I. A footnote to the name
In Tibetan the full name is “Ganden Tashi Chökor Jangchub Chöpel Ling,” but everyone simply calls it Labrang (bla-brang), “the Lama’s residence.” It is not in Lhasa or Shigatse, but on the western edge of Xiahe town, Gansu. The Daxia River flows northward like a silver boundary rope: east bank—dusty county town; west bank—86 hectares of crimson walls, golden roofs and 1,700 prayer wheels. In other words, an entire city folded into chanting and juniper smoke.
II. Headquarters of the Geluk in Amdo
Founded in 1709 by the First Jamyang Zhaypa, Labrang is one of the six great Geluk monasteries and the academic capital of the Amdo region.
• Six colleges (dratsang): Philosophy, Upper & Lower Tantra, Kalachakra, Medicine, and Hevajra.
• Degrees: thirteen grades of exoteric study, five of esoteric; the top title, Geshe, is the Buddhist doctorate.
• Monastic population: about 2,000 monks, up to 4,000 at major assemblies.
It is a university where classes begin at dawn and never really end.
III. The 3.2-kilometre “small globe”
The world’s longest prayer-wheel corridor circles the monastery like a slow-motion Möbius strip. Before 8 a.m. the gatekeeper still sleeps, so the 40-yuan ticket is waived. A grandmother in a sheepskin coat spins every wheel; her fingertips brush copper and leave a trail of frost. One circuit is 3.2 km—roughly 30 minutes of whispered mani peme hum.
IV. Two tickets worth buying
Gongtang Stupa – 20 CNY
Climb nine storeys. From the top the monastery spreads like a mandala; prayer flags snap in the wind like lecture notes.
Main monastery – 40 CNY
This is really a campus pass. Step into the Sutra Hall: pillars as thick as yaks, murals so vivid they seem to inhale. In the Medical College, glass jars hold caterpillar fungus and snow-lotus roots older than most nation-states.
V. A ten-minute crash course for Buddhist beginners
Courtesy of a monk named Tsering:
• Three vehicles: Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna—Labrang is Geluk Vajrayāna.
• One founder: Siddhārtha Gautama, who walked out of a palace, met old age, sickness and death, and sat under a tree until he found the off-ramp from the six-lane highway of rebirth.
• Core GPS: Four Noble Truths (life hurts, hurts have causes, causes can cease, there is an eight-step plan) and the Eightfold Path (right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration).
• Traffic report of samsara: heaven, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, hell—humans are the only lane where a U-turn is possible.
VI. Evening debate
At 4 p.m. the courtyard fills with red robes. Monks clap their hands after each syllogism—sharp cracks that echo off the walls like intellectual firecrackers. I understand nothing, yet everything: the sound of minds trying to untie the knot of existence.
VII. Practical notes
• Free entry before 8 a.m. from the east side gate.
• Guided tours: volunteer monks at the main square, donations welcome.
• Altitude: 2,900–3,200 m; walk slowly, drink hot water.
• Getting here: 4-hour bus from Lanzhou South; 1-hour taxi from Gannan Xiahe Airport.
When night falls and the generator coughs to a stop, the monastery glows only by butter lamps. The river keeps its ancient murmur, and the 1,700 prayer wheels continue to turn—quietly, persistently, like a planet rehearsing its own salvation.
