The Labrang Monastery is located at the foot of the Phoenix Mountain northwest of Xiahe County in Gannan Tibetan Nationality Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province.
Labrang Monastery is built in 1709 in Qing Danasty, when the emperor is Kangxi. Its real name is Zaxiai Temple which means prosperous and lucky. Now people often call it Labrang Monastery. “Labrang” in Tibetan is on behalf of “the palace of monks”. Since the creation in 1709, with the development of a majority of monks, Labrang Monastery has become another center of Tibetan Buddhism Gelugpa in addition to Tibet and the Supreme Buddhist Institution in the Northwest Territory. According to the record of history, there were more than 4000 monks living there in the most prosperous period.
The architectural layout of the Labrang Monastery belongs to the Tibetan style and the construction patterns are mostly Tibetan, Han's mode and a compound style of both Han's and Tibetan. The symbols of the whole construction are the White Towers both in the northeast and in the northwest. The grand sutra and Buddha halls are located in the northwestern part centered around the Grand Sutra Hall. Other halls spread in a shape similar to a crescent moon.
Labrang Monastery had a long history. In it, there are six churches and 84 temple halls. Among these temple halls, one has seven floors; one has six floors; four have three floors; nine have two floors; four have a roof of gilt bronze watts; two have a roof of green glazed tile. The construction area is about 800 acres. As for its building style, it’s generally a Tibetan architecture with some Chinese-style buildings. On the walls of the churches and the Buddhist temple halls painted many Buddhist murals, beautiful sets of columns and portraits.
The Labrang Monastery holds seven large-scale summon ceremonies a year, among which the Summons Ceremony in the first lunar month and the Buddhist Doctrine Explaining Ritual in the seventh lunar month are the grandest ones. Today, Labrang Monastery is a popular tourist destination for both foreign and Chinese tourists. The summer months are quite busy. Because of the amazing setting of the area, it is easy to see why the area sees so many travelers. There are many good restaurants in town that serve Tibetan, Western and Chinese food. Nearly all of the restaurants catering to foreigners will have English menus. There are plenty of good hotel and guesthouse options in town. Most of the guesthouses also offer 1 and 2 day tours of the region outside of Labrang.
Ticket Fee: RMB 60