Qinghai – The Kinetic Canuck

Museums

As I’ve said many times in past posts: I really like museums. We’ve seen some really cool museums through our travels. The UXO Museum in Laos and the War Remnants Museum in Vietnam opened our eyes about a war we knew surprisingly little about. The Schindler museum in Krakow taught me how the Nazis managed to convince so many people to hate. I particularly like Anthropology museums.

Vancouver’s Anthropology museum really amazed me. I hope to go back again some day!

Wherever we go, we end up visiting a museum. On this trip across the Tibetan Plateau, we’ve already visited 2 museums: one about Tibetan Culture and Gansu’s provincial Museum. Here’s some info on both.

Tibetan Buddhism Museum

Located a couple of kilometers away from Kumbum Monestary, this small museum is an ok way to spend an hour or two, as long as you can read Chinese, or are very patient with a translator.

There are plenty of beautiful artifacts to see

Of course, even if you can’t understand everything, there is always something to see in these types of displays. I actually did use Wechat to translate but sections of text (they have a cool feature where you can translate text from photos!), but even without that life hack, I got a lot out of the visit.

There are several feature videos explaining the history of the area, but they were also in Chinese and quite difficult to follow. Probably the strangest part of the museum was the collection of masks we saw.

One thing I really did like about The Tibetan Culture Museum was the lovely art they had set up outside. These sculptures were beautifully detailed, and of course, there were some magnificent prayer Flags flapping in the wind as well.

Gansu Provincial Museum

After leaving Xining, we head to Gansu Province. We were in Gansu during the October holiday last year, but we didn’t the southern part of the province. We did get to see Danxia and Dunhuang, but we missed the Tibetan Plateau.

I wouldn’t trade our time in Zhangye area! It was stunning! But Gansu has more to offer than just colorful mountains!

Our first real stop in Gansu was Linxia, but after leaving Xining, we had a layover in Lanzhou, so we decided to hit up a museum while we were there.

We did the circled areas in the north back in October. All our Gansu destinations this dinner are in the southern part of the Province.

We went straight from the train station to the gallery, so we had all our bags. I was very happy to see that they have a luggage center set up just outside the museum specifically for people doing exactly what we did!

The last thing I wanted was to be rolling around a suitcase while learning about Buddhism and dinosaurs.

This stop was quite different from the one near Kumbum Monestary. There was still plenty about Buddhism, which is a major religion in the Tibetan Plateau, but there was also a lot about other history in the area as well. There were several sections to explore: Paleontology, Communist History, Pottery & Buddhist Art.

Gansu is where many of China’s Dinosaur fossils have been found!

Our first stop was to see some fossils and learn about the geological history of Gansu. They had a lot of small fossils on display, but sadly only 2 full dinosaur displays out to see. Still, there was plenty to learn as we walked around.

We skipped over the communist section because we had limited time, and went over to the Anthropology section, which was definitely my favourite area.

Anthropology is the study of humans through history. You will find everything from tools, to pottery to musical instruments in an anthropology display

I was especially impressed by the pottery and the Buddha’s on display. They had pots that are 8000 years old! They did a great job of showing the evolution of this pottery making as well. I spent quite a lot of time studying Greek and Roman pottery, so it was nice to see a whole new style.

The Buddha’s on display could be photographed. They aren’t as grand as the massive golden ones in the Monestaries, but they were very detailed and beautiful nonetheless. I especially liked seeing people so interested in them. So often, people are just staring at their phones in museums. These crowds seemed truly engaged though.

The final area was very similar to the Tibetan Cultural museum we had visited the day before. There was more English, but it was much smaller than the anthropology section.

Stuppas similar to the ones we saw at Kumbum

It took us 1.5 hours to make it through the parts of the museum we saw, so if you’re planning to visit, you should set aside about that much time or more. There is plenty to see!!

Should You Go?

Honestly, I would say that the Buddhist Culture museum was overpriced for what it was. For 60rmb ($12) per guest, there could have been SOME English available. With only 1 or two sentences in English, we really missed out on a lot. After all, I’m always telling my students that translators cannot replace the human mind. They aren’t that smart.

For more proof that translators don’t always work, you can read this hilarious article by Bored Panda

Having said that, if you’re in the area and have an hour to kill, the price isn’t outrageous. You’ll learn a thing or two and see some cool stuff.

With such a rich culture, Tibetan Buddhism is worth learning more about!

As for The Gansu Provincial Museum, I would highly recommend it. Not only is there no entrance fee, there is also a huge range of displays to see, so there’s really something for everyone. If you’re in Lanzhou, try and make the trip down there. You’ll be impressed, I promise!!

The museum has lots of information on the silk road as well, including some very old silk pieces.

We’ve moved into some of the smaller areas of Gansu now! More on Lingxia & Xiahe soon!

Kumbum Monestary

In 1577, a monestary was built at the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa sect of Buddhism. It was called Kumbum Jampa Ling, which means “supreme Buddhist temple with one hundred thousand lions’ roar Buddhist images”.

These stupas greet you at the entrance of the monestary.

In its hay day, this temple was home to 3600 monks. Rulers during the Qing dynasty donated Buddhist art, stupas, statues and many other treasures. Even today, Kumbum is home to more than 100,000 relics. In other words, it is a very important location for Buddhism, and also for history.

Judging by this photo courtesy of Wikipedia, the monestary looked like more of a village than a monestary. The place was huge!!

Now, around 400 monks still live at the monestary, and even though it isn’t the same as it once was, it is still a very impressive place to visit. We spent 3 hours roaming around the monestary, admiring the architecture, Buddha’s, art, and the scenic environment.

Photography is forbidden in the temples, so most of my photos are of the outside of the buildings.

What impressed me most about Kumbum temple was the architecture. I’ve never seen so many colours (except maybe in India!). Every building has elaborate designs and the most vibrant colors! There were a few rooms that allowed photos, so I was able to get some examples for you.

We saw worshippers praying, enormous prayer wheels and so many impressive Buddha’s. So much of the most beautiful things in the temple couldn’t be photographed, of course, but I was very happy that there were a few places where it was permitted.

There were quite a few tourists and pilgrims at the monestary. Kumbum is considered one of the most important temples in the Tibetan Plateau. Many people were there to pray, light candles, and worship in various ways. It always upsets me when I see people taking photos of pilgrims or items of religious importance. When we first walked in, several monks were telling off some Chinese tourists for photographing them as they were walking around the Stupas. I had actually been photographing the Stupas at that time and I made sure those pilgrims knew that I had my camera up and focusing on the structures, and not on them.

There are plenty of interesting things to take photos of without disrespecting the people there worshipping.

One other thing that really made me feel good about monestary was the wildlife. There were also many friendly felines roaming the monestary. They seemed well fed and friendly. A good sign that the people living there treat them well.

I certainly recommend this monestary for anyone visiting Qinghai. Located about a 1 hour Didi ride from Xining, Kumbum is a beautiful place to visit and with an entrance fee of less than 100rmb ($20), it’s an affordable place to see.

We’re just getting started on this trip! Check back soon for more!!

TAR vs Tibetan Plateau

Over the last few days, I’ve had several people send me messages, assuming that we are in Tibet. Although we ARE surrounded by Tibetan Culture, we are actually not in the province of Tibet. We were planning to go to Lhasa and mount Everest initially, but our plans were thwarted due to permit issues. I understand that this part of China can be a little confusing, so let me begin by explaining more clearly.

Cultural Tibet

Red = Tibetan Autonomous Region
Grey, Green & Purple = Tibetan Plateau

The Tibetan Autonomous Region is a special area of China. If you’ve paid attention to global news over the last few decades, you’ve surely heard about the conflict there. Tibet has long wanted its independence, but of course, China does not want this. So, instead, they’ve given them a special ‘autonomous region’s status.

Potala Palace and Mount Everest are both found in the TAR, so we weren’t able to see them this year, because…

You need a special permit to be able to enter the TAR. Hypothetically speaking, this shouldn’t have been a problem. We had everything in order long before the trip. Until recently, Tibet WAS closed to tourism for foreigners, but in May, the ban was lifted. Still, the government isn’t actually issuing any permits, so even if we can technically should be able to go to TAR now, without that piece of paper, we wouldn’t be allowed to enter.

Luckily, Tibet is more than just the TAR. You can get a great feel for Tibetan culture and life by visiting the rest of the plateau, and this is exactly what we decided to do.

Tibetan Buddhism

Just as there are different forms of Christianity (Protestant, Catholic, Mormons…), there are also different forms of Buddhism. Although they are all similar, there are key differences in the different sects of Buddhism. I won’t go into much detail here because I’m no an expert on this stuff, but what I will say is that most Buddhism falls under one of the following categories: Theravada Vinaya (located in south east Asia mostly), Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (mostly found in China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan) and Mulasarvastivada Vinaya (practiced on the Tibetan Plateau as well as in Mongolia and northern India). There are many sub sects within each of these categories, of course. Buddhism is a very old and complex faith. You can learn more about the finer details of Buddhism here

Golden statues of Buddha are found among most of the major Buddhist sects.

Up until recently, Dave and I had only ever experienced the first 2 categories of Buddhism. We’ve seen many temples in south east Asia, of course. So many that we have actually started skipping many of those temples when we travel. Tibetan temples though, have been a completely new experience for us.

This is a newly renovated Buddhist temple that we visited last year in Lijiang, China.

Prayer Flags

Another thing that sets Tibetan Buddhism apart from many other sects is their use of Prayer Flags. I learned about these since arriving here and I’ve gotta say, they’re kind of a nice idea.

Each color of the flag represents different elements of the earth (wind, water, fire, etc.), and each flag has an Om written on it. The idea is that the wind will carry the good wishes of the Om through the wind that makes the flags flap. That’s why these flags are only found in windy places like Nepal and the Tibetan plateau.

The sounds they make while flapping in the wind is actually beautiful and LOUD!

These Buddhist prayer flags are found everywhere we’ve gone so far on this trip. One other interesting thing I discovered while learning about them is that the older the flags get, the more auspicious they are considered. If you see a prayer flag with faded colors, it means that it’s done it’s job, and spread compassion, ethics, patience, diligence, wisdom and other values out into the world. Nice tradition, I think!

I always knew these flags were meaningful, but after seeing (and hearing) them up close, I appreciate them that much more.

We visited Kumbum monestary yesterday, near Xining. It was a beautiful visit and I’ll have more on that soon!

Xining – First Impressions

As COVID continues to affect the world, we continue to be unable to go home. Although Canada did recently lift the mandatory 2 week quarantine for vaccinated people coming into Canada, they are not recognizing the Chinese vaccines, so we were forced to stay here for the second summer in a row.

Dave and I are now fully vaccinated, but we still need COVID tests to travel through China, and most other countries don’t recognize China’s vaccine, although it has been proven to offer quite a lot of protection and reduced symptoms if you do happen to catch the virus.

Of course, staying in Suzhou didn’t really appeal to us, so we decided to plan an epic 5 week trip across 10 provinces and a huge range of places in China. Our first stop: Qinghai Province

Qinghai, where the average elevation is over 3000 meters above sea level!

Our original plan was to go to Tibet and see Everest and Lhasa, but those plans were thwarted due to permit issues. Even with a valid Chinese visa, you can’t actually visit TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region) without a special permit issued by the government. And although Tibet opened again for international tourists in May, permits still aren’t actually being issued. So, we decided to see other areas of the Tibetan Plateau instead.

TAR is Tibet as you know it (the part that is furthest west), but the Tibetan Plateau also includes a much larger space, where you will still see Tibetan culture.

This morning, we flew to Xining, which is the capital of Qinghai Province. Although the Province is huge, there are only a handful of really popular tourist spots in the area. Xining itself is a pretty city, with much cleaner air than we have on the east coast. I prefer it to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu, where we spent our October Holiday. People here are friendlier and the city is more modern.

The flight in was on a tiny plane, and we were lucky enough to have a bunch of kids sitting directly behind us, screaming the entire way…

We spent today exploring the area with the friends we are spending the next week with: Ian and Andy. A couple of Andy’s friends have joined as well, and the 6 of us enjoyed a chill day of sight seeing and COVID tests.

We got the throat AND nose swabs this time. I feel like they are always so excessive with them. Why do you have to swipe at the back of my throat 6 times? Isn’t 3 enough!?

We found 2 beautiful mosques today. They were quite different from one another. The first seemed a lot older, but with several modern (and culturally Chinese) elements added.

A beautiful spot. The carvings were especially nice

The second mosque seemed newer and was definitely more grand. There was a secondary area near the back, where the walls were brown (the rest of the mosque was white). The whole area was very peaceful and beautiful.

Quite detailed and somehow peaceful, although in the middle of a city. The main building was huge, as you can see from the photo I took of Dave for scale

Our last stop for the day was at the old city wall. We were there after dark and got to see part of it all lit up and beautiful!! Definitely one of my favorite things about China is the way they use lights to keep things intriguing, even in the dark.

Our first day in Xining was lovely! Looking forward to tomorrow, when we head out to Qinghai Lake!!!

Check back for day 2!