Xiahe

Xiahe Bus Station is about 1.5 km away from the entrance to the monastery and the main concentration of guesthouses. Turn right when you walk out bus stations front door.

• From Lanzhou – Three morning buses and two afternoon buses (07:30, 08:30, 10:30, 14:00, 15:00) leave from Lanzhou Nanzhan (Lanzhou South Bus Terminal). Trip takes 3½ hours (¥75). Half-hourly buses go to Linxia in 2 hours. From there you can catch one of the frequent buses onward to Xiahe (¥20).
• From Linxia – One every 30 min leaves during daylight hours, arriving in Xiahe about 2 hours later. (¥18)
• From Langmusi – Two buses a day leaving at 06:00 and 14:00, takes 4½ hours (¥44).
• Tongren – One bus per day leaving at 08:00 (¥25). Takes 3 very scenic hours.

Gannan Xiahe Airport (甘南夏河机场) (GXH ^IATA) is about 70 km from Xiahe and receives flights from Chengdu, Lhasa, Xi'an and Yinchuan. There is no airport bus from the airport into Xiahe town.

A wide spectrum of wheeled vehicles purporting to be Taxis run up and down the main street. The price should be ¥2-4 per person, depending on the luxuriance of your conveyance, no matter the distance. If you take up more than one seat with your bags then pay for however many seats you use.

Literally the center of town, the monastery is the main focus for visitors and residents alike with all social and commercial activity deriving from it. The Monastery was established in 1709 and expanded greatly in following centuries to become one of the six great monasteries of the Gelukpa sect (Yellow Hat) of Tibetan Buddhism. The resident monks wear saffron robes, black UGG-style boots and shaggy yellow Mohawk shaped hats, sometimes pitched to impressive heights.

Despite its venerable history, many of the buildings and religious artefacts were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. What you see now was built since the 1980s. The buildings construction differs from others in the region, being built with stone blocks rather than rammed earth, but the whitewashed multiple-level square designs follow the typical style of Tibetan monastic buildings.

It'd be easy to spend days meandering about the alleys between monks quarters and prayer halls, or follow pilgrims spinning prayer wheels on a loop around the Kora. Despite the tickets and tours, it's still an active Monastery and you may chance upon the monks engaged in their religious activities.

There are few English signs (except for the ubiquitous No Photo, Ticket needed), making it somewhat beguiling to understand what you are looking at. An English tour leaves from the ticket office at 10:15 and 15:15. Though the guide provides decent explanations as they take you though the halls, some may feel the experience is a bit rushed. As you would expect, no photos are allowed inside buildings and the monks outside are camera shy when conducting a ceremony.

You need to buy a ticket to enter the monastery (¥40) and some of the smaller chapels require additional charge (¥10) whether you join the tour or not. Even with a ticket in hand the halls may be closed or off limits while a ceremony is being conducted. If you prefer to try before you buy, it's not difficult to blunder in for a look without anyone asking for a ticket.

Some places worth seeking out include;

• Gongtang Chorten (near the river). A newly built golden topped Chorten that you can climb. ¥10. 
• Man Jus'ri Temple (the rear of the courtyard behind the ticket office). Definitely the most impressive hall with several enormous, elaborately decorated, Buddha statues along the rear wall and a pair of small rooms behind. Pilgrims make a clockwise circuit, stopping to make monetary offerings to brightly coloured yak-butter sculptures and pray to silver Chortens containing living Buddhas. At times the hall may reverberate with chanting monks. ¥60. 
• Prayer Wheels. Lining about half of the minor Kora are brightly painted wooden drums, spun by an endless procession of mainly elderly pilgrims hopping their efforts will be rewarded in the next life. On each corner is a small room housing huge lumbering wheels that ring a bell with each rotation. 
• Thangka sunning Terrace (over the river on the hillside). A flat stone slope on the hillside where a giant Thangka is rolled out during the Tibetan New year. The rest of the time its a nice place to sit and get an overview of the Monastery. Free. 

A few other worthwhile sights lay within a 20-km radius. Your only transport options are to hire a taxi from Xiahe for about ¥400 per vehicle, per day (5–8 hours round trip) or bicycle. Adventurous travellers can take the early morning bus to Tongren/Repcon (同仁) and get off at Ganjia Town (Ganjia Xiang – 甘加乡). From there it would be at least a 10- to 12-km round-trip hike to Bajiao Cheng. You would need to get back to Ganjia town by lunch time to get the bus coming from Xining or Tongren, or catch a motorcycle, taxi, or tractor back to Xiahe.

• Sangke grasslands; wonderful grasslands with many nomad tents and herds of yaks and sheep. 12 km outside Xiahe is Sangke town, where most people who rent a bike go to. There is nothing to see in the town, you really need to go into the grasslands to enjoy the wonderful views.
• Ancient town of Bajiao (Bajiao Cheng - 八角城). A walled village that was built in the Han Dynasty (around 2000 years ago). Bajiao Cheng is still inhabited. ¥10. 
• Ganjia Grasslands. The whole region is covered in grasslands during the summer months and makes an enjoyable place to see some wide open spaces. 
• White Rock Cliffs (Bai Shi Ya - 白石崖) (northern end of the valley). As you get closer to Bajiao Cheng, you won't be able to miss the cliffs high up in front of you. A small monastery sits right at the foot of the White Rock Cliffs. There is a small village together with the monastery. 
• Darzong Lake (Da’erzong Hu - 达尔宗湖). A highland lake located at just above 3,000 m (10,000 ft). Forested mountains surrounding the lake on almost all sides and forests all around. A taxi round trip (2-3 hours) costs around ¥100 or take a bus going to Linxia (临夏) or Hezuo (合作) and get off 20 km (about half an hour) down the highway when you see a big sign on the right side of the road. Tell the driver that you want to go to Darzong Lake and he should let you know when you arrive at the turnoff. From there walk about an hour along the dirt road on the left. You will be charged a ¥10 entrance fee as you pass through the only Tibetan village along the road. Catch another bus from the highway back to town for ¥5-10. 
• Nomad Travel. Book a tour in Xiahe with this excellent tour company. They offer a wide variety of tours in and around Xiahe. Their guides are well informed. Company's service is excellent. Highly recommended. Their office is in the Nirvana Hotel, Restaurant & Bar, parallel to Xiahe's main street. They have an informative website, google "Nomad Travel Xiahe".

• Labrang Redrock International Youth Hostel, ☏ +86 941 7123698, labranghongshi@yahoo.cn. A typical YHA hostel with warm, chunky wooden interior. The bunk beds have a reading lamp at your head and storage locker at your other end, but you may wish there was a softer mattress under you. The bathrooms are filthy and the odour of the toilets leaves no doubt that it is shared. The solar heated showers are only hot when the sun shines. The communal area downstairs has free Wifi and a long line at the shared computer. Dorms 8-bed ¥30, 4-bed ¥35, doubles ¥100. (updated May 2017)
• Tara Guesthouse, Renmin Xijie, ☏ +86 941 7122866. Three floors of Tibetan-esque double rooms that increase in freshness and price with each ascension of the stairs. All rooms regardless of price have clean shared toilets. Doubles ¥40/60/100. 
• Overseas Tibetan Hotel (next to Tara Guesthouse), ☏ +86 941 7122642. Most travellers getting off the bus with their nose in a guidebook will head here first. Those enticed by the cheap dorms might discover that the sporadic hot water in the showers and the eternally filthy toilets detract from their frugal gains. As the hostels motto expounds, you get what you pay for. The doubles with ensuite are decidedly better but hardly a bargain. Dorms ¥20, Doubles ¥400. 
• Yangkor Tibetan Home stay, Sangqu West Road, Walking street, Bridgehead. A lovely homestay with forms and double rooms. Friendly welcoming staff, and a very pleasant communal area. Do a great breakfast and dinner for a little extra. Dorms start at ¥45. (updated Sep 2018)
• Calling Marmot Youth Hostel. This hostel is featured on Booking.com site but be ware this hostel does not have a permit to host foreigners. Can cause problems if the authorities come to check who stays.

• White Stupa Hotel (across from Tara Guesthouse), ☏ +86 941 7122866. 
• Nirvana Hotel, Restaurant & Bar, Ya Ge Tang 247 (parallel to the main street, next to the river), ☏ +86 941-7181702. It has clean rooms, soft and comfortable mattresses, good English speaking service and free Wi-Fi. The on-site Nirvana restaurant provides good food and pleasant ambiance with a wide variety of good Tibetan, Western and Chinese food. The bar is stocked with many spirits not available anywhere else in Xiahe, and the coffee machine serves superb coffee. Doubles ¥300, dorms ¥60. 

• Labrang Baoma Hotel (across from Overseas Tibetan). Large, slightly smelly rooms. Doubles with en-suite bathrooms cost ¥300 (according to season and bargaining skills). 
• Norden Camp, ☏ +86-150-0941-1661, reservations@nordentravel.com. Luxury high-end glamping experience supporting Tibetan nomads and employment. Offers authentic and conscious Tibetan experiences, like behind-the-scenes tours of Labrang Monastery, Lungta Nomadic Cooperative, and the social enterprise Norlha Textiles. Also offers Tibetan horseback riding, yoga, and spa experiences.   Yak Khullu tent ¥1965, log cabin ¥3210.