3 days Xining to Labrang Tour

Day 1: Xining – Shachung Monastery – Lo Dorje Drak Medication Caves – Rebkong [2480m] 240km 4 hours

Drive from Xining to Shachung Monastery, which is located on a mountaintop and has a great view of Yellow River in the opening valley. This is a hidden and less touristic place where you can enjoy some quite moment in a historic monastery. Afterwards, we descend to the valley and drive along beautiful scenic view of Yellow River. These places are some of the lowest areas by elevation in Qinghai Province. Make a small detour to Lo Dorje Drak Meditation caves which is about 10km away from the main road. After exploring these caves in the cliffs. We continue drive in the tunnels and finally reach Rebkong / Tongren.

Repkong is home to three large Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and is famous across Tibet for its artists and strong cultural holder in the region. We will straight to Rongwo Monastery. Rongwo Gonchen Monastery is the mother monastery of 13 branch monasteries in the region. After visiting the temples in the monastery, we will drive to your hotel.

Optional: we also can arrange homestay in a Tibetan family in Rebkong / Tongren where you have opportunity to stay in a traditional Tibetan house and dinner with Tibetan family.

Day 2:Rebkong - Gangya Grassland - Labrang / Xiahe [2900m] 100km 2 hours

Visit Tibetan traditional Artists village and one small monastery in the morning on the way, The most well known villages and monasteries are Senggeshung Yago and Sanggeshung Mago (upper and lower Wutun). If you are interested in learning Tibetan culture and Tibetan traditional arts, Rebkong is one of most recommended region. Afterwards, head to Labrang or Xiahe in Chinese via the famous Ganjia grassland. Labrang, Amdo’s most famous monastery, is located in the small town of Xiahe. Labrang sits at 2900m with high mountains and alpine forests surrounding it. Labrang is a popular pilgrimage destination for Tibetans and is home to over 1700 monks. In Labrang Monastery, you will be escorted by English speaking Monk guide to visit the temples. It takes about 1:30 - 2 hours. If you up to walk, you Overnight at Xiahe. You can make a circumambulation around the Labrang Monastery following the local Tibetan Pilgrims. This full kora takes about 40-50 minutes. Overnight in Xiahe / Labrang.

Day 3: Labrang / Xiahe back to Xining [2270m] 300km 6 hours

Today, we will drive back towards Xining, on the way, we will visit Bajiaocheng / Eight Cornered Village. This is an ancient village which is almost destroyed except the giant wall around the village. Then visit Drakar Monastery with great view of rocky mountains and grassland. Afterwards, we continue drive in the canyons for about 2 hours. We will reach to the town of Xunhua where we visit 10th Panchen Lama’s hometown. The Panchen Lama is the second highest ranked Lama in Tibet. Afterwards, we continue drive about 130km to Xining.