Amdo Monlam Festival Tour

Day 1. Arrive Xining and drive to Rebkong / Tongren

Arrive at Xining airport and meet with our guide and driver. Drive to Shachung Monastery which is about 100km to the east. Make a quick visit the monastery and then continue drive towards Rebkong via a scenic road where you can see canyon and Yellow River. If you arrive early enough, you may be able to catch SanggeShung or Wutunsi Festival. If you arrive late, we will drive to hotel directly. Repkong in Tibetan or Tongren in Chinese, is known as the learning center for Tibetan Thangka, a traditional painting arts. Nowadays, private Thangka schools became one of the main income for all the locals.

Day 2: Upper Sangayshung / Wutun Si Cham Dance

Wutun Si about 12km northwest of Rebkong / Tongren. We will drive to there after breakfasts. The monks Cham Mask Dance will start soon after we arrive there. The whole event has 3 main parts, beginning ceremony, this is more like a parade of Monks coming out in a line, dressed in special festival clothes, carrying Buddhist religious instruments. After this parade, the actual cham Mask Dance begins. At the end, a fire offering ritual is carried out at the outskirt of the villages.

Day 3: Lower Sanggayshung / Wutun Si Giant Thangka Display

Thangka is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on Cotton, Silk, cloth or leather, usually depicting Buddhist deities, scene from Buddha’s lives, or image of great practitioners. Thangkas are intended to serve as a record of, and guide for, contemplative experience and visualization. The SanggayShung Thangka display is one of the three times of Buddhas. The Thangka is about 30 meters long lay out on the mountain slope behind the village. Monks will bless it on its bottom. The whole ceremony lasts for about one hour. Afterwards, monks will take the giant thangka down and bring it back to the monastery.

Day 4: Gomar village Tea party and Meitreya (Future Buddha) Circumambulation.

In the morning, we will drive to Gomar village, visit Gomar Stupa and the attend the tea party with the villagers. A cup of yak milk tea and bread are served for anyone who is attending this event. If you are lucky, you can get some “Tsok” which is blessed fruits or candy or some other items you can eat. You will have a great opportunity to meet with locals and talk to them in person. Afterwards, we will drive to Sanggay Shung / Wutun Si to join the circumambulation of future Buddha. It is another sacred ceremony, where image of the Future Buddha is carried along the street within a special religious procession.

Day 5: Lower Wutun Cham Dance

Another day of Rebkong Molam Festival. Today we will attend monks Cham Dance in the Lower Sanggay Shung / Wutun Si Monastery. It is another place to see this sacred dance.

Day 6: Gomar village Monks Cham Dance

We will drive back to Gomar village again and visit the monastery and then watch Monks Cham Dance Ritual today. This is one of the best place to photograph Cham Dance as it is a relatively small event with not so many tourists. You can move close to the performers and watch the Cham close by.

Day 7: Rebkong to Langmusi

Drive through the heart of Amdo – Tibet nomadic areas. You can see how Tibetan nomads encounter with harsh environment. You will have great opportunity to photograph yaks and sheep in the snow. You may also have an opportunity to visit a nomadic family to see how they live. Once we arrive in Langmusi / Taktsang Lhamo, we will checked in hotel. And, if time allows, you can make a short hike on the hill behind the monastery to have an overview of this valley or wander inside this unique town.

Day 8: Langmusi Thangka Display and then drive to Luchu

Today, we will go to Setri Gompa to see monks displaying of the Giant Buddha image on the hillside. This place is the best place to photograph Thangka Display in entire Tibet. Snow Covered mountains in far distance, colorful Thangka on the hillside. Monks will be performing secret rituals in front of the Thangka, and all the Tibetan nomads are surrounding this giant Thangka to get blessed. Once the Thangka carried into the monastery, this event comes to its end. Afterwards, we will drive to Luchu. A nomadic town, famous for breeding horses in Tibetan areas.

Day 9: Xicang / Sertsang Nomad Parade Show and Monks Mask Cham Dance – Labrang / Xiahe

There are twelve tribes in the Sertsang area. Each year one of the tribe organize this tribe parade show. All the men get together and dress up the best they can to attend this festival. Though men are not wearing huge and heavy jewelries today except the actors of legend heroes, but it was common for everyone to wear heavy jewelries such as corals, Jade, Amber, gold in the old times. In order to let everyone, with no exception for poor or rich, to join this festival, this jewelry show was much reduced. But people still wear traditional clothes and weapons such archery tolls, knife, spears, flags, etc. Afterwards, the Sertsang Gompa Monks start preform sacred rituals. In the late afternoon, we drive to Xiahe / Labrang. Today is also the monks Mask Dance Day in Labrang.

Day 10: Visit Labrang Monastery and in the evening, attend Butter Sulpture display.

In the morning visit the monastery. And in the evening, we will attend the Butter Sculpture arts show, this is not an easy or comfortable show as you have to get into the line with thousands of local nomads who also want to get close to the arts. But this is the second largest arts show of this kind after Kumbum Monastery Butter Sculpture Arts.

Day 11: Shambhalingkor ( Future Buddha Circamanbulation) – Xining

Today, Labrang Monastery monks will perform Shampa Lingkor which means circumambulation of Meitreya Buddha or the future Buddha. And all the nomads will follow monks to make this circle around the monastery. Afterwards, we will drive back to Xining.