Two days Monlam Festival Tours from Xining

  • 2 Days, 1 Night

Date: The 5th to 16th day of the first lunar month every year

Every year, around Feb or the beginning of March, the Monlam Festival is held in Rebkong, Amdo. Amdo is one of the three main regions of Tibet. They normally live at the fringe of Tibetan Plateau. Their population is around 25% of the entire Tibetan population.

The Monlam festival starts on the 5th day of Chinese Lunar New Year. It is usually in February or early March, with significant days accompanied by spectacular processions and prayer assemblies like auspicious rituals, teachings, debating and other celebration. It would be last 10 days till the end of Chinese Lunar New Year which we called full moon day.

The main purpose for the Festival is to pray for happiness, peace and health. And it's also one of the two most solemn festivals in Tibetan area.

On the morning of the 13th day of the New Year, more than 100 monks carry a huge thangka (sacred painting on cloth) of the Buddha, measuring more than 30m by 20m, and unfold it on the hill and face the monastery. On the 14th day there is an all-day session of Cham dances performed by 35 masked dancers, with Yama, the lord of death, play the leading role. And these are the two important days during the whole festival. If your schedule is flexible, you'd better adjust your traveling days to be in Tongren for these 2 days.

 


 

Additional Info

  • LocationThailand
  • Duration4 Days
  • Min Age12+
  • Max People05
  • LandingThailand
  • Check In15/05/2019
  • Check Out15/06/2019
1

Day01 Xining-Tongren by private car (L)

08:30am-11:00am Pick you up at the lobby of your hotel at 08:30am, drive to Tongren County (Repkong) via Qingshashan mountain and Longwu Valley.

11:00am-16:00pm Spend you time in joining-in the Monlam Festival Celebration Activities inside the village.

16:00pm-16:15pm Drive to your hotel in Tongren, check in and enjoy the leisure time on your own arrangement. 

Note: As there is no place to have lunch inside the field, so our driver would go and buy some simple lunch box to you from Tongren county. You just need to find a quiet corner to have it. Then continue to join-in the festival.

2

Day02 Tongren-Xining by private car (B/L)

09:00am-09:15am Depart from your hotel and drive to Regong Art Center.

09:15am-10:30am Observe the making of a Thangka painting at a local's home.

10:30am-11:00am Drive back to the village and attend the festival again

11:00am-15:00pm Continue to join in the celebration activities.

15:00pm-17:30pm Drive back to Xining city and continue to stay inside the hotel.

Note: If you like, we can stop 1 hour at Longwu Monastery, with the entrance ticket of RMB60/per person. Longwu Monastery is one of the major monasteries in Amdo Tibet. Firstly founded at the beginning of 14th Century and later in 17th century it became a Gelugpa monastery. A morning visit is highly recommended. But if you are tired in attending the festival, we can skip it and drive back to Xining directly.

Price Quote, if you are 2 persons traveling

US$390/per person with daily simple lunch box

Remark:

The price includes:

  • Private English speaking guide service

  • Private vehicle rental cost

  • One bottle of mineral water per person per day

  • One night accommodation in Tongren with breakfasts (local 4 star hotel)

  • Insurance

The price excludes:

  • Accommodation in Xining with breakfasts

  • Entrance fee for attending the festival (It charged by the monastery, and they change the price from year to year, normally RMB150-250/per person)

  • Entrance fee of Longwu Monastery

  • The transportation cost to enter/leave Qinghai province

  • Visa fee, passport application or renewal fee

  • Tips for guides, escort, drives, bellboys, etc.

Suggested Tipping Standards:

US$60 for local guide

US$30 for local driver

  • Lunch

  • Personal expenses such as excess luggage fees, laundry, postage, communications and beverages, optional activities, dinner etc. are at your own expense.

Video

Traveling Tips:

  • Tongren can only be reached by a single road that zig-zags along steep mountain sides, descends into precipitous valley floors, skirts raging rivers and passes though undulating verdant grasslands. The journey for getting there is one of the most beautiful journeys in Qinghai Province. Make sure you stay awake on the way and keep looking out of the window.

  • Regong Art Center is closed for tourists in each Monday.

  • The whole village's livelihood where the festival held is Thangkha painting and then sell them. The Thangkha with different sizes and all of them with high price as it takes long time to complete the painting. It says that the color used from natural materials on the painting can last above a hundred year. The Thangkha painters were originally trained by a monk from the Thangkha Art Center for 5 years before they became the painters. Many of the kids/students sent there are orphans.

  • Please prepare some candies, sugar or chocolate before arrival, you can give some to lovely Tibetan children inside the village.

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