten days without ejaculation I notice in myself a nervous, uncomfortable energy that makes it just about impossible to maintain tranquility and focus. Part of his response was to say, "the practical reality for the moment is that you are without a method that can help you reduce desire. An old teacher would advise you to do your best until such time as an opportunity arises for you to deal with your sexual energy." This reminds me of a quote from Chronicles of Tao (a book I am aware bears its own controversies), which was along the lines of, "celibacy without technique is insanity." In terms of what is best to do for your health while you lack such a technique, I cannot speak for Kunlun practitioners, but my teacher has echoed what I recall that Master Hua Ching Ni has emphasized in some of his written work: have very moderate amounts of sex according to your own natural rhythm and regenerative capabilities with a partner of the opposite sex whom you love. Masturbation he counsels against because it reinforces illusion. Wet dreams are also not great because, he says, they can cause emotional disturbance and result in a great loss of jing. But life does not always allow everybody to be in a loving sexual relationship, not everybody is heterosexual, and casual sex carries its own dangers. So the advice remains, do your best and what is most natural given what is at hand--I leave its up to you to decide if that's a pun! My own personal experience, though not very many years long, has been that regular qigong and meditation practice has greatly reduced my interest in most sensual pleasures--but this has not been because of much if any active renunciation. Desire for such things has simply fallen away of its own gradual accord. Drugs, drunkenness, adrenaline, and violence I now never crave. Music, tv, heavy foods, raucous bonhomie, etc, I quite seldom crave. Now, sex I don't especially desire until I've gone about week or more without ejaculation. The longer I go, the more intense the desire becomes and I think I'm starting to notice a pattern that the sexual thoughts associated with the desire become more... what is the word... elaborate? Convoluted? Intensely nagging? Even perverse? Perhaps all of these things as the energy builds up haha. I think it might be telling that all of the things I've slowly stopped desiring except for sex are obviously quite bad for the body and pretty much obviously unecessary for a healthy life. So does my desire for sex remain because I am just that addicted to it, or perhaps because it is natural? Of course, the reality is probably more complex than that simplistic A-B choice and it seems that some of yall have a very different experience from me--I defer to those longer on these paths than myself for the answer. I want to take into consideration the question, "who has control? You or your sexual lust?" First of all, I think there may be value in considering lust as more akin to mental sexual desire, and therefore something that we can learn to diminish or eliminate without knowing energetic techniques--and something which might go away of its own accord as one simply lives a more natural life and lessens exposure to hypersexual media, conversation, and behavior patterns. But the precedent in Daoism seems to me to be that sexual desire is not just part of the imagination, so to try and exert control over it could be misguided at best and downright dangerous at worst. For me, at least, I think it is beneficial to think of my sexual desire, which is partly rooted in the body, as akin to my hunger. Yes, both of those things are more powerful than "me" (whatever the "me" that is separate from them is), and that is quite natural. If I one day learn a technique to deal with sexual energy, I would not be surprised if I never feel an uncontrollable urge to have an orgasm and release after putting it into diligent practice. Same way as if I one day learn to take essence directly from nature I don't doubt that I could come to forget what a growling belly feels like. But since I am at neither of those levels right now my experience has been that I cause mental, emotional, and physical disharmony by trying to ignore or "transcend" the clear messages my body is sending me. Also, and this is a whole other conversation, my teacher and writers I've come across have pointed out that qigong practice can stimulate sexual desire.

"So they abode awhile in all solace of life and its delight and their days were serene and their joys untroubled, till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer of societies, the Depopulator of populous places and the Orphaner of sons and daughters. And glory be to the Living who dieth not and in whose hand are the Keys of the Seen and the Unseen." -The last line of Shahrazad's last story in the 1001 Nights, abridged Richard Burton translation (capitalization his own). Still takes my breath away a little bit.

Wow. As one hopefully Beijing-bound in 2009 and hoping to learn Bagua, I'm very happy to have seen that video. If the grandmaster is coming through NYC any time before late February I hope to see yall there. Otherwise, all goes well, then in a couple months it's off to the park...

Well, I think that is a fair answer. Thank you.

Can you please explain why Daoism ultimately fails to lead one out of samsara? And may I ask, is that statement rooted in your own realization or in theory?

Wow, great link! Thank you.

Dave's ESL Cafe seems to be the general go-to point for English teaching positions worldwide. My cousin used it for Japan and Korea and I met some teachers in China who got their jobs through it. Angelina's ESL Cafe is another option. There're a lot of people writing about teaching in various countries online, and it seems like each country has a forum full of newbies and wisened old ex-pat school marms alike, all happy to answer your questions. Google will be your ally here. A consideration is becoming certified as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language/Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages. I don't know about Lin or other people here who have taught overseas, but I was not certified... Got my job through a bit of personal connections. Even so, I considered teaching again this semester and I ended up with some reasonable job offers in Beijing, uncertified. One I came very close to taking--I'll get to that later. If you choose to go the route of certification (which I have seen advised for those who are considering teaching English for a long time), that can cost around $2500 US in the States and around $1500 in intensives offered in Thailand, China, and presumably elsewhere. Personally, I can't say how much this would help your search or your actual work. In my teaching situation earlier this year, seemingly not much, as the two Peace Corps volunteers teaching the same classes as me were substantially trained for teaching and did little differently than I did. It was, often, as they loved to say, "a complete shitshow." Some schools have a super rigid curriculum, some throw you in the deep and and tell you to create history classes from scratch with no resources (my experience), and presumably others have a framework where your efforts in TESOL/TEFL classes will bear many fruit. Most schools for TEFL/TESOL certification advertise that they will help you find jobs. I don't know how good their contacts are but many have a money-back guarantee, stating that they will refund your tuition if you don't get a job offer within six months. But failing to get an offer will NEVER happen, as you can get job offers after a couple of hours of sending out CVs on the internet, no joke, if you apply at the right time and place. That's even if you're uncertified like me. Whether that means your offer comes from a reputable school in a good location is another story. There are a lot of factory-esque schools in China that will work you to the bone, pull the rug out from under you if they're not happy with your performance, and apparently change the contract at whim if they like. Even so, I would guess that's a small minority of schools. Not something to be paranoid about, but something to be aware of. Overall, my experience was pretty good ('cept they wanted to boot me from my aparment to make way for a Party boss of some sort, had me move my things, and then told me to move back... you just gotta learn to laugh at that stuff if you choose to go to China) but I have seen some horror stories written about in internet forums. Protect yourself, no matter where you go, by asking to speak to former English teachers of the school, going through the contract with a fine-toothed comb so they know you mean business, making sure all of your benefits/vacation pay/etc are on paper, Googling the school and looking for word of it on forums at Dave's ESL Cafe and wherever else is relevant, and so on. You will really have to do your own due dilligence and remember that you'll likely be somewhat poor, very foreign, and living in a non-litigious society. Thus, if you get exploited you may have no recourse... You'll need to do this background work, probably for whatever country you choose, not because there are thaaaat many people trying to exploit you, but because there are a few bad apples. Another consideration is hours. If you want to learn and try to establish yourself as a yoga teacher then make sure you aren't signing up for a school that might want you in the classroom for 25 hours/week. That, if you're like me, will sap you dry. Add prep time and whatever else to that and you could be looking at more than 40 hours. I taught 16 a week and had plenty of time to study Chinese, learning to write 800-odd characters and becoming able to travel alone in regions with essentially no English speakers within five months. I would say my studying was usually at least two hours a day, and up to five now and then, seven days a week... And I still had plenty of time left over to socialize, eat at a relaxed pace, and cultivate daily when I had the discipline. I partly went to that part of China to fulfill an old promise to travel with an old friend who came from a time in my life when my habits were very different... Had that not been the case I'd probably have been able to cultivate two hours or more a day and study just as much as I did. We shall see if that comes true if I my future allows me to return. Anyway, there's something to be said for working part-time! The time freedom is a big part of the reason I plan to go back to China. If you go to a country that holds traditions you're eager to learn from then the benefits of having time left over to integrate and learn the language will be innumberable. The downside... The money won't be great, but you should be able to find a 12-16 hour/week job that will put the food on the table and leave you a good wad of savings--by your host country's standards, for sure--at the end of your term. The other downside, depending where you are, expect to possibly have crowds gather if you ever do yoga in a park! Some other China notes, even though you didn't list it as a possible destination... Make sure your company arranges your visa for you. Word is that's more expensive than ever now due to the Olympics (maybe no longer, though?) and I can't imagine what a hassle it'd be to arrange on your own. Also, try to find a place that arranges your living quarters, or if they don't, do research online and make sure they're giving you enough loot to cover rent. In China, from what I hear, you should usually be able to find employers who'll pay your medical insurance, and again, if not, they should include the requisite amount in your paycheck. Finally, even if you're uncertified, it is pretty par for the course to find round trip airfare for one year+ contracts and one-way airfair for one semester contracts. Final China note, which may apply elsewhere: English teachers are in DEMAND. There are shortages in that country numbering in the thousands. Never feel like you're the one who's looking for a rare and valuable commodity--it is the other way around and you should feel quite fine bargaining for what you feel you deserve. For the job I almost took in Beijing last month they practically rewrote the contract based on my objections to it, added money to the offer (not enough, though, for Beijing living for a guy with a bit of New Zealand debt to worry about), added to the housing stipend, and added health insurance. If you get a rude recruiter (one in Beijing, a Kiwi-Brit, actually, was quite demeaning in his response to my questions) who isn't upfront and won't make changes, RUN! You WILL find another job offer very quickly and you should be very nervous if that's how things are from the jump-off with a potential employer. Anyway, as is my habit I've written an essay where some sentences might have sufficed, but I really hope this helps. I'm always enthusiastic when I hear of people getting overseas to live and work because it is not only a much better way to learn from places and cultures than just passing through, but because getting outside of my little Chicago bubble probably saved my life in a nearly-literal sense. Maybe your experience in Thailand has made you feel similarly. Peace, good luck, feel free to get at me if you have questions, I'll try my best to help.

Hah! Maaaaaaan, people love to front everywhere in the world. I can't help but smile. That's rowdy that he waited till he had a Nick Nolte flick coming out before he came clean. Wonder how many dollars he pulled in at his seminars in the what, twenty, thirty years before the movie? Ah well, if the Amazon reviews are to be trusted then the books have inspired many people to break through a bit of their fear and inertia. Can't be too mad at him. I just hope nobody paid to find out how to jump onto the roof of a gas station, or worse, track down the supposed secret school of cultivators sundry. Well, I humbly retract my suggestion.

What do you suggest as the proper way to act?

Ditto on this. When I first started doing qigong I was a waiter and was practicing one night at about 3am after work in a field in Chicago. My back felt prickly, the hairs on my neck stood right up, and I was convinced, out of the blue, that something sinister was rushing across the field to me. Back then I had nary a shred of belief in spirits so I didn't know what much to make of the sensation. If I recall, it went on its way, too. More related to the original question... The New Haven Green was once a graveyard. Headstones were removed, but not the bodies. The place can be a hangout for flesh-and-blood people who may sometimes remind one of ghosts, but I am not qualified to say if it is haunted in any other sense. I did an hour of qigong there one evening and felt ill at ease and slightly physically sick the whole time. I chalked it up to manifestations of the nagging sense of "I'd rather be doing ANYTHING but this boring-ass qigong" that bothered me a lot at the time. Back then I was wonderfully adept at finding a million and one reasons to not practice or stop practicing, so on my more disciplined days I tried hard to ignore them. However, when I found out a week later that the field was an unmarked cemetary I must say I had a bit of an ah-hah moment. Now, around that time problems that six months later required an extensive and sudden introduction to the world of exorcism started to really rear their heads--I don't really know if there is any relationship between those problems and the cemetary because, being close to my days as an ardent non-believer, I wasn't much on the lookout for signs. The woman who succesfully exorcized me didn't attribute the problem to being in a graveyard, though.

Well, if you've got some time and you like reading I found them to be fun, engaging reads. Knocked each one out in a day. The first is The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, the sequel is Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior, and the prequel is The Journey of Socrates. They'll make the most sense read in that order, though if I recall correctly the organization is mentioned more in the second two titles. My apologies if this ends up being a blind alley.

Have any of you all come across the three Way of the Peaceful Warrior narratives (as opposed to the manuals, which I can't speak to) by Dan Millman? I believe that they're meant to be taken as rooted in actual events, though how deep those roots go, I can't say. At any rate, I believe that an organization similar to what you all are describing shows up in the sequel and the prequel. It is never visited directly by the narrator but it is spoken about as one of the main sources of the sagacious spiritual mentor character's training. I believe one character describes it to another as a meeting of masters (in the Himalayas, was it? An suitably dramatic setting...) from various lineages including Eastern Orthodox Christianity, an indigenous Hawaiian tradition, Daoism, and more. They get together from time to time to share their teachings and methods with one another in an atmosphere of utmost respect. In fact, if I remember correctly, one of the dilemmas in the prequel is centered around whether a protagonist, who has entered a monastery to learn martial arts, will get over his thirst for revenge and be qualified to represent his master at the first meeting of this group sometime early in the last century. The character does get over his desire for vengeance and eventually goes to the gathering of, er, immortals, I guess you could call it, but unfortunately I don't believe the narration follows him. I suspect that there might be people on this board who've got some idea of how true the stories in Dan Millman's books are. If it turns out there's really something to them then perhaps there could be benefit to a sit down for tea with these alleged elusive masters of meditation and ecumenical etiquette. Good luck!

Quick update since I think there might be a few people posting here from the Northeast US... I checked the site and it seems the tour's also making the rounds here. It'll be in Albany, New York, tonight, October 3rd (opening cermony at 7), and all day Saturday and Sunday the 4th and 5th. October 3, 4 & 5, 2008 Albany, New York, USA Fri 7pm Opening Ceremony Saturday 10am to 7pm Sunday 10am to 7pm Doane Stuart School 799 South Pearl St Albany New York USA Contact: Joan Atkins Email: [email protected] Telephone: +1 518 872 1629 Subsequent dates are online at: Maitreya Project Relic Tour calendar Maybe see some of yall there tomorrow or Sunday, not that we'll likely recognize each other!

Hi... Thanks in advance for any help you all can give me. Seems like there're quite a few people here who have firsthand experience with this topic. This question stems from a conversation I recently had with a Nyingma teacher who teaches here in the US. I ended up asking him some questions on the relationship between Daoism and Buddhism because he moved from the United States to China and learned Chinese before finding his way into the Tibetan tradition. In China he studied taijichuan and some TCM as well before choosing to focus on Buddhism. I believe he was in Taiwan and the PRC, including Tibet, for a total of eight years. He currently holds a Dharma seat at Paltrul Rinpoche's temple in Tibet. My sense is that he's not on B.S... but eh, who am I to judge? If he was really on B.S. then he'd know how to fool a sucker like me, hah. Well, according to this teacher, the founding of the People's Republic of China and the Cultural Revolution did deep, perhaps irreparable damage to Daoism on the mainland. He believes that all teachers capable of transmitting the entirety of the Daoist path either went into exile in places like Hong Kong and Taiwan, were killed, or simply were unable to transmit the breadth of their learning and the completion stages of the Daoist path to enlightenment before dying (I say "transmit the entirety of the Daoist path" realizing that probably no human has ever learned every art and technique attributed to Daoism... I think what he meant is that the remaining teachers were not fully realized and thus couldn't transmit teachings that would lead to realization. I suppose a conversation about whether one must have supposedly enlightened teachers could be interesting, as well). Therefore, according to this lama, Daoism in the PRC is a shell of its former self and one would be running a fool's errand to try to become a Daoist in a serious sense (whether or not that is a Kirkland sense) on the mainland. Even learning genuine TCM in the PRC today, he thinks, is impossible. He did offer two caveats: one, it is possible that some real masters hid themselves successfully and found students to pass their learning to, though he thinks this very unlikely; and two, if true masters have returned to the mainland from exile in recent years then they will have brought their complete knowledge with them. I must say, for a man who is not himself a Daoist he was quite adamant about this point! I think he said it out of kindness, though. He was not saying, "Daoism is dead, Buddhism is the only way, come join my flock." He was instead counseling that spending time on the mainland would be waste of time for one with an interest in Daoism. When I asked him if, in his opinion, Daoism is as worthwhile a path as Tibetan Buddhism, he just said, "make sure you can find a teacher who can teach you everything." I take that more or less as a yes--and certainly not as an attempt to proselytize. He suggested Taiwan and Hong Kong and Malaysia as possible destinations. A related question... I have found learning simplified hanzi to be relatively easy, especially while living in China and constantly accessing the relevant parts of my brain to read signs, write, etc. Traditional characters are a little bit harder but not so much so that I couldn't learn them. For a person interested in learning in the Daoist and TCM traditions in China (and without an interest in being able to publish academic historical papers or translate classics) is a knowledge of simplified characters sufficient? If I've gotten the right idea in my hours lurking here, then there are a number of posters here who've moved to China to study. Also it seems like there are some people from China posting. I'd be extremely grateful to hear what you all think. Thanks again for your time.

That's a good thought. I'll know about a couple of language scholarships by next summer that'll likely decide where I end up for me--and that'll probably be Beijing. Chengdu is nice, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if their universities are much cheaper for foreigners than Beijing's are if I end up footing my own bill. The city's also an option if I'm working and studying at the same time. We shall see... I'm gonna try to avoid thinking too much about where exactly to go till the next Chinese semester's hiring round starts in a couple months. Nothing to sap my energy like the job hunt, which I just got off last week. By the way, are the Sichuanhua tones more or less the same as Putonghua? I barely knew any Chinese when I was there. Daoseeker, I read the Saso article. I thought it was an excellent read, appreciate the heads up.

Should one equate Siddham Sanskrit mantra with Buddhist mantra in this context?

Thank you for your idea but I don't find that I have much affinity for Mantak Chia. Thank you for the book recommendation, also. If I am looking to change my qigong practice some day perhaps I shall look into that method. Could you elaborate as to what part of my question made you say this? I'm not sure I understand your point. Thank you for this post and the one you wrote before. Indeed, I am not particularly concerned with the lasers from the eye stuff--I was born with those abilities and have found they cause nothing but trouble (kidding, kidding, sorry...). To give some background on me, since it might clarify why I'm posting, I'm interested in Daoism because I would like to learn what I really am. An audacious enough desire without chasing superpowers on the side to eat up my time and sanity, I think! I know there are many paths for many goals, and that world travel is no necessity, but Daoism has long resonated with me and living China has long drawn me. I am interested in TCM because it fascinates me more than any other career or pursuit I can think of. Going to back to China holds several appeals. I enjoy living there and really enjoy learning the language, even writing hanzi by rote; I can support myself in China working part-time and thus have lots of time and energy left over for practice and study that I won't have if I try to live in US or NZ, my countries of citizenship; and I could, depending on how my future unfolds, have access to a variety of teachers and written materials I don't know that I'd find in the States. I'm a bit leery of translations, as well, and given that the teacher I do have ardently encourages his students to seek more sources of information than his mouth, learning Chinese seems like a good idea whilst I'm able. Actually, my experience living in China for the first half of this year was very positive and it seemed like I was able to meet a small number of honest, genuine practitioners in a short time. Of course, our relationships were very short so I can't claim to know them very well. Their message was pretty clear: learn Chinese, and you can learn here. I think I'm pretty sincere (though, like you Wudangquan, I will admit to many foibles I am yet to work through) and I suspect you're right, this does attract people who're open to teaching and helping serious students. Cultural and linguistic blocks quickly started to feel like potentially temporary obstacles to learning. This may be folly on my part, and pompous over-confidence, but I'm not too worried about finding teachers, if and where they do exist, if and when the time is right. My own time in China would not have compelled me to ask the question that started this post--it was really the Nyingma lama's adamance. Thanks again for sharing openly of your experiences. Have you decided if you'll move Kunming, by the way? I've heard it's a good place to study Mandarin in the universities--half the price of Beijing. I'm considering it as an option since it seemed nice when I was there and I know a student who's very happy with his program. I do know of that Bill Porter book... I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was one of the titles, especially alongside John Blofeld and Anagarika Govinda, that got me to finally give China a try this year after thinking about it for a long time. Perhaps the fact that the Nyingma lama was in China in the to mid-eighties to early-nineties is one reason he formed the opinion he did. Seems as though Daoists would have been significantly more hidden then than now. I will check out that Saso article, thanks. Thanks for linking to those programs. The only TCM education with an emphasis on Daoist practices I yet knew of in the States was the one at Yosan University, so it is good to know what else is out there. A question from your first statement, which I suppose could go to anybody posting here: Have any of you heard of a Chinese medicine master by the name of Mao (second tone... feather) who is based in Fanjing Mountain in Guizhou and has a center of some sort in Beijing? This is the master of the TCM doctor who taught me a bit this year, but my poor language skills prevented me from ascertaining much about his teacher. Anyway, looking over this post I see I'm starting to look like a broken record, but eh, I'll say it again... Thank you all for your thoughts.

What's up, yall... I'm a bit of a lurker who has come to have a few questions that I'd greatly appreciate the group's insight on so I figured I should introduce myself. I enjoy walking, hence the name. Personalitywise, I'm really more of a Lorenzo Lamas than a Chuck Norris, but I figured the name "Renegade" was taken. "Maverick" mighta done, but I wouldn't want to take that option in case Sarah Palin or John McCain ever come to this site and want an account with a cool name. I'm very interested in Daoism and Buddhism and have explored these traditions in a couple of ways since my early twenties. I'm now in my mid-twenties, so you might rightly call me a greenhorn. I lived in China for six months this year to see how I'd like it there and if I'd enjoy going back to learn Mandarin and pursue my interests there instead of scratching my head and trying to decide between the 29,549,743 translations of the Daodejing on Amazon. It was a great six months and I'm thinking I'd like to go back. My questions at the moment, when I get around to asking em, revolve around what it takes for foreigners to go to China to study Daoism (as a practitioner, not an academic). Seems like there are people here who can lend some insight. In terms of tea, why funny you should ask. I brought a brick of green with me, Guizhou's finest. Best drank loose and unadulterated, if you're to follow the advise of those who gave it to me. Make sure you've got a cup with a lid so you can push the leaves back before you sip... Yak butter's in the cabinet by the sink for those who can't imagine tea without it. Sorry if it's a bit rancid, I like it tangy.

Hah, true 'nuff. Nothing like good old three sad-looking leaves in an impossibly thin plastic cup while you wait for your noodles. Not to mention you've gotta fight those cigarettes off with deep determination if you don't smoke. I got the tea I'm sipping now as a lucky gift, though. Some friends and I painted a mural in an orphanage and after it was all said and done we dropped in on the director to say thanks for letting us turn his building into a multicolored madhouse for a couple of weeks and present him with a bottle of rice wine (the wine wasn't my idea... I'd not wish baijiu upon anybody). Before we knew what was happening he went into his cabinet and produced three bricks of very nice tea which I don't think were being saved for our surprise visit. I felt kind of bad, as I don't think it was cheap, but the laws of reciprocation are not to be violated... 'specially when they yield such fine sipping. And I'll keep that yak butter well hidden. It's a good thing I haven't been drinking much of it lately, as it takes not long before it starts to seep out the pores, giving one a distinctive, intriguing, and utterly unconcealable aroma.