First stop was the active Famen Buddhist Monastery (AKA- FamenSi or “Doorway Temple”). FamenSi was originally constructed in about 200 AD. However, it has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times that it is now a fairly modern structure. The last rebuild was in 1981 when the collapse of the 12-story pagoda led to the discovery of another amazing archaeological find. Beneath the pagoda was a sealed crypt containing a variety of relics that had been forgotten for over 1000 years. Chief among these were four sacred finger bones of the original Buddha. (Apparently, somewhere along the line, as a gesture of goodwill and/or penance, an Indian king traveled around the world giving bits of the original Buddha to various temples, and FaMenSi got a finger.)
The funniest thing we saw here was a monk wearing ear buds connected to an iPod. My friend Jenni got his picture but I haven't procured it yet. You are more than welcome to CLICK HERE to go to the official website. However, you must be capable of reading Chinese characters as there are no English translations. BUT the pictures are pretty brilliant and interesting.
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