The fastest trip to Shaolin is to book a flight to Beijing and from there to Zhengzhou. Zhengzhou is the capital of the province Henan and approx. 80 km from Shaolin. At the airport there are numerous of helpful taxi drivers, who will drive you gladly (of course too expensive) within approx. 2.5 hours to Shaolin.

Another way to get there is to book a flight to Beijing and take the train to Zhengzhou. The airport in Beijing is far outside the city and often there isn't a direct connection to Zhengzhou, so that a further overnight stay is necessary in Beijing. The railway station in Zhengzhou is opposite the bus station, where regularly buses drive directly to Shaolin. The trip is definitely longer (approx. 8 hours by train from Beijing to Zhengzhou, 1 1/2 hours by airplane). Besides you must prove your organizational ability with the purchase of the tickets (usually in Chinese).