Labrang, China

A tiny, rural town tucked away 3000m up in the remote hills of southern Gansu, right on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, XIAHE is an unforgettable place. As well as offering glimpses into the life of 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. Tibetans from Tibet itself come here on pilgrimage in traditional dress (equipped with mittens, kneepads, and even leather aprons 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, makes for an endlessly fascinating scene.

The town stretches 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 the commercial and administrative part of town and is predominantly Hui-and Han-populated. Beyond the monastery, at the western end of town, is the local Tibetan area. The road becomes a bumpy dirt track with homes built of mud and wood, and pigs and cows ambling around.

Labrang Monastery is the site of some spectacular festivals, especially the Monlam Festival, three days after the Tibetan New Year (late Feb or early March). The opening of the festival is marked by the unfurling of a huge cloth adorned with a holy painting of the Buddha, measuring 20–30m, on the south side of the Daxia River. Subsequent days see processions, dances and the lighting of butter lamps.