At the baggage pick up station I was approached by the same taxi driver who wanted me to put my luggage in his car. He insisted that I agreed to sit in his car to Xuan Kong Si, Midcliff Monastery. He wanted me to pay 100 yuan. I negotiated for 50 thinking I was the only rider in the car and felt I did a good job. But the fact was the car was full of riders and with this combination the entire car ride should have been 60 split by every one in the car. The driver talked big about how he is a Buddhist, showed us his certificate and talked big about what virtues of Buddhist Disciples etc… I confronted him about lying and making a dishonest business transaction with me as a Buddhist. All the passengers sat quietly with their lips closed tight and head turned outward towards the window looking nervously. I realized that confrontation, speaking was not a common thing people are used to doing and they were afraid of possible conflict, argument etc… I may have made my point but this did not matter to the driver who would never see us again. He still charged me 50 instead of 20 yuan.
I was given 20 minutes to see Midcliff Monastery made of wood in mid-cliff because the taxi driver connected me with his brother who had two clients headed for Wu Tai Shan and will be picking me up in 20 minutes. I ran through this visit. It’s quite amazing how the architect made the entire wood monastery hang off a cliff. There is only room for one person at a time on the monastery paths. It’s a steep fall downward.
My poster Buddhist taxi driver pulled me aside and told me I had to give the 100 yuan upfront for my ride to Wu Tai Shan. I later learned what a mistake this was and would never do it again. We parted and I sat in his brother’s taxi. Right away I noticed he didn’t have a meter or any kind of licensing posted. Behind me were two elderly couples on their way to a wedding in Tai Yuan and is taking a tour on their way there. I later learned they prepaid to book the car for a whole day for 200 yuan. That booking a car for 200 yuan was the going rate for locals. Then the money I paid should have gone to them but the driver took it for himself. We stopped at the wooden Pagoda, it was 950 years old, no nails, survived a lot of historical wars and natural disasters. And after all that it still stands tall in the midst of very poor community with two apartment buildings sticking out like a sore thumb painted in pink. I like the color pink, but this really didn’t work. The elderly couple was very nice to me and took good care of me.
