Two Chinese Buddhist monks on Wednesday began their journey to India, attempting to seek enlightenment from the odyssey of a famous predecessor more than 1,300 years ago.

However, unlike Xuanzang (602-664), an eminent monk of Tang Dynasty who made the trip totally on foot to seek the Sutra from the birthplace of Buddhism, the two monks will go both on foot and by the modern alternatives of railway, bus and even air.

The more efficient choices will shorten the 25,000-km journey which Xuanzang spent 17 years to complete to only four months.

A special Buddhism ritual was convened on Wednesday in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, to mark the start of the journey of Monk Mingxian, 33, from Donglin Temple, east China's Jiangxi Province, and Monk Huizai from Taiwan.

About 7,000 Buddhist believers prayed for the two monks at the ceremony.

After the ritual, the two monks, who were heaped with blessings from 108 eminent monks from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, left Guangzhou by train for Xi'an in northwestern Shaanxi Province, the place where Xuanzang set off.

"In preparing for deserts and high mountains that we might cross on the journey, we have had received one month's special physical training for out-door subsistence," said Monk Mingxian.

However, the two monks will not have so much solitude when they make the journey as their trip will be fully televised and they will even write blogs on the trip.

They will travel through Pakistan and Nepal and are expected to arrive at Nalanda in Bihar of India, the ancient center of Buddhist learning, in mid-November.

In addition to religious studies in Nalanda during their stay, the two monks will present a handwritten sutra by famous Chinese calligraphers to the Indian temple.

"The trip is of great significance in religious and cultural exchanges between the two nations," Monk Mingxian said.

Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India, which was full of trials and tribulations, has become known to more people of coming generations in China largely through the classical fiction "Journey to the west", commonly known to western readers as "Monkey King".

Written by Wu Cheng'en ( 1510-1582), "Journey to the west" is one of the four Chinese literary classics. The other three are "The Water Margins", "Dream of the Red Mansion" and "Romance of Three Kingdoms".

Source: Xinhua