Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tratsang
(monastic colleges or institutes), exploring esoteric Buddhism, theo-
logy, medicine, astrology and law. At its peak, Labrang housed nearly 4000
monks, but their ranks greatly declined during the Cultural Revolution. Num-
bers are currently restricted to 1800 monks, drawn from Qinghai, Gansu,
Sichuan and Inner Mongolia.
Sleeping
OVERSEAS TIBETAN HOTEL $
( Huaqiao Fandian; 712 2642;
www.overseastibetanhotel.com
; 77 Renmin
Xijie; 77 dm ¥50, d ¥200-300; )
A well-run and bustling place, owned by
the energetic and bouncy Jesuit-educated Lohsang, a likeable Tibetan with
faultless English who runs the
kora (pilgrim circuit)
most mornings. The winter
of 2012 saw a complete renovation of the guesthouse, including the adoption
of solar power to ensure 24/7 hot showers.
Hotel
Information
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China
(ICBC; Gongshang Yinhang)
Has an ATM and
changes US dollars but not travellers cheques.
Getting There & Away
There is no airport in Xiahe, nor do trains run here, but it's regularly serviced
by bus.
The following bus services depart from Xiahe:
Hezuo
¥14.50, one hour, every 30 minutes (6.30am to 5.30pm)
Lanzhou
¥75, four hours, four daily (6.30am, 7.30am, 8.30am and 2.30pm)
Jiayuguan & Around
0937 / POP 170,000
You approach Jiayuguan through the forbidding lunar landscape of north
Gansu. It's a fitting setting, as Jiayuguan marks the symbolic end of the Great
Wall, the western gateway of China proper and, for imperial Chinese, the be-
ginning of the back of beyond.
