上个周末，我和一个朋友一起去洛阳，少林寺和开封穷游了。经过在北京忙碌的星期之后，我非常激动摆脱首都，探索我从来没去过的一些地方。下课以后，我们到车站上所谓的‘快车’（实际上最慢的火车) 去了河南。
在中国火车上，服务员卖各种各样的商品。从内蒙古奶贝 （我个人认为液态奶更好）到火车纪念品，服务员应有尽有。那一天的特色是新疆蜜饯水果。一个旅客买了一些，给我们尝一尝，其实很不错。我们跟旅客聊了一会儿，然后决定去睡觉因为要很早起床。
我们第一个目的地就是远近驰名，有着悠久历史的少林寺。少林寺是中国佛教禅宗祖庭和功夫的发源地。我从小时候起对武术感兴趣，所以能够去少林寺真是梦想成真！少林寺最有名的部分很可能是那里的塔林。有唐朝，宋朝，金朝，元朝，明朝，清朝和现代砖石墓塔。最难忘的体验就是看少林僧人的功夫表演。他们请了观众中的一些人上舞台上，模仿僧人的运动。她们当然没有成功模仿僧人的运动，可是大家都支持他们，为他们呐喊助威。第二天，我们去开封观光旅游了。我听说过开封有很多的美食。我最喜欢的是那里的小笼包，一想到那家饭馆的美食，我就直流口水。
第三天，我们去了洛阳郊外举世闻名的龙门石窟。洛阳有着4000多年城市史，是丝绸之路的东方起点。在中国，洛阳被归为一个中等规模的城市 – 人口只有7.1百万！龙门石窟是由一系列的洞穴组成的。在洞穴里，有石刻的佛像。根据专家所说的，龙门石窟是石窟寺，也就是说信任去龙门石窟祈祷，崇拜大佛了。龙门石窟给了我留下很深刻的印象因为亲眼看到的石窟比我想象中的壮观得多。
我超爱穷游。当我在欧洲的时候，我喜欢跟朋友去穷游。有一次，我们买了到瑞典的2英镑的往返机票, 真不可思议！但除了更便宜，穷游也有其他好处，其中最重要的是它给我们更多跟当地人交流的机会。当作语言学生，这些偶遇是很有价值的机会，因为每一次偶遇提供提高语言水平，练习说汉语的机会。这很重要因为只有我们不断地练习，才能把一种语言学好。毕竟熟能生巧。
Last weekend, I travelled to Luoyang, Shaolin Temple and Kaifeng on a shoestring. After a busy week in Beijing, I was very excited to escape the Capital and explore some places I had never been to before. After finishing class, we went to the station to board the so-called fast train (actually China’s slowest train) to Henan.
Train attendants sell all sorts of products on Chinese trains. From Inner Mongolian milk pills (I personally still think milk is better as a liquid), to train souvenirs, they sell it all. That day’s specialty was preserved Xinjiang fruit. One passenger bought some and gave us some to try. They were pretty good. We chatted with the other passengers for a bit, and then decided to get some sleep because we had an early start in the morning.
Our first destination was Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple has a long history and is known far and wide. Shaolin Temple is the ancestral temple for Chinese Chan Buddhism and is the birthplace of Kung Fu. I’ve been interested in Kung Fu since I was little, so being able to go to Shaolin Temple really was a dream come true! Perhaps the most famous part of Shaolin temple is the Forest of Pagodas. There are stone brick burial pagodas from the Tang, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties as well as from the modern era. The most unforgettable experience was seeing the Shaolin Monk Kung Fu show. They invited some members of the audience up onto the stage to copy the monks’ movements. They obviously were not able to copy the monks’ movements successfully, but everybody supported them and cheered them on! On the next day, we went to Kaifeng to do some sightseeing. I had heard that Kaifeng had lots of delicious food. My favourite was their Xiaolongbao (a sort of dumpling with a soup-like liquid in them). Just thinking about them makes my mouth water!
On the third day, we went to the world famous Longmen Grottos on the outskirts of Luoyang. Luoyang is a city with over 4000 years of history and was the eastern starting point of the Silk Roads. In China, Luoyang is classified as a medium scale city – its population is ‘only’ 7.1 million people! The Longmen Grottos are made up of a series of caves. In the caves, there are stone carvings of the Buddha. According to experts, the Longmen Grottos are “grotto temples”, which means believers went to the Longmen Grottos to pray and worship the Buddha. The Longmen Grottos left a deep impression on me as seeing the Grottos with my own eyes was even more spectacular than I had imagined!
I really love budget travelling. When I’m in Europe, I like to go travelling with my friends. One time we bought return flights to Sweden for just £2. We could not believe it! But apart from being cheaper, budget travelling also has other advantages. The most important of these is that it gives us more opportunities to come into contact with local people. As a language student, these chance encounters are really valuable opportunities, as each encounter provides opportunities to improve my language level and practise speaking Chinese. This is really important as it is only through continuous practise that we can master a language. After all, practise really does make perfect!