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Changqingchun Ke'er monastery

Litang's Changqingchun Ke'er monastery, founded in 1580 at the behest of the Third Dalai Lama and one of the largest Gelugpa monasteries in China, is today somewhat dilapidated but still populated by over a thousand monks. From the Gesar statue, walk uphill to the intersection, turn left, and follow the road. For once, the approach gives a clear view of the complex, entirely encircled by a wall, the two main halls gleaming among an adobe township of monks' quarters of Changqingchun Ke'er monastery. At the entrance is a large stupa and pile of brightly-painted mani stones left by pilgrims for good luck, whose inscriptions have been carved to resemble yaks. The upper of Changqingchun Ke'er monastery (Tsengyi Zhatsang) is the more interesting and older of the two, its portico flanked by aggressively postured statues of guardians of the four directions, along with a typical, finely executed mural of a three-eyed demon wearing tiger skins and skulls, holding the wheel of transmigration. Inside are statues of Tsongkhapa and the Third Dalai Lama, along with photos of the current Dalai Lama and tenth Panchen Lama. Side gates in the wall allow you to hike up onto the hills behind the monastery, sharing the flower-filled pasture with yaks, or join pilgrims circuiting the walls to the sky burial ground to the right of the main gates.