OK so not bike related but here goes ! One of my sons who's about to turn 21 wants to go to China for three months to a retreat to study Tai Chi / meditation etc There seem to be plenty of places catering for this sort of thing but would be good to hear from someone who knew a little more Going rate appears to be about £600 per month for board and lodgings including training (excluding flights) but 3 months is a long time to get stuck in the wrong place ! Anyone out there have any experience ? Cheers Char
SWMBO decided to take up Tai Chi in June last year when she gave up work (she had dabbled a bit a couple of years previously). It lasted about 6 weeks before she got bored. She now goes walking and does family history as well as housey stuff to pass her time.
Tibet highlands, no other place for the real meditation experience, you need to understand here that Tibet (Xīzàng) has various regions split basically into three areas = Kham, Amdo, Tibet / TAR = Tibet Autonomous Region (Central Tibet). A special travel permit is required for the TAR region, walk the Koras around the holy mountains like Mt.Kailash, Mt Kawakarpo, etc..... Bloody brilliant up there on the Tibet plateau ~ been many times since 1989 and heading up again this year... nuff said'....
Thanks TBR What's the best time of year to visit ? Any recommendations as to a centre there ? Sounds like this is what he's looking for
Well ~ not going to TAR (Tibet Central) for the food, rather for the culture, landscape, people and absolutely love the emptiness and remoteness of all the three Tibet regions. Besides the Australian Outback, all the Tibet regions (TAR / Amdo / Kham) and to some extend Xinjiang / Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongolia) provinces are my favourite riding destinations ~ bloody brilliant really.... Every season is good to go to the Tibet regions, depends on the actual region and the ability to cope with colder weather during winter. Kham / Amdo have a so called wet season (rainy season) around July, again depends on the actual region and altitude. Mt.Everest Basecamp / Mt.Kailash in winter is just beautiful as clear weather / blue skies and less people around. TAR (Tibet Central) restricts all travel around February / March due to Tibetan New Year (different every year as follows the lunar calendar). Don't know how many times you have visited Asia / China as the language barrier will be a huge challenge thats for sure (I live and operate and run business in China since 1989 and lets just say know my way around a bit)...... Not into Tai Chi myself but seeing TC almost every morning while driving our son to school as the older generation practice everywhere over here in the big city called Shanghai. Highly recommend to get in touch with a foreign owned and operated travel agency that specialises in China travel and clearly understands what is needed as quite a few tourist traps out there and they are just after the $$$'s and provide lousy service. ***do yourself a very big favour and stay far away from anything and all related to the so called Shaolin Temple / Henan, you have been warned herewith*** Hand your son a good sized comfortable backpack, chunk of cash, loaded credit card and let him travel by himself around the Tibet regions to some monasteries for a few month, will be life changing experience for sure. Amdo / Kham regions, no need for a special Tibet travel permit, just a China tourist visa and thats easy to get back in the UK via the PRC embassy. Took our son (12 last year) for a long extended road trip to the really remote Amdo Tibet regions Summer 2015 (Gansu / Qinghai / Sichuan) and he was absolutely blown away and now understands why I love being over there. He has definitely a different look on life now and we will definitely go again.... No affiliations at all but look here for some general greater Tibet region info please = The Land of Snows – Tour and Travel information for Tibet, Nepal, Ladakh and Bhutan Sidenote: Indonesia / Thailand / Bhutan should have some meditation centres in place that cater to western visitors and might be a bit more suitable for a first timer in Asia ~ just sayin'......
Mate, wish I could and had the time ~ always great to read feedback from people that most probably have never been.... nuff said'......
