3 Days Lanzhou to Langmusi via Labrang

Day 1: Lanzhou – Binglingsi (Tib: Shambha Bingling) – Labrang [1500m] 350km, 8 Hours

Driving from Lanzhou towards north west about 120kms, you will reach the Lijia Hydro Power Station, from where you take a boat to Binglingsi which is 54km and takes aobut 3 hours on the boat. There is also option to take fast boat which takes about 1.5 hours. The landscape on the boat is also amazing as your boat take travel through the canyons and towering cliffs. After get off the boat, we will explore the canyon and caves. Bingling Temple is a series of grottoes filled with Buddhist sculpture carved into natural caves and caverns in a canyon along the Yellow River. Binglingsi presents a vast collection of statues, engravings and paintings made on the cliffs and in Grottoes. Their difficult access saved them from the various waves of destruction of monuments and looting. It is accessed by boat through beautiful loess landscapes and cut-off mountains representative of the Yellow River Basin. Depending on the season, the river’s water changes from pale yellow to intense copper yellow (in autumn) Their construction began in 4^th or 5th century and continued under the following eras, many works were added in the 16th century. The oldest engravings are one of the first Buddhist monuments in China. One of the centerpieces is the sitting Buddha dating from the Tang and the reclining Buddha in a small troglodyte temple. Many other small niches contain refined works more or less well. After spend about 2 hours, we will take the boat back to the port and drive to Labrang via Lingxia Hui Muslim Prefecture.

Day 2: Labrang - Taktsang Lhamo [3370m] 180km, 3.5 hours

In the morning, a monk will give you a guided tour of Labrang monastery, intimately describing the symbolism of Tibetan Buddhist deities and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. Labrang is also consider to be the cultural, Religious and trade center of Amdo region of Tibet. Then drive to Taktsang Lhamo Monasteries via some of the fine grassland of Amdo Tibet. Taktsang Lhamo is the name of a town which has two monastery located at the two sides of the white dragon river. One monastery called Kirti monastery in the Sichuan side and founded by Kirti Rinpoche in 1472 which is home to about 300monks, the other one is called Sertri monastery in Gansu side home to around 350 monks. Due to the time restrain, we will visit Kirti Monasteries temples and then take a walk to Tiger’s nest in the the deep valley about 500m. You can walk further into the valley if you wish to. There is also horseback service offering inside the deep narrowed valley by local nomads.

Day 3: Taktsang Lhamo - Dzu (Hezuo) - Lanzhou[1500m] 390km, 6 hours

In the morning, Drive back to Lanzhou via Hezuo or Dzu. This town is the seat of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and the highlight is to visit Milarepa Monument Temple. Milarepa, who lived in the eleventh century, is one of Tibet’s most famous Buddhist teachers (of the Kagyu tradition), he is the only one who became enlightened one within in the one life time. This monument building has 9 storeys and convey the legendary biography of Milarepa. The temple was built in 1777 and was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. It was rebuilt in 1988. It is the main spiritual place for local Tibetans to do the Kora and pray in Dzu. We continue drive back to Lanzhou. This tour can be ended in Xining.