After rushing from Serta to get to Xining, I arrive at Qinghai Nationalities University to study the Golok dialect only to find out that the university has two weeks of vacation: "sports week" where classes are suspended and then the national holiday. I decide to use this time to explore nearby Tibetan areas and to return to Golok, this time from the north. Golok is home to eastern Tibet's warrior hero, Gesar, whose image is ubiquitous and whose former palace site houses maginificent statues of Gesar's warriors as well as the kings of Shambhala. The Overnight Bus The overnight bus [View Full Entry]

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We have extra time to visit two monasteries outside of Gabde: Tongchab Gompa and Thubten Chökorling, also known as Tumpokha after its main lama Pema Tumpo, better known in the West as Kusum Lingpa. Global Buddhism off the Beaten Track The eclectic vision of Kusum Lingpa is evident from the first glimpse of Tumpokha. A replica of the Boudha Stupa in Nepal is the most prominent. It now leans to one side after an earthquake just one month ago. There are also replicas of the stupas at Bodh Gaya and Saranath in a kind of amalgamation of global Buddhist sites. A [View Full Entry]

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Just 150 kilometers from Xining, the south shore of Lake Kokonor is a popular destination for Chinese tourists. Most stay for just the afternoon. By the Busload The tourists come by the busload to take a boat trip on the lake and peruse the array of necklaces, ornate swords, animal hides and other wares offered by local vendors. A yak and camel sit on the beach in case someone wants a ride, and children in traditional costume—long wool coats, pleated hair, and large coral necklaces—line the pier ready to pose for a photo for one yuan. Culture as Entertainment [View Full Entry]

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Around every bend, there is another lhakhang, literally "house of the divine." Each has a single central image of a buddha, bodhisttva or tantric deity with a corridor around it for circumambulation and hundreds of smaller identical images lining the walls. On the exterior are murals in the exquisite Rebkong painting style. The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara My friend from Lhasa and I visit almost a dozen such lhakhang as we wend our way through the maze of trails through Rongpo Gompa, the largest monastery in Rebkong and only a short stroll up the road from the dusty little town of [View Full Entry]

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Athletics in Labrang Khorra (circumambulation) is not as leisurely or contemplative as one might expect. It seems more like an athletic event at the Tsegaling, the "sanctuary of joyful living," which appears to be the oldest and most prominently placed building at Labrang Tashikyil. The monastery itself was founded in the eighteenth century by the famous Gelukpa scholar Jamyang Shepa, and many of the buildings survived the turbulent 1960s intact. The locals circle the building at a crisp pace; some even run at points where there are no prayer wheels to spin. Spinning prayer wheels is [View Full Entry]

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Just days after landing in China, I venture into Golok on my own for the first time. I am intimidated and exhilarated. Intimidated because of the linguistic barriers, with little Chinese beyond "nihao" and a still-strange dialect of Tibetan to contend with. Exhilarated because nonetheless I manage to navigate buses, restaurants, hotels, minivans and more. Now the big challenge: three days at a monastery just outside of Serta, where the community at the heart of my current research reside. Auspicious Arrival When I arrive in Nyenlung, NR sits in a tent above the monastery, holdi [View Full Entry]

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