Monks, monks and more monks

Every family is supposed to send a son into the monasteries to be a monk. There was a period in Tibetan history when numerous monasteries were built all the Tibetan empire and monks number in the tens of thousands. During the communist revolution, the Chinese army killed a lot monks, sent a lot home and destroyed numerous monasteries, destroyed a lot of Buddhist art, stole a lot of temple treasures. The memory of this is still ingrained in the hearts and minds of a lot of Tibetans. Today the Chinese has relaxed a lot of the restrictions because these monks and monasteries are a draw for tourism. But they still rule the Tibetans with a firm iron grip, not tolerating any descent at all. In spite of the intimidation Tibetans do come and riot once in a while as seen in 2008 when Lhasa erupted into a huge unrest, and this spread to other Tibetan areas in China including Labrang in Xiahe. While we did not see any military presence inside the town, there is a huge military installation just at the edge of town. Other than morning prayers, the monks are free to wander around town and hang out. They are allowed to go home to help with the farming chores. They have cell phones, wear fancy shoes, eat out and drop out of the whole shindig if they so chooses.

Sacred architecture

 This picture is so beautiful, I swear, it is worthy of being in National Geographic. You need to click on it to enlarge it.

 This big chorten is inside the monastery complex.

The golden roof, the black stripes around the windows, the little white circles, the awnings all contribute to insignia of sacred Tibetan architecture. Regular houses cannot be painted this way. It is reserved for temples and sacred buildings. Labrang is a collection of a lot of sacred buildings spread over a huge area.

The main sutra hall

Every building has this deccorative awning which is not really for decoration but for protection against the sun in those high altitudes that is bright and hot.

Details of the awning that I hope to paint one of these days.

 The chorten in the central square that is used for burning juniper branches.

We had an English speaking monk as a guide. I forgot what he said these were. We weren't allowed to photograph the interior of the sutra hall. What it has are cushions set on the floor and every morning at 5 am all the monks would be sitting cross legged on them and chanting the morning prayers. The ordinary folks would gather outside and participate that way. Everybody is welcomed except we couldn't wake up early enough. Its supposed to be really calming with the sound of the murmurings of their chants.

Labrang monastery

There just wasn't enough time. This was our last afternoon and we had only arrived the previous day. This was another whistle stop to China. Its very hard to leave work for any extended period. I hate to say it but they simply cannot do without me at work. So I have to run off for 10 days, the travel time takes 3 days and the time on the ground is so short. I can't wait for the day when I don't have to worry about anything at home. In the meantime I will grab what I can. I'm full of regret seeing these pictures again because I haven't given the place the time it deserved. Labrang started as a group of tents and grown into this multi complex monastery. This is sacred Tibetan architecture and the paint work is limited to temples only. They can't paint their living quarters this way. It is an absolutely beautiful place.

One street town, Xiahe

Xiahe, in Chinese, means down by the river. There is a little river in the valley floor and the only important thing here is Labrang monastery, the biggest Tibetan monastery outside of the TAR. Some places in China are so overrun by tourists that they are being disneyfied. Here, not so. It's hard to get here. A few intrepid travelers do come but not in the numbers seen elsewhere and that's just fine. The place still retains its authenticity.

Dumplings

Dumpling shops dot the landscape. They are cheap and nutritous. They are ubiquitous in China, just sit yourself down at one and order. One can eat a lot. Zac, when he was studying in Beijing eats one meal a day and only dumplings. I forgot how many trays he eats each time. I know its a lot. They have vegetarian and meat dumplings.

a lonely herdsman

No one knows the exact number of the Tibetan population. When the world talks about Tibet, they are referring to the TAR or what China calls the Tibetan Autonomous Region but the Tibetans lives in a much wider area than that. The other half of the Tibetan plateau is divided again into a Northern and Southern half. The Northern half being the Amdo region which was where we went and even then saw a very miniscule part of it. Next year we will explore the Southern half which is the Kham area. It wasn't easy travel and I'm glad because you can still see some old ways. The area is so immense and the population so sparse that scenes like this are what you see frequently. By chance we found our local driver and was able to travel way outside of town.

Evangelizing to a monk

We do that every where we go. We speak to others about our Christian faith. St Paul said, 'for I am not ashamed of the gospel...' Here Sophie is talking about salvation in Jesus Christ. There is still so much work to be done. I remember James Hudson Taylor who went to China and endured all kinds of hardships and eventually the China Inland Mission was started and travelers like Mildred Cable lived in the interior of China for twenty years preaching the gospel. The American missionary, Marion Gribenow lived and preached in Labrang for years. Though not much if anything at all is left of their work, still they persevered.

A sacred cave

 high in these hills is a cave which they consider sacred. Supposedly this cave has a tunnel that stretches to the next province of Qinghai but who knows. The entrance to the cave is under lock and key and a group of monks are the custodians. So our Hui friend brought us here and we paid an entry fee to get in. It was a beautiful mountain with prayer flags flapping in the wind and wool hanging from the thorny bushes. The sheep are sometimes driven into these hills and their hair gets caught in the thorny bushes and that is sacred too.

 Inside the cave is an altar and the monks comes in to say prayers.

 Here is memorialised the footprint of a panchen lama. There is one dalai lama and he is the political head of Tibet. There is no Tibet anymore, it is now called TAR or the Tibetan Autonomous Region, the dalai lama, lives in exile in Dharamsala, India. He is the 14th in line. There are panchen lamas who are the spiritual head of the Tibetan Buddhists and is regarded in high esteem.

Inside is also a chorten. The monk who brought us here spoke mandarin. Every family is supposed to have a son join the church.

Prayer flags

Prayer flags are pieces of fabric with mantras printed on them and they are strung up in high places. These are prayers and as the wind blows on them, the wind horse takes these prayers to the gods in heaven. "Lha gyalo' or 'victory to the gods' is often chanted. These prayers will fade with time and new ones need to be strung up to replace them. It is a fascinating concept.

Mani stones

I left mine there, the one on top. Usually there are mantras written or carved on them. These are prayers to the gods.

Caterpillar fungus

Also known as ophiocordyceps sinesis, a fungus takes over the bodies of caterpillars then shoots up like a blade of grass. The Chinese use it in tea or soup as a medicinal compound that is good for almost anything. Its popularity shot up when the Chinese women olympic team won a lot of medals and were purported to have used the caterpillar fungus. Yao Ming, the Chinese basketball player said he believes in it also. This anomaly grows in the High Tibetan plateau of China and for about 40 days in Spring the locals goes out hunting for the caterpillar fungus, much like the Europeans who goes out hunting for truffles. Here on the streets of Xiahe we saw a bunch of Amdo men haunched over some weird stuff and for the first time we saw them up close and personal. Zac thought he could buy a few for a deal but these guys wanted to sell the whole lot for a few hundred US dollars.

Dinner with monks

 Very tasty lamb

Yak fried rice, equally as tasty. Yak meat is a little gamey but I like it.
The monks were in the next table but we were in the same restaurant. It was decorated in a Tibetan style, the Tara guesthouse restaurant in Xiahe.