Xining Day Trips

Kanbula National Park
The Kanbula National Forest Park is more than 200 kilometers away from Xining. It’s 2,100 to 4,00 meters above sea level, covering an area of about 4,774 hectares. It borders on the Yellow River in the north. It’s the red conglomerate landscape. The surface of the rock mass is as red as the red glow. The mountains take on various shapes. There are eighteen perilous peaks in the Kanbula Region. Two of them, the Achong Namdzong and the Nabadzong, are the most famous. The Achong Namdzong is surrounded by steep cliffs. There is only one path with stone steps, through which people can get to the top of the peak. The major portion of the path is cut out of the cliffs. At the top of the peak stand an ancient Buddhist temple and several small caves. Many Buddha statues are displayed in the caves. A great number of people come to here all the year around. The Nabadzong is a square separated peak. There are a lot rare plants on the peak. At the top of it, there are the Sky Pond and spring. In addition, the religious culture in Kanbula has a long history. Kanbula is the regeneration place of the Tibetan Buddhist. There are four temples in it. It is the only Buddhist resort where monks and nuns coexist.

Kumbum Monastery
Kumbum is a large and venerable monastery that is important in the history of Tibetan Buddhism, as the birthplace of Je Tsongkhapa, but you should know that it is often crowded with Chinese tourists. Our friend, a long-time Tibetan guide in Amdo says, “Kumbum is a very important sight in the entire Tibet, but it’s very crowded by Chinese tourists in summer. There are several hundreds of Chinese tourists every day in Kumbum monastery.” Despite this, our friend says, many western travelers enjoy visiting the monastery. If the crowds are getting you down, ask your guide if he or she can show you some less touristed areas of the monastery

Shachung Monastery

Shachung is one of the six great Yellow Sect monasteries of Tibet, which means that it is of the Gelukpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism). It was founded in 1567. This is one of the hidden gems in Amdo. Shachung (also known as Sachung or Shachong) is home to 500 monks and it is located on the top of Amnye Shachung Mountain. The shachung monastery has great views of the Yellow River from the monastery, and the monastery kora is very nice and beautiful, but a little difficult. It takes about 2 hours to walk it.

Gonlung Jampaling Monastery
Gonlung is a rare monastery in Amdo that few tourists visit, though it’s only about 70 km from Xining. There is great hiking in the area, and the monastery has many ancient thangka paintings. Many Tibetan Buddhist masters came from this monastery, such as Thubten Chukyi Nyima, Jangyap Rulpel Dorje and Sumpa Yeshi Phagyal. Quite large, it is located in the Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, and is one of the 4 major pilgrimage sites in eastern Tibet. There are some very old hidden caves located on a very steep hillside. Enjoy a picnic and great hiking around this monastery.