A group of 300 American enthusiasts for Shaolin kungfu have made a pilgrimage to central China's Shaolin Temple.

The visitors, including some twenty females, took part in a ritual on Wednesday to pay their respects to the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Henan Province.

The visitors all come from the Shaolin Boxing Self-defence Union, the biggest martial arts organization in the United States.

Students from the group have been travelling to the temple since 1997 to study the revered Shaolin kungfu style.

Their two leaders Stephen Demasco and Charlie Maltera learned the art from the master of the Shaolin Temple Shi Yongxin for Kungfu.

The foreign Shaolin disciples have set up a commemorative stele to mark the return to the Shaolin Temple.

(CRI July 1, 2004)