above Be amazed by the ancient
technique of raft making, which
began around 300 BC when Chinese
troops used inflated sheepskins to
make rafts to cross the Yellow River
bottom The Chaka Salt Lake
is situated at the base of the
magnificent Qilian Mountains
right The impressive Kumbum, or
Ta’er, Monastery, which consists
of nine temples
After overnighting in Lanzhou, we
made our way to Qinghai Lake, stopping
at the Kumbum, or Ta’er, Monastery,
about 27 kilometres outside of Xining.
The huge monastery is still home to
400 monks of the Gelugpa sect, and is
one of the two most important Tibetan
Buddhist monasteries in existence.
Built in 1577, the history behind themonastery began with the birth of the
famous Buddhist teacher, Tsongkhapa,
the founder of the Gelugpa sect. His
mother built a small temple at the site
of his birthplace, which today stands as
the Grand Hall of Golden Tiles (大金瓦
殿; Dàjīnw Diàn), featuring an
11 metre-high stupa, or chorten.
The original temple grew to
become the impressive monastery
that it is today, consisting of nine
temples, each with its own distinctive
features. The yak butter sculptures
(酥油画馆; Sῡyóuhuà Gun) are
particularly impressive.
We headed to Qinghai Lake, arriving
in the early evening. As the sun sets
quite late in Gansu Province – at around
8pm, when we were there – we had
quite a wait for the sun to go down.
As the weather was overcast, there
was no chance of any spectacular
sunset photos, but the panoramic view
of Qinghai Lake was still a sight to
behold. It was blissfully cool, owing to
the high altitude – 2,800 metres above
sea level. A moon rose, banishing the
mediocre sunset from memory.