Sumtsaling Monastery, Yunnan, China

5Ian Anderson 5:00 PM Sep 30, 2021

A must see in Shangri-la
This is an absolute must see if you are visiting Shangri-la and, given the difficulty for foreigners of visiting Tibet, probably the best accessible example of a Buddhist monastery in China, now doubling as a monk training college. Perched on a hill, a short drive NE of the city and a short bus ride from the ticket office, Sumtsaling (Songzanlin) is a truly magnificent building with wonderful Tibetan architecture outside and exquisite paintwork and Buddhas to admire inside the various halls. The site is large and rambling so needs some time to explore. I would recommend an English language guide to understand the history, followed by an unguided exploration of the bits the guide didn't take you to. Also make sure to do the walk around the lake below as the views of the monastery from the lake are the best. We visited on National Day and although quite crowded, people seem to congregate in the famous spots, leaving many areas quite unpopulated!

5Gorgan 5:00 PM Jul 10, 2021

Very beautiful monastery
Along with the iconic Potala Palace in Lhasa this is the most beautiful Tibetan monastery I have ever seen. All comments would be unnecessary. Just go there and you will say I am right. This complex is very big and it takes two or three hours to visit all its parts. This should be your very first destination while in Shangri-La. The entrance ticket amounts to 75 yuan. You can take bus number three from the city center to get there.