The ideal base for exploring the area is DENGFENG , a little town stretched along a valley at the heart of the Song Shan range, 13km from Shaolin and 4km from the Zhongyue Miao. There's nothing much here; it's basically one main street, unusual for having the name and function of every shop written neatly in English under the Chinese characters. The Dengfeng Legendary Kungfu Weapon Shop sells curvy swords, pointed sticks, throwing stars and the like, cheaper than those at the Shaolin Si.

Dengfeng is not on the rail line. Buses from Luoyang and Zhengzhou both take about three hours and arrive at the bus station at the western end of the main street, from where there are local buses to the temples. The only hotel foreigners can stay in is the simple but clean Songshan Binguan (tel 2749050; ¥30-75) 1km east of the bus station, slightly recessed from the road.