Ganjia Grassland

Labrang Xiahe - The Grasslands

XIAHE Labrang Visit the Gasslands
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Buddhist Monastery of Labrang at Xiahe and Tibetan grasslands

The town of Xiahe, inhabited mainly by Tibetans with the Labrang Bhuddist Monastery. Some also live in camps on the Tibetan grassland.

Xiahe Gansu province China

Xiahe

Population: 130,000
Area: 8,037 square kilometers
Nationalities: Tibetan, Han and Hui
Zip Code: 747100
Area Code: 0941

Administrative Division: Labrang Town, Wanggeertang Town, Amuquhu Town, Sangke County, Ganjia County, Damai County, Madang County, Dian'ao County, Tangga'ang County, Zhayou County, Bola County, Jicang County, Yaliji County, Kecai County

Location: Xiahe County lies in the southwest of Gansu province and northwest of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. On the northeast edge of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it is located between 35°12' north latitude and 102°31' east longitude.

Physical Features: The hypsography of slopes down from northwest to southeast with an average elevation of 2,900 meters-3,100 meters (9,514 feet-10,170 feet). The highest elevation is 4,636 meters and the lowest is 2,160 meters (7,087 feet).

History: It used to be the ley of Qiang Nationality in the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC - 476BC). It was once occupied by Xianbei, Tubo and Mongolian nationalities. It has been named as Baishi County in the Western Han Period (206 BC - 24 AD), Longxi County in the Eastern Han Period (25 - 220), Jinxing County in the Western Jin Period (265 – 316), Huaiqiang County in the Northern Song Period (960 - 1127) and Labrang in the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). It was finally named as Xiahe in 1928.

Climatic Feature: It has a typical plateau continental climate. It is temperate and semiarid in the north, cold and humid in the south. The weather is windy in spring and winter, as well as rainy in summer and autumn. Usually, it has a long frost period with the frost-free period only 56 days and a total sunshine of 2,296 hours annually. The annually average temperature is about 2.6C (36.7F) with the highest of 28.4C (83F) and the lowest of -26.7C (80F). The rainfall is 444millimeters (17.5 inches) annually.

When to Go: September to December is the best time to visit there due to the pleasant weather.

Local Highlights: The traditional 'Xiang Lang Festival' which is similar to the spring outing of Han nationality (the last ten-day of June in Chinese Lunar Calendar) is a very important festival in this area. You can know more about the local customs through this festival.

Local Product: Root of Silverweed Cinquefoil, Snow Lotus, Bezoar and Aweto

Labrang Monastery:
Located at the foot of the Phoenix Mountain northwest of the county, Labrang Monastery is the first must-see attraction. It is one of the six great monasteries of Gelukpa sect as well as the location of Gansu Provincial Buddhism College. The Labrang Monastery boasts tens of thousands of statues of Buddha made of gold, silver, copper, and aluminum, as well as many Buddha hats and many Buddhist treasures adorned with pearls, jadeite, agate and diamonds.

Transportation:
1. There is no airport and railway station in this place, but Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport and Lanzhou Railway Station are nice options for passenger's convenience.
2. It is easy for passengers to take long-distance bus station to other places. Xiahe Bus Station is about 1.5km away from the entrance to the monastery and the main concentration of guesthouses. Frequent Buses operates onward to Xiahe in 3-4 hours and to Linxia in 2 hours. One bus daily runs to Langmusi in 4 hours and one bus daily leaves for Tongren in about 3 hours.
3. It is cheap to take a taxi to travel around the area. A round-trip between Xiahe and Sangke Prairie only costs about CNY40 by taxi.


For Booking Hostels:


Music Tracks used:
Buddha Bar sound tracks

References:

Xiahe & Labrang Monastery

Xiahe is a town in the province of Gansu in China. It's a nice peaceful place on the Tibet Plateau,It is famous for the Labrang Monastery, which is one of the six holy monasteries in the Buddhist religion

Bajiao city ruins (China, Gansu province)

Ruins of ancient city from han dynasty.
Ruins are placed in province Gansu (China), 20km far from Xiahe town known as a second important place in Tibetian budhisms.

Bus trip from Tongren to Xiahe

Xiahe

Glowna ulica w Xiahe - tybetanskim miasteczku w chinskiej prowincji Gansu.
The main street in the Tibetan town of Xiahe - located in western Gansu province, China.

Labrang Xiahe Demonstration 2008

Labrang Xiahe Demonstration March 2008

When It Rains in Xiahe (Labrang), China -- You Shop

The Labrang Monastery is one of the six major centers of the Buddhist Yellow Hat Sect. On a miserable, rainy day in Xiahe, all we could muster was a fast tour of the monasteries and headed into the stores for a little power shopping.

Great shopping for a one street (or one yak town).

Rabid dog in Ganjia grasslands ancient village

We observed a rabid dog in the ancient village situated in the middle of Ganjia Grasslands, outside Xiahe, China - scary, but luckily it was chained up!

Gannan grassland travel in Aug 2013 - Gansu China

The Gannan Grassland is located within Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwestern Gansu Province. The grassland covers an area of over 2.5o million ha, primarily within Gansu's Maqu, Xiehe and Luqu counties. Luqu is a town on the fringe of Tibetan-Qinghai Plaetau with green alpine meadows in the west and the Tao River in the east. Two third of Luqu county is suitable for grazing livestock, like sheep and yak. Along the Tao River.

Xiahe vanaf een bergtop

Overzicht

The Labrang monastery / Le monastère Labrang (Xiahe - Gansu - China)

(EN) The monastery was founded in 1709 by the first Jamyang Zhaypa, Ngawang Tsondru. It is Tibetan Buddhism's most important monastery town outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
Labrang Monastery is situated at the strategic intersection of four major Asian cultures—Tibetan, Mongolian, Han Chinese, and Chinese Muslim—was one of the largest Buddhist monastic universities. In the early 20th century, it housed several thousand monks. Labrang was also a gathering point for numerous annual religious festivals, supported an active regional marketplace where Han Chinese artisans rubbed shoulders with Hui merchants and nomadic Tibetan highlanders, and was the seat of a Tibetan power base that strove to maintain regional autonomy through the shifting alliances and bloody conflicts that took place between 1700 and 1950.
In April 1985 the Assembly Hall burned down. It was replaced and the new building was consecrated in 1990



VALPARD

Xiahe 166

14/32 Xiahe 夏河 to Sangke Grasslands 桑科草原

This playlist is a collection of 32 slideshow videos (with music) of photos and videos I took during five weeks of travel in northwest China, summer 2015. From Changsha长沙, Hunan湖南, I first went to Xi'an西安 in Shaanxi province陕西省, then Gansu甘肃省 and Qinghai provinces青海省, and finally Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region新疆维吾尔自治区. I spent many, many hours collecting this footage, organizing it, putting it together, and uploading it all to Youtube (from Hunan湖南), so please, enjoy!

Includes: Xi'an西安 in Shaanxi province陕西省. Tianshui天水, Lanzhou兰州, Xiahe夏河, Langmusi郎木寺, Zhangye张掖, Jiayuguan嘉峪关 and Dunhuang敦煌 in Gansu province甘肃省. Turpan吐鲁番, Kashgar喀什 and Urumqi乌鲁木齐 in Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region新疆维吾尔自治区.

Labrang Pilgrim Monestery

pelgrimsroute Xiahe Labrang. China
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Around and Around they Go

In Xiahe, the second most sacred Labrang Monastry after Lahsa, the pilgrims walk around a pole for a long or short time. Its up to them.

2011 Xiahe China

Video van bezoek aan Xiahe als onderdeel van een grote China reis in 2011