China - Xiahe

Xiahe monestary in Gansu province used to be part of Tibet, before China decided to split the Tibetan teritorry and distribute it among its neighbouring provinces and to the new province Qinghai. Due to its remote location in the eeiry Gansu mountains, it escaped the madness of the cultural revolution. Today at Xiahe and its neighbourings villages, one can see Tibetan arts and culture as real as it gets, and luckily without the crowds that nowerdays flow over Tibet's attractions.

Around the monestary is a pilgrims's way with 274 prayer wheels, the longest of its kind.

The main building are in the typical cubic-ascendend Tibetan style.

The main hall, the sanctum of each monestary. Not as big as some in Tibet, but with a truly spiritual enchanting appearance.

The libary of the monestary. ISurprisingly mostly unharmed during the cultural revolution, it is filled with ancient scrolls of priceless historical value.

The craftmanskills of the locals is impressive: It must take ages and plenty of religious-founded devotion to finish such wood carvings.

A 'forbidden' picture in the monestary. The boddhisatva may forgive me, but she has been too tempting.

These novices may have made far more steps closer to enlightning than me, but they for sure had still a good sense for having childish fun with eachother. That makes two things I envy them for.

On the way back a last pic from the mountains where Xiahe still is hiding. I hope in some way that it never shall be found from the mass tourism.