Two days Tongren Amdo Monasteries and Repkong Art Tour

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. Amdo Tibetan is mainly distributed in 3 Chinese provinces: northern and eastern Qinghai, southwest Gansu and northern Sichuan. If you think of Tibet as rolling grassland filled with yaks and nomads, the Amdo region is exactly what it is. Agriculture is Amdo Tibetans'traditional lifestyle. Amdo was a traditional place for Tibet buddism cultural learning and the issuing of scholarship. It contains many great monasteries including Kumbum Monastery near Xining, Labrang Monastery in Xiahe (Gansu Province). For the adventurous traveler, Amdo Tibetan area is a wonderful wind-swept and tree-less environment, supporting vast herds of domestic yak as well as many other types of wildlife. 

Explore the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Tongren, the historical Tibetan Amdo region of Qinghai Province on this two-day tour. The focus of this tour is on the monasteries and the colorful Tibetan thangka paintings which made Tongren (Rebkong in Tibetan) become famous. You'll drive from Xining to Tongren and stay one night there to ensure you have enough time to visit the monasteries. Surrounded by hills, the monasteries featured Tibetan art in the form of thangka paintings, sculptures, and wood carvings. You'll visit Longwu Monastery which built in 1301, Gomar Monastery and the Upper Wutun Monastery which built in 1385. All of these monasteries have long history for making great contributions to the Tibetan arts and many of the monks living there are skillful in painting thangkas. You'll have the opportunity to visit several villager's houses in Wutun to observe the painting process and purchase it if you are interested (but it sells with high price). This tour offers you a chance either realize the devotion of Tibetan Buddism's believers or appreciate the fantastic art of temple architectures.