China 2009 Day 10 - Sights Around Qinghai & The Qinghai Lake (青海湖)

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07 Jun 2009

Today we will be spending the entire day in and around Xining, spanning the local museum to the fabled Qinghai Lake. First up early in the morning was a visit to the museum located at the city square.

A component of breakfast in the morning, porridge of a yellow grain.


The Xining Museum. We arrived so early, it wasn't opened yet.


Xining dwellers doing their morning exercise.


Morning calligraphy practice with a big brush and a pail of water.


A Tangka - The Tibetan method of painting (powdered gem and gold mixed with bile) is applied onto a fabric.


Tangka is a Nepalese art said to be introduced by Princess Bhrikuti who married into Tibet.


The Tangka usually features some deity or buddha and is used for prayers at home. It is preferred as it can be rolled up and kept if unable to be displayed appropriately.

After the museum we were headed out of Xining to the Sun and Moon mountain (日月山). It is said that the Tang Princess, Wencheng, passed here on her journey to Lhasa to marry the Tibetan Emperor, Songtsän Gampo in 640 CE.

Approaching the mountain, a statue of Wencheng stands in white, small pavilions are on each peak.


Entering a pavilion


Inside, a pictures of Wencheng's journey adorn the walls and a tablet with script about the journey.


The ornate roof


The pavilion on the other peak


A white yak lazing around. It can be ridden for a fee


"Sun" "Moon" "Mountain"


Continuing our ride to Qinghai lake, but first we are stopping at 151 quay (I think it's because it's 151km from Xining) for lunch. This road is known as the highway to heaven. Out on the large plateau here the visible end of the highway is the sky.


Our lunch place. It is said there's a yellow fish that grows extremely slowly -- 450g in 10 years. It is illegal to fish it but the locals find their way around it and restaurants secretly serve it to familiar customers.


Lunch!

After lunch, we continued to Qinghai Lake, also known in Chinese mythology as the Western Sea, it is the highest altitude salt water lake in the world. Due to sand storms and drought, the lake has shrunk considerably over the years.

Arriving at the bus park, we had to take one of these to bring us next to the lake.


Along the way, we pass tents of some Mongolian communities.


Finally we arrived, looks like a seaside beach


This little spot next to Qinghai Lake with horse and dune buggy rides is said to be set up by a Taiwanese business


Riding around on a buggy


Yak milk by the beach, it was very fragrant and smooth


Someone riding a horse around the lake


Panorama of the Qinghai Lake


The lake from the top.


You get to ride on a horse for a fee too


Blocked by sheep on our way from Qinghai Lake to our next location. The next stop is the "gold silver beach (金沙滩)", nearby is the atomic city. The place that we visited is basically a nice patch of grass on this plateau, but it's a privately owned patch of land.


The sign says Atomic City. Behind was where the Chinese developed the nuclear bomb indigenously.


The so called Gold Silver Beach, a privately owned nice patch of grass for photo opportunities.


More horses


What looks like a sky burial site.


The local yoghurt here was delicious

Finally, we returned from our entire day trip to Xining for dinner at a local Halal restaurant. Tomorrow we will be flying to Beijing for the last part of our trip, where we found traces of Tibetan culture present as well.

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China 2009 Day 9 - Qinghai - Ta'er Monastery (塔尔寺)

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06 Jun 2009

After arriving at Xining, we had a quick lunch before proceeding to Ta'er Monastery (塔尔寺), also known as Kumbum Monastery, built in 1583 CE. This is the place where Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Yellow hat (Gelugpa) sect is supposed to be born and is one of the six important monasteries in the Tibetan areas. Also, onsite is the exhibition of the annual butter flower competition. Besides burning yak butter as offerings, the butter is also fashioned as flower ornaments and offered to the Buddhas. However, the butter takes on an extragavant form for the competition with large displays of elaborate scenes made solely from butter being housed in large refridgerated cabinents.

A structure within the Ta'er compound. It has some Chinese features i.e. the 3 doors, the middle being the biggest, usually for passage of important people like the Emperor.


The iconic 8 stupas


The ticket for the monastery


Comes complete with a CD


The main courtyard of the monastery right beyond the entrance


One of the many decorated doorways of the monastery


Entrance to the butter flower exhibition


Ta'er is famous for its art of flowers made from yak butter. Here the winner and runner up is on display. The "flower" is huge of at least 6m wide by 2m tall, every pieces of flowers, animal, human and a deity as the center piece, are delicately made. The butter flower is made in a room that is 0 Celsius, and the monk have to rub their hands on ice to keep it cool, usually deforming their hands.


Unfortunately, no pictures inside. This is the further's one can get with a picture. The glass cabinet is a large refridgerator that houses the most recent winner.


Back outside a panorama of the sprawling temple complex, although similar in many aspects to the other monasteries, Ta'er has a more distinct Chinese architectural style.


We returned to Xining for dinner at a Halal restaurant.


Walking down the street heading to our hotel. The Han Chinese constitute about 54% of the population in Qinghai. Other groups include the Tibetans 20.87%, Hui 16%, Tu 4%, Salar, and Mongols. There are many Muslim Halal restaurants around this area that has many Hui people who are Muslims.


Our hotel


You can get to a negative level from here


We took a walk to the nearby emporium for some snacks


Came back with some beer


To be cooled under the tap

We had a good night's sleep after a tiring 24 hour train ride the night before. The next day, we were headed to the local museum, the sun moon mountain, and the main attraction -- the Qinghai Lake.

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