Xining - Gonghe

After breakfast we transfer from Xining to Gonghe. En route we visit the Great Monastery of Kumbum (also called Tar or Taer Monastery) and the "Riyue" Sun & Moon Mountain. We stay overnight at the "Gonghe Hotel".

Ta'er Lamasery - located in Huangzhong County, 26 kilometers from Xining - has played an important role in Chinese Buddhist history. It was built in 1560 upon the birth place of the founder of the Gelukpa Sect (Yellow Hat) of Tibetan Buddhism, Tsongkhapa. It is generally acknowledged to be one of the six most important monasteries along with the Ganden, Sera and Drepung monasteries in the Lhasa area, the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse and the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is a large complex of dozens of halls and towers on a mountainside in both Tibetan and Han architectural styles.

Riyue Mountain is part of the Qilian Mountain Range. It used to be a vital communications center between Central China and the southwest frontiers as well as the west regions and divides Qinghai into agricultural and pastoral area. To the east lies the Huangshui Valley; to the northwest is Qinghai Lake; to the southwest are rolling mountains, vast grassland and tents scattered across the countryside.