48) The large Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Zhongdian

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian
June 25th 2005

Published: July 19th 2005

We were leaving the Tibetan Autonomous Region but not Greater Tibet yet, flying from Lhasa to Zhongdian (Chinese name, Tibetan name: Gyeltangteng). Public buses to the airport do exist, but since the airport is quite far from Lhasa (100km to the south) due to the high mountain ranges in its proximity, we preferred to take a taxi and start far earlier than we were supposed to. We already had some e... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 37, Displayed: 21

Klaudia leaving the workshop

As you can see, many buildings are in a rather neglected state

Myriads of prayer flags

Like any other Buddhist site, this one was also amply decorated with prayer flags

Zhongdian (Shangri-La) by night

This gigantic prayer wheel and its surroundings were colourfully illuminated

Prayer wheel and temple by daylight

During the day, the magnanimous structure looked more sober

Cobbled street in Zhongdian

Looks pretty old, is brand new though

Zhongdian reconstructed for the tourists

Typical house in the new old part of Zhongdian

Zhongdian guesthouse entrance

Beautiful lampions at a wooden house, something Chinese must prevail

Another lampion

The Chinese love this decorative element and have a vast array of designs

Zhongdian women

They belong to one of the numerous minorities in Yunnan province

Old woman in Zhongdian

Another brightly coloured headdress

Almost finished!

One among the numerous houses in Zhongdian that are being built in the old style

Still a building shell

The structure is completely made of wood, only the pillars are set on stone bases in order to make them more earthquake-proof (according to Peter)

Initial stage

The first beams are erected without using any machines, only by means of manpower

At the very beginning

... there are only thick ropes and beams to be seen. How do they know which beams to drag first?

Airy seat

Worker seated at several metres attaching a symbol of good luck

Peter was feeling much at ease

Wherever we went with Peter, there was always a construction site around...

14th January 2006

ravi shankar
non-member comment

good
You are doing well. But not sufficient You can do more better.

30th October 2009

Lama Gyalwangpedma
non-member comment

about monastery architecture
i want to know about tibetan monastery architecture and its design. how it should look like. its colour. and about its structure. i am from buddhist deevote family i am planning to built monastery so i want to know.

Tot: 0.064s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 8; qc: 20; dbt: 0.0344s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb

Do not copy images or text from this page without requesting and receiving permission. All rights are reserved by the author and photographer.

Contact Stephan and Klaudia Mandl (Stephan and Klaudia) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

48) The large Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Zhongdian

Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved