For the Western New Year, I went again to Qinghai, the nearby province. Even though it was at a higher altitude than Lanuzhou, Xining felt warmer. It is a place where one can watch Tibetan and Chinese Muslim coexist. Near the train station are a few good Tibetan restaurants. After the provincial capital, I moved on to Tongren, a small Tibetan monastery at 2600 meters of altitude. Besides there are a few other monasteries within walking distance. Due to the winter, the town was not crowded and the dry weather guaranteed some great blue sky, far away from the pollution of Lanzhou, where some peaks where experienced around the second half of December.
Pictures of Tongren
