Late last year, Shaolin monks went to Kunming and took over the operational management of Tuzhu, Fading, Miaozhan and Guanyin temples.

Sitting comfortably in front of the newly opened Hall of Sakyamuni in the glow of the sunset, Shi Yanshuo wistfully envisions the completion of the Towers of Bell and Drum on the busy construction site sprawling southward.

"It's exciting thinking of the future. In 10 years, the Donglin Temple will probably resume its glory under the flagship of the Shaolin Temple," beams the 27-year-old monk.

Behind the renovation of the Donglin Temple is a well-designed cultural map of the Shaolin Temple, which has risen in the past two decades from a state of decay to a giant complex.

Shi feels grateful to his master Shi Yongxin, the abbot of Shaolin, as "he defines the right orientation for Donglin."

Located on the southwest edge of Zhengzhou, provincial capital of central China's Henan Province, Donglin has a 1,800-year history that dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD).

Important to Buddhist tradition, Donglin was once regarded as one of the four major temples in Henan, along with Shaolin, Xiangguo and Baima (White Horse) temples.

But its reputation has declined sharply since the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). When General Feng Yuxiang governed Henan in the 1920s, he ordered that Donglin be stripped of its religious functions and transformed into a public school.

During the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), the temple was destroyed with the exception of the Palace of the Heavenly King and a pagoda built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

"It is sorrowful to see such a recognized temple in ashes," sighs Shi. In recent times, the temple has hosted neither visitors nor worshipers.

The temple's course was reversed after the visit of Shi Yongxin in the late 1990s, when he was invited to serve as Donglin's abbot.

In 2005, Abbot Shi revealed a plan to rebuild a brand-new temple on the ruins of Donglin, covering more than 81 hectares, or 10 times larger than the original.

The estimated cost of construction is 300 million yuan (US$44 million).

To Shi and his fellow monks' greater joy, Donglin will be developed into the largest school of Buddhism studies in China, enrolling 10,000 students a year.

The expansion of Shaolin has gone far beyond Donglin. In the past decade, Shaolin has incorporated or established 26 branches both in China and overseas.

In 2007, Shaolin signed a contract with Jixian County of Tianjin to build a new North Shaolin Temple at a cost of 160 million yuan.

In mid-November, Abbot Shi and his disciples advanced into Kunming, provincial capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

According to a contract signed by Abbot Shi and Liu Yuejin, director of Kunming's Guandu District, Shaolin monks will take over the operational management of Tuzhu, Fading, Miaozhan and Guanyin temples.

In exchange, all revenue generated over the next 20 years through donations, tourism and the sale of religious items will belong to Shaolin.

Shaolin has also set up branches or martial arts centers in Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.

Abbot Shi denies that he is deliberately seeking expansion. "We are simply helping push the religious cause in those areas where the appropriate conditions permit."

Literally meaning "monastery in the woods of Mount Shaoshi," Shaolin became famous for its "integration of Zen and martial arts." It is the home of Zen in China.

During the 6th century, Bodhidharma, the 28th successor of Buddha, came to China for exchanges on Buddhism studies. After facing a wall for nine years in a cave of Mount Shaoshi, the Indian monk created Zen. A major teaching of this school of Buddhism is the practice of meditation to ward off worldly distractions.

But Abbot Shi, the 30th abbot of Shaolin, has persisted in breaking from the established norms and is connecting the temple more closely with the secular world.