Recently me and my girlfriend visited Dzogchen monastery in Western Sichuan as part of a broader roadtrip through the culturally Tibetan parts of China’s Qinghai and Sichuan provinces. It’s located in Dege county, in the far far west of Garzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture and almost on the border with Tibet autonomous region. Culturally it’s part of a broader culturally Tibetan region, though without many of the restrictions (permit+guide etc) of the TAR. There are also less restrictions imposed on the local devotees, which helps in preserving the culture without too much government interference. Not to say that there is no control, since every monk has its own “officer” whose task it is to supress any “unwanted behaviour“, every monastery has at least one police station, there are many checkpoints and as a foreigner i even got denied entrance to a couple of locations. This was all limited to western Sichuan though, there wasn’t any of this in Qinghai.
This monastery, located This Tibetan monastery is unique because of its location and surrounding ecosystem. It’s located in a remote 3km-long narrow valley and can only be accessed through driving uphill a twisting canyon. The valley in which the monastery is located is a “dead end”, in the sense that it’s being surrourended by high-altitude mountains on three sides, creating its own unique ecosystem and relationship between man and nature. Because of the limited space deer and marmots have become almost-domesticated, which leads to interesting interactions. There are multiple halls, pagoda’s and a fenced-off part where a living buddha is said to reside. A couple of the monks, mainly those who studied abroad in Nepal or India, spoke excellent english and even invited us to join their communal meal which consisted of a simple broth of mashed potatoes and a couple of vegetables with yak milk and a banana to the side. The monks and nuns are allowed to eat meat, though should purchase and prepare it themselves. Most of them have their own motorcycle and iphone, since that‘s the only phone brand to provide a Tibetan-language keyboard. This monastery seems to have a fairly high living standard (unlike other ones we visited during our roadtrip): every monk shares a sturdy red wooden cabin with a couple of peers. Each cabin is equipped with modern comforts like a toilet and a shower. We were surprised to see a couple of purple open-roof electric shuttle cars, very retro in design and clearly inspired by the very first of cars, roaming the valley and making stops at every hall. There also was a starbucks-like coffeeshop located in a wooden cabin that could be mistaken for the welcome center of Yosemite. It’s important to energize yourself with a coconut latte while studying century-old manuscripts or chilling with the deer, amiright? The monastery is also a popular holiday destination for Tibetan pilgrims and their families, who set up camp on one plots of grass in-between the halls. This leads to a joyful and almost festive atmosphere with children playing with the deers while the other family members sing, pray or prepare a BBQ.
We also hiked around a nearby glacial lake, said to be sacred for the local population.
All in all one of the memorable monasteries we visited during our trip, not in the least because of the fact that it’s surrounding by such majestic nature and the coexistence of the animals and monks. I plan to make a couple of other posts regarding other spots we visited, especially about the seldom-visited Qinghai. Feel free to ask any questions:)