Introduction

Gonlung Jampaling is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery nestled in the mountains in the Huzhu region outside Xining, Qinghai Province, also historically the region of Amdo. It is called Youningsi (???) in Mandarin Chinese.

Location

Gonlung monastery is located near the village of Wushixiang, southeast of the town of Huzhu. The drive from Xining to Huzhu takes about 45 minutes and then it's another 45-60 minutes from Huzhu to the monastery depending on traffic and what route your driver decides to take!

(Staying on the main roads is certainly less bumpy but also less interesting.)

The drive takes you through local villages and through the mountains. We visited in early October and on the sides of the roads barley and wheat had been harvested and stacked beautifully in sheaves throughout the fields. On a sunny day the drive would have been stunning. Instead, we drove through rain and so it was a little on the scary side as the van fogged up and our driver had trouble seeing.

Note: if you or any of your party are prone to car sickness, be warned. Make sure you ask for plenty of stops to get out and get some air and stretch your legs. This will help.

History

The monastery was founded in 1604 by Gyelse Donyo Chokyi Gatso after several prominent Tibetan Buddhists visited the area including the Fourth Dalai Lama. After establishment local Tibetan and Tu families patronized the monastery. In the Qing Dynasty more temples were added to the complex, destroyed and built again. Over the years many important scholars lived and studied here.

Now there are between 200-300 monks living and studying at the monastery. Local Tu, Tibetan and Mongolian people patronize the monastery.

Historical source: Gyurme Dorje, Tread Your Own Path (Footprint Tibet Handbook) (Footprint Handbooks; 4th edition, 2009), 697.

Features

There is a small parking lot for visitors at the foot of the monastery. After entering into the main courtyard you climb further steps to a large hall. There is no entry fee for the monastery (at the time of writing) so find the donation box and sign your name. When we visited an ancient and very sweet monk was tending to this.

Tibetan Buddhist art is extraordinary so be sure to spend some time looking at the various murals on the outside of the main hall. The building is decorated in the traditional Tibetan Buddhist fashion in bright colors and adorned with dharma wheel and kneeling deer motifs. Inside this main prayer hall are places for monks to pray and along the walls yak butter candles burn. At the back of the hall, teaching thrones are dedicated to a current spiritual leader and the previous Panchen Lama.

You can exit the main hall and proceed up into the hills to visit the other main buildings in the monastery. There are eleven in total.

Toilets: There is an extremely rudimentary facility at the bottom of the hillside across from the entrance of the monastery. Bring your own toilet paper.

 

How Much Time to Spend

You can spend as much or little time here as you desire. As it was raining and quite cold, we only visited the first, main hall. It would have been nice to climb up the mountainside not only to visit the rest of the buildings but also to see the view from the top. However, given the rainy weather and our miserable kids, we decided to cut the visit short.

You can combine a visit to Gonlung Jampaling with a trip to Huzhu Beishan National Forest Park. It takes another hour (at least) to drive back to Huzhu town and then continue on to the park.