A tiny, rural town tucked away three thousand metres up in the remote hills of southern Gansu, right on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, XIAHE is an absolutely delightful place to stay a few days. As well as offering glimpses into the life of the Tibetan people - living and working in one of the most beautiful Tibetan monasteries you are likely to see - Xiahe also offers visitors the rare chance to spend some time in open countryside, sited as it is in a sunny, fresh valley surrounded by green hills.

 

Xiahe is the most important Tibetan monastery town outside Tibet itself, and the Labrang Monastery (Labuleng Si) is one of the six major centres of the Gelugpa, or Yellow Hat Sect (of the others, four are in Tibet and one, Ta'er Si, is in Qinghai Province just outside Xining). Tibetans from Tibet itself come here on pilgrimage dressed in traditional costume (equipped with mittens and kneepads to cushion themselves during their prostrations), and the constant flow of monks in bright purple, yellow and red, alongside semi-nomadic herdsmen wrapped in sheepskins and reeking of yak butter, makes for an endlessly fascinating scene.

The town is essentially built along a single street that stretches 3-4km along the north bank of the Daxia River, from the bus station in the east, through the Labrang Monastery in the middle, to the old Tibetan town and finally the Labrang Hotel in the west. The eastern end of town , where the bus station lies, is predominantly Hui- and Han-populated. It's also the commercial and administrative part of town, with a couple of banks, a post office and plenty of shops and markets. The shops round here make interesting browsing, with lots of Tibetan religious objects on sale, such as hand-printed sutras, little prayer wheels, bells and jewellery. There's also lots of riding equipment - saddles and bridles - for the nomads from the nearby grasslands who come striding into town, spurs jangling.

Beyond the monastery, at the western end of town , is the local Tibetan area. West of the bridge that carries all motorized traffic to the south side of the river, the road becomes a bumpy dirt track with homes built of mud and wood, and pigs and cows ambling around. There is one more religious building up here, the Hongjiao Si , or Temple of the Red Hat Sect. It's on the right as you walk west from town. Monks of the Red Hat sect are much fewer and live in the shadow of their rich and numerous brethren from the Yellow Hat Sect. You can recognize them from their dress - their robes are red, rather than purple, and include a large white band.