Labrang Monastery

Welcome to Labrang Monastery, a place that feels less like a single religious site and more like a vibrant, holy city. Located in Xiahe County, Gansu Province, at an elevation of 3,000 meters on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau,…

We begin our journey on the 'kora,' the three-kilometer-long pilgrim walkway that encircles the entire Labrang complex. This corridor is world-famous for containing the longest stretch of prayer wheels anywhere on earth, with…

Entering the interior of the monastery, we arrive at the Wensi College, the largest and most prominent of Labrang's six academic institutions. Established at the very founding of the monastery in 1709, this is the center for the…

The Grand Sutra Hall, or Dajing Tang, is the spiritual and administrative center of Labrang. This massive structure, which can house up to 4,000 monks at once, is where the entire community gathers for major festivals,…

Beyond philosophy and ritual, Labrang is a center for practical and esoteric sciences, specifically medicine and astronomy. The Medical College, or Yishui Xueyuan, is world-renowned for its preservation of traditional Tibetan…

For a true sense of the scale of Labrang, one must ascend to one of the higher vantage points. The Gongtang Pagoda, or the Golden Stupa, is a prominent landmark located on the southern edge of the monastery. …

To understand the reality of Labrang, one must step off the main tourist paths and into the labyrinth of narrow backstreets where the monks actually live. These residential quarters are a world unto themselves—quiet, domestic,…

Our time in the 'mini-city' of Labrang is coming to a close. We have walked the world's longest kora, listened to the physical clapping of debate in the colleges, and stood in the golden shadow of the great assembly halls. …