XiNing City

XiNing is my first stop of this journey. it's the capital of QingHai Province, located on the northwest of China. once I have stepped off the air-plane, it gave me a quite different feeling than inland areas, different climate, different plants, different building styles and most important of all different people.

During my two days in XiNing, I took a visit to Kumbum Monastery which is 35 km southwest to to downtown district. Kumbum in Tibetan means "Hundred Thousand Images of the Buddha Roaring Like a Lion" (Simhanada). It's one of the six greatest monasteries of Gelugpa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism and the birthplace of Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Sect. Kumbum Monastery was founded in 1560. After dedicated efforts of many masters of high spiritual achievement who continuously devoted themselves to the renovation and expansion of the Monastery, Kumbum has developed into a group of monastic buildings. There are numerous temples, halls, stupas and dormitories for monks, often built in a combination of Chinese and Tibetan artistic styles. The total area of the Monastery is 400,000 m², and the construction area is 100,000 m². At the height of monastery's glory, the number of monks peaked at over 5000. There are four main Institutes in the Monastery: The Institutes of the Sutra, Tantra (Mural), Tibetan Medicine, and Kalachakra. Monks first have to learn the teaching of the Sutra, and then they practice the Tantras. In order to study the holy Dharma, the monks have to learn the Sutra, the Vinaya and the Shastras and practice the three higher trainings of moral discipline, meditative concentration, and wisdom of "understanding emptiness".
Numerous impressive historical relics and a vast collection of Buddhist texts are preserved in the Monastery. Frescoes, embroidery, and butter sculptures are regarded as the three special arts of Kumbum Monastery. The beauty and splendor of Kumbum's architectural art is well known all over the world. It is a unique treasury of culture and art.
(these texts are copied from the ticket of Kumbum Monastery.)

After two days' delay I took train from XiNing to Golmod to begin the Road of QingZang.