Xining (西宁)

大家好!

The next stop on our study trip was Xining (西宁). We were only in 西宁 for a day before we took a 22 hour train to Lhasa. However, I was still able to do quite a few things while in 西宁.

西宁 is the capital of Qinghai Province and the biggest city on the Tibetan Plateau. It has about 2 million people living in the city. It definitely feels smaller compared to all the other cities that I've visited. Something that I found interesting is that 西宁 used to be part of Gansu province but in 1928 it was added to Qinghai Province. 西宁 is home to both Buddhist and Muslim influences and we were able to visit the Dongguan Mosque and the Ta'er Monastery also known as the Kumbum Monastery. I liked seeing both the influence from Islamic areas as well as the Tibetan influences that can still be found in 西宁. Our tour guide is originally from Qinghai province. but he knew how to speak Tibetan since Qinghai used to be part of Tibet. Something that I found interesting was that in 2011 西宁 was ranked the second worse city for air quality among eleven western cities, but it also has worse air than 北京.

We flew from 西安 to 西宁. 西宁 has an average altitude of 2,200 meters or 7,200 feet. It was good that we went to 西宁 before continuing to go higher up on the Tibetan Plateau. We were able to slowly adjust. That first day we went to the Qinghai Museum (青海博物馆). I enjoyed this museum, but it was all in Chinese. That made it a bit hard to understand what was the museum was talking about. That just means that I will have to return when my Chinese is better. Compared to the other museums that I've visited, I still think that the one from 呼和浩特 is the best one. After the museum, we went to the Dongguan Mosque (东关清真大寺). This mosque was absolutely beautiful. It is the largest mosque in Qinghai province. It was recently restored, but it was built originally 1380. While there, we chatted with some locals who worked at the mosque. They were very nice but they would switch between using their dialect and speaking Mandarin so sometimes we could understand them and sometimes we couldn't.

The next day, before leaving for Tibet, we went to the Ta'er Monastery (塔尔寺). In Tibetan it is called the Kumbum Jampa Ling. It was founded in 1583. The sect of Buddhism that can be found here is the Gelug or the Yellow Hat Sect. An interest fact is that prior to 1958 there were about 3600 monks that lived here. However, now there are only 400. This is because the monastery was greatly affected by Chinese Communist policies since the late 1950s. This monastery is huge and resembles a small town. The monks there spend there time either taking intense classes at the colleges that are located there or praying in the temples.

We had a group lunch in 西宁 before getting on a train for 22 hours. See you in Lhasa!

再见！
郎马乐