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South Mountain China Tours
South Mountain is a specialty tour company that explores ancient Chinese culture. We specialize in providing educational and spritually focused tours related to the history of Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and other deep cultural currents in Chinese history.
Fall 2012: Our Sept 2012 tour will visit an extensive list of the most famous Zen Dharma seats in China, including Huineng, Yunmen, Moshan, Huangbo, Baizhang, Mazu, Daoxin, Hongren, Nanquan, and Dogen. The tour also visits the sacred mountain home of Dizang (Jizo), as well as scenic Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) and the Orchid Pavilion. Tour begins in Guangzhou and ends in Shanghai. Click the link at upper left for details.
Visit China with Famed Teacher and Caligrapher Kaz Tanahashi on a tour organized by South Mountain - In Association with Upaya Institute and Zen Center
To see a video clip that shows a portion of the places on three recent South Mountain tours, please click here (512K Bandwidth Flash Video)
For a slower Internet connection, please click here (256K bandwidth).
To read a scholarly paper on Bodhidharma's life, click here (pdf file).
Click on the Zen Helpers link above to find links helpful to Zen teachers. There you'll find a link to mp3 files that indicate how to correctly pronounce the names of old Zen teachers. You'll also find a link to a full sized "Map of the Zen Ancestors" that is searchable. It shows where you can find over 150 Zen masters of ancient China on one big chart, plus where each is located in Zen classic texts.
News!
Wisdom Publications has re-issued "Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and their Teachings" (expanded edition). This edition of the book includes new supplemental material on seven ancient Zen teachers of particular importance. One new teacher, named "Daju," a disciple of Master Ma, has been added. The new material has been selected as part of ongoing efforts to clarify how Zen developed in China and what this means to Western Zen development.
Amazon Page for Zen's Chinese Heritage
Our normal itineraries include facscinating stops that other tour companies overlook. For example, besides visiting Beijing sights like the Forbidden City, we explore the Bell Museum in Beijing which displays astonishing examples of ancient Chinese technology and craftsmanship, including specially cast bells that would be impossible to duplicate even using modern technology.
Near Beijing, we visit the Yunju repository of the Buddhist Canon. The entire Buddhist canon of writings, an immense body of literature, was carved into stone over an eight hundred year period and stored in caves for protection. This project, perhaps the longest single project in human history, can be seen when we visit the caves where the old stone engravings are stored.
Other special stops on our unusual itineraries include famous temples where ancient Zen masters taught in China. Or consider joining us to visit the scenic vistas of Yunnan Province. Join us to visit the origins of China's tea drinking culture or learn about Confucius and his hometown.
South Mountain offers a special perspective on China that can't be duplicated on tours that cost three or four times as much. Contact us for information on how you can find the heart of China.