Langmusi changed a lot since my last visit during early May 2004 and the town is now full of touristy shops, restaurants, hotels and guesthouses, entry tickets required to the two monasteries (Sichuan / Gansu side of Langmusi). They even laid cobblestones and asphalt onto the main road and quite a few new houses around, old days just one government owned and operated hotel and gravel / dirt tracks going through the simple monastery settlement.... Still great fun up in the mountains and great countryside surrounding the Langmusi area, some simple info below. The 'Black Tent Cafe' is the most comfortable coffee shop in Langmusi nowadays. They offer pretty decent western breakfast and coffee (cappuccino, espresso, etc). Same owners as the Langmusi Tibetan Horse Trekking company across the street. Lesha's Restaurant has been open for more than a decade here and has a great, lively atmosphere. More detailed Langmusi info = langmusi Tibetan Horse Trekking 甘南郎木寺格桑马队 and Langmusi Hotel at the top of the village has a large parking lot out front with security guards, nuff said'.....
Some great photos as usual and a wonderful insight into the China few get to see. It has changed so much!
Located in a parallel valley to Xiahe (Labrang), the Ganjia Grasslands (Gānjiā Cǎoyuán, 甘加草原) offer a glimpse into the lives of the semi-nomadic Tibetans living in the Amdo region. Unlike the Sangke Grasslands that lie closer to Xiahe (Labrang), the Ganjia Grasslands have yet to be turned into a commercial tourist attraction. Many denizens of the Ganjia Grasslands still keep to their traditional lifestyle herding yaks. During the chilly winters, many of them stay in mud-brick homes and head back to tent living during the warmer months. One of the real nice areas are near the so called White Rock Cliffs and the temples Tseway Gompa and Trakkar Gompa.
The Ganjia Grasslands are also home to the ancient walled Bajiao Village. Ancient, crumbling walls rise up from the dry scrub of the Ganjia Grasslands. Bajiao Village (Bājiǎo Chéng Yízhǐ, 八角城遗址), known as Karnang in Tibetan, is a roughly 2,000-year-old village surrounded by a 12-sided city wall that appears as a nearly perfect cross when viewed from above. Once an important point for traffic between Gansu and Qinghai, the city was fortified in this unique cross shape rather than a square. The distance between the corners of each wall were intended to be short enough to be within the range of crossbows fired from atop the wall, making the town easier to defend. Traces of the moat, once another part of the town's defences, also still remain.
Xiahe (Labrang)..... Xiahe (Labrang) has all sorts of accommodation (backpackers, hotels and hostels), several types of cuisine and restaurants like Gesar Restaurant, Snowy Mountain Cafe, Nomad Restaurant, Tsewong's Cafe, Everest Cafe but the real standouts after spending a week in the Xiahe (Labrang) region are NIRVANA BAR + RESTAURANT = www.nirvana-hotel.net and the outstanding resort at the Sanke Grasslands near Xiahe (Labrang) called NORDEN CAMP = Norden Travel Nirvana Hotel, Restaurant & Bar was started by Wandhikhar and Clary van Meijel. Wandhikhar is a Tibetan native of Xiahe, a small town located in the Tibetan autonomous region of Gansu province, China. Clary is from Holland. She came to Xiahe more than 10 years ago , met Wandhikhar , and never left again. In November 2013 the Nirvana Restaurant & Bar was opened. It was an immediate success. In August 2014 the Nirvana Hotel was opened and more info via the Nirvana Hotel website = www.nirvana-hotel.net
Norden Camp is an opportunity for the visitor to experience Tibetan culture and outdoors in style and comfort. It is situated 20 minutes out of Labrang, the famous Tibetan monastic town in the Tibetan Autonomous Kenlho Prefecture, Gansu Province, China. The site, a winter grazing area for local nomads is a stunningly beautiful area that covers 11 hectares, borders a meandering river and is the home of hares and marmots, foxes, gazelles, many birds including pheasants. The camp is covered in flowering bushes, trees, and a carpet of flowers in summer. From May, the flowering plants and bushes bloom in stages; pink, then yellow and multi colored flowers that continue to bloom into October. More info via the Norden Camp website = Norden Travel
Had many "yuck" burgers around the world but the simple and super tasty YAK BURGERS prepared and served at Norden Camp (Sanke Grasslands) are out of this world, lets not forget so is the local yoghurt with honey and the fresh salads....
Tibetan Jewelry (Labrang / Xiahe) For Tibetans, jewelry plays an important, traditional role in dress, spirituality, and life. Tibet is a Buddhist nation, which is reflected strongly in its jewelry. Tibetans use jewelry as a means to keep them close to deities. Jewelry protects as well, having amulet properties. In contrast with India, where a piece of jewelry is valued for the preciousness of the metals and gems that go into making it, Tibetans value their jewelry based on its color, size and symbolism.Tibetan silver jewelry has a rustic, almost unfinished look to it. In contrast with the perfectly symmetrical and flawless appearance of, say Italian silver jewelry, Tibetan silver pieces are individually made in a process that usually involves hammering and chiseling. No one will ever confuse Tibetan jewelry as having been machine mass produced, and herein lies its simple beauty! Tibetan jewelry, including silver and gold jewelry, also tends to be much larger in size than the jewelry made in most other countries and regions. As for materials, Tibetan jewelry is usually made of copper or silver, although gold jewelry is also produced.Tibetan jewelry also makes extensive use of gemstones. Of course, turquoise and coral are favorites, but rubies, sapphires, agates, coral, amber, copal, carnelian, garnet, lapis lazuli, amethyst, and jade are also used. Yak bone is also a popular material for jewelry making.
Labrang Monastery བླ་བྲང་བཀྲ་དགོན་པ་ is the largest monastery in the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo in Gansu province. Established during 1709, Labrang had approx. 4000 monks during its peak times but now only has around 1500 monks. Labrang is considered the cultural heart of Amdo Tibetan culture along with nearby town of Rebkong. Labrang is one of the “Great Six” Gelukpa sect monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism. Large quiet courtyards, bright awnings flapping lazily in the gentle breeze; dark halls and temples, blood red columns and dimly gleaming gods occasionally incandescent in shafts of light; the buzz of monks in prayer. A huge golden stupa, glowing above the flat roofs, dominated the town from a hillside across the river where we sat and contemplated the scene. High above, sharp ridges, sawed away at a cloudless sky. Like all sacred Tibetan sites, Labrang has a Kora, a sacred path winding for over 3 kms around it, and this was the first part of our walk. Starting from the western end of the main street, walking clockwise as custom requires. As always, there was a throng of pilgrims on the path, mainly from the Amdo region, the surrounding area of the Tibetan Plateau. All wore the traditional blanket-coat, mostly off one shoulder or even off altogether, arms and “upper” hanging limply from the waistband. Mothers, faces burned dark brown by the relentless sun and wind and already heavily lined, padded along patiently, stooped under heavy packs, snot-nosed children trailing from each arm.Great chunks of coral and turquoise hung from heavy silver chains in their long, delicately braided hair or from their necks. Tiny, wizened grannies, almost bent double, heavy ropes of grey hair hanging down their backs, shuffled along, beady miss-nothing eyes assessing everything about us as we tramped past. Their taller menfolk staggered in front of them, braided hair hanging below wide-brimmed felt hats, knives in their belts, curly-toed leather boots scuffing the dusty path. Their lives may be unremittingly tough, but they were putting on a good show.....
Labrang Monastery བླ་བྲང་བཀྲ་དགོན་པ་ is the largest monastery in the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo in Gansu province.
Labrang Monastery བླ་བྲང་བཀྲ་དགོན་པ་ is the largest monastery in the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo in Gansu province.
Labrang Monastery བླ་བྲང་བཀྲ་དགོན་པ་ is the largest monastery in the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo in Gansu province. Labrang (Xiahe) has a resident goat that answers to the name 'Nigel'. He roams around the monastery complex and the main street in town. He is generally happy to have his photo taken, but be sure not to get too close as he may lash out with a headbutt. If you are invading his personal space, the telltale sign is that he bears his teeth; which many tourists mistake for an obliging smile, do not be fooled....
Stunning! Please don't stop posting these amazing photos and wonderful insights in to these fascinating and beautiful places. Thank you for taking the time, it's really appreciated. Also, nice bike!! Nik
More pictures taken while riding and strolling around all over Labrang Monastery བླ་བྲང་བཀྲ་དགོན་པ་ ,the largest monastery in the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo in Gansu province. I rather enjoy these moments as no reasons to be anywhere else at all, short durations of time with no real purpose just looking around the area with no plans to go further and nothing really to do....
While hiking, cycling and cruising around the greater Labrang / Langmusi region, we definitely made some Monks happy, had a great time with very friendly people and all our bikes have been blessed... Time came around to get back to our home base in Shanghai as the extensive Summer Road Trip 2015 unfortunately was over, once again cruising around the Tibet (Amdo) region was awesome and brilliant, I'll be back ~ nuff said'... 2015 Summer Road Trip = Shanghai > Beijing > Ordos > Yinchuan > Lanzhou > Langmusi > Labrang > Xian > Nanjing > Shanghai
Some days you wake up, settle in at your computer desk, drink some coffee, read some on the internet and type a bit... Some other day you get a phone call from a good riding mate to head out of town, riding gear and bikes (MTS-PP / GS12ADV) loaded and lets rock n' roll On Any Sunday style to the greater Simingshan area (Zhejiang) for a day of spirited fast mountain cruising... Lets just name todays post = On Any Day #1.... Simingshan National Forest Park, Yuyao, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China
