So you guys heard of Journey to the West? It is a Chinese Drama in TV series during 1996 (Season 1) and 1998 (Season 2). I have always watched in Cantonese version of it(I still have it) when I was a kid so I want to share it to you guys if you are interested. The musics they have are awesome too, especially the openings of Season 1 and Season 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZXtU0y46w Season 1 Opening, Main Theme by Dicky Cheung
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTAwNjc5NDY4.html Season 2 Opening, Main Theme by Benny Chan (This website is safe, its like youtube but in Chinese style. Couldn't find a youtube with a opening of it.)

The story is about XianZang(Buddhist Monk) getting a Buddhist scriptures by going to India. The journey to India was many thousand miles long and the route was full of man-eating wild beasts, monsters, devils, demons, and plagued with other difficulties. Therefore, the Buddha assigned four disgraced deities(gods) to help him out on the way, to protect him from the devils, and to act as his disciples which are Sun WuKong, Zhu BaJie, Sha WuJing, and White Dragon Horse. After they completed their mission, their sins will be forgiven and live in the Heavens again(Too bad that this season doesn't show the ending story part but it is still fun to watch).

Sun WuKong's sin was rebelling against the Heaven for the low ranking/nonranking and decided to declare himself as "Great Sage Equaling to Heaven"(Qi Tian Da Sheng). He defeated an army of 100,000 celestial soldiers. Heaven was no match for Sun WuKong and appealed to the Buddha, who trapped Sun WuKong under a mountain for 5 centuries.Reason for living this long because he stole and ate peaches of immortality, pills of longevity, and Royal's wine before the rebellion which means he wont die easily(like cut his head off and he can reattach it or just grow a new one). Weapon is Ruyi Jingu Bang which is a magical rod that can change it's size. His magic is one of the highest during the Heavens. Very energetic, loves to play tricks on Zhu BaJie, tendency to kill, and strongest member out of the group.

Zhu BaJie's sin was for flirting with the Beautiful Moon Goddess while being drunk. He was sentenced to banishment to the Mortal world and reborn as a human, but something went wrong and was born as half man half pig monster. Weapon is JiuChuDingPa which is a nine tooth iron rake. His magic is about half or less than Sun WuKong but his fighting skills in water is better than Sun WuKong. Often gets in trouble for flirting with the females, being lazy to work, and second strongest out the group.

Sha Wujing's sin was accidentally broke a priceless antique vase and was sentenced to exiled in Mortal world and reincarnate as man eating sand demon. He will also get stabbed by 7 swords so he lives in the river. Weapon is YueYaChan which is a double-headed staff with a crescent-moon (yueya) blade at one end and a spade (chan) at the other end. His magic is close to Zhu BaJie. Hardworking, patient, luggage carrier, protects XianZang for his safety while Sun WuKong fights the demons, loyal, kind hearted, weakest out of the group.

White Dragon Horse's sin was disobeying order from Heaven and failed to adhere to the weather schedule set up by the Heavenly Emperor. Most of the time is a transportation for the monk as a horse.

Why am I telling you all of this information while you can just go look information for yourself? Well I want you to know about it right now. It is very interesting story from China that has spread all around the world. There are games, anime, mange, etc that is already related to Journey to the West. Gensomaden Saiyuki and Dragon Ball is originally related about Journey to the West, not to mention Warriors Orochi 2 has a character playable of Sun WuKong. There are a lot more I could name but I'm lazy naming them all. Because of Journey to the West, we wouldn't have had all of these.

Here are some of the musics from youtube that plays during the episodes(sorry, I don't know the name of the songs).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8B1JViHk0&feature=related Sub 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpH1eRlnors&feature=related Sub 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qgp7f8eLdw&feature=related Ending Theme of Season 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznki5ZnaEU Sad slow version
There are more but you should google search them. There are full versions of the Main themes for Dicky Cheung and Benny Chan.

If you want more info, http://www.vbtutor.net/xiyouji/journeytothewest.htm
If I could, I would show you the website of those episodes but there are no english subs for this. Only in Chinese language and Chinese subs was all I could find. There are also some episodes on youtube but some parts are missing whatsoever. It would be nice to have your opinions about this too.

I have heard the story behind Journey to the West and I have seen bits and pieces of it acted out on stage before. I personally want to read the real story though, so I'm trying to work on my Chinese language skill right now. Sun WuKong is pretty much awesome!