China's Holy Hikes

Book excerpt: While China counted down to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, university English teacher Jacob Lotinga embarked on a journey of discovery by hiking China's holy mountains - some Buddhist, some Taoist.Fancy chatting with Buddhist and Taoist monks and nuns, rubbing shoulders with pilgrims and porters, or drinking cool water from a bowl in a peak-top temple guesthouse while humming Cui Jian's 'Fake Monk'?China's Holy Hikes offers readers eight irresistible and illuminating holy mountain sketches, vanishing into the mist and cloud of five Taoist and three Buddhist peaks and meeting a host of interesting characters along the way. It also offers a glimpse of different regions, covers some social issues and provides insight into the psychology of one hiker.Author Jacob Lotinga has taught English at four mainland Chinese universities and has also worked in South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.