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You are here: Home / Travels / China / Xining

Xining

Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, features not only the Kum Bum monastery (one of the major Tibetan Buddhist lamaseries) but also a pretty good museum on Tibetan carpets and thangka (Tibetan Buddhist religious paintings). And, I got to see a yak!

Xining is the capital of Qinghai province, perhaps best-known for the Kumbum Tibetan monastery nearby. It’s the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism (there are two sects, Red Hat and Yellow Hat), and was the former home of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, before China invaded Tibet.

We stopped by the local park for a climb, then the Grand Mosque, where we spoke to a very friendly Chinese Muslim priest, then to the Kumbum monastery. On the way back, I got a photo with a yak! They are way cute.

[Show as slideshow]
Xining Dongguan Grand Mosque The Dongguan Grand Mosque in Xining. (Photo courtesy Mike Magin.)
Xining Dongguan Grand Mosque A closer look at the mosque.

Xining Grand Mosque Details A closeup of one of the details in the great square of the mosque. We couldn't take photos inside, but I did catch a photo of the elaborate painting in Arabic.
Xining Park Dragon Box We stopped by a park in Xining, and saw this lovely dragon before a lake covered in waterlilies.

Xining Park Horse and Rider Horse and rider at the park. I never did find out what it was about...but it was pretty.
Xining Kumbum Prayer Wheels Prayer wheels at Kumbum monastery. We couldn't take photos inside most of the temples, but I got some photos outside.

Xining Kumbum Beggar Beggar at the Kumbum monastery
Xining Kumbum Beggar Another beggar at the monastery.

Xining Thangka Tibetan Buddhist Painting Thangka (Tibetan Buddhist religious paintings) are painted starting with an elaborate, penciled-in design such as this one. I didn't take photos of the thangka because it was impossible to do them justice in the low light, but the ones in the museum were gorgeous.
Xining Tibetan Loom A Tibetan loom. Tibetan rugs are neat, usually made of wool rather than silk, coarser than the fine silk rugs we saw along the route. Bright colors, beveled edges on the designs - very nice indeed.

Xining White Yak We saw yak in Xining! They are soooo cute...I got to touch one!
Tien on a Xining White Yak

Me on a yak.

(Photo courtesy Mike Magin.)


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