In a courtyard surrounded by crowds of Tibetan pilgrims I stood in awe as I watched a colourful religious performance.

　　High in a remote corner of South West Gansu, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has been described as a Shangri La Its principal town, Xiahe, is a major Buddhist centre and a destination for pilgrims especially from Tibet. Xiahe is reached by road from Lanzhou, a five-hour fascinating journey initially through a predominantly Moslem area. Climbing higher through beautiful scenery dominated by great snow mountains, the minarets of the mosques gradually give way to white chortens (stupas) rising beside small Buddhist monasteries. Many heavily clad Tibetans and maroon-robed monks were sitting by the roadside in the warm afternoon sunshine as I made that ascent. After passing through a narrow gorge I reached my destination, Xiahe, sitting in the scenic valley of the Daxia River.

　　My first joy was climbing a grassy ridge overlooking the river. Beyond, I surveyed a picturesque, indeed stunning scene of the town with its backdrop of the Feng Shan and Long Shan (Phoenix and Dragon Mountains). The impression was of a smaller version of Lhasa. In the foreground rose the Gongtang Pagoda with its dazzling gilded stupa rising above a rectangular series of green tiled sloping roofs. Beyond, leading up to the mountains lay the fabled Labrang Monastery. Surrounding the entire complex stretched a reddish-brown wall, several kilometres long, lined with hundreds of prayer wheels.

　　Labrang Monastery (labuleng si) is one of the six most important monasteries of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The others are Ganden, Sera and Drepung around Lhasa, Tashilhunpo at Shigatse and Kumbum (Ta'er) near Xining in Qinghai. A local monk, E'ang Zongzhe in 1709, founded Labrang. He became the first-generation Living Buddha, or Jiemuyang. Tibetans believe that on the death of a Jiemuyang, a new one is born, representing the reincarnation of the previous one. The present Living Buddha is the sixth incarnation.

　　Today the monastery is a major destination for Buddhist pilgrims. Many make the long journey from Lhasa, for instance, by combining a visit to Labrang with one to Kumbum in Qinghai. With state assistance considerable careful reconstruction and renovation has gone on at the monastery since 1980. It is presently home for two thousand monks coming from many parts of North West China.

　　It was an unforgettable experience walking through the monastery's grounds. Lamas (monks) with their flowing maroon robes were a colourful spectacle. Older monks wore plumed yellow hats symbolising their order. Some sat under trees studying religious texts (sutras) written in Tibetan script. Younger teenage novices in magenta robes gathered in courtyards, which also acted as debating squares for religious discussion and teaching. Hundreds of monks sat on the steps outside the Great Chanting Hall before filing in to the hall to commence their devotions that precede lunch.

　　I followed themsintosthe dim smoky interior. Many pilgrims followed clockwise circuits while they ceremoniously kept filling the yak butter lamps that burn 24 hours daily. The sweet aroma of sandalwood and incense prevailed. Along the walls were racks of thousands of sacred Tibetan books - many pilgrims walked alongside these books touching the shelves, sometimes even crawling beneath them. Others gave offerings and prayed before the countless gilded statues rising around the hall and its many side rooms. Many monks sat on rows of carpets that lay between pillars adorned with heavy cloth. Long tubular multi-coloured garlands hung from the ceilings. Every space was used to depict Buddhist scenes through drawings, statues, tapestries and paintings in front of which monks ringing hand bells chanted prayers while more pilgrims filed past. Small white chortens (stupas) held the remains of previous Living Buddhas while smaller vases setsintosthe walls contained those of their relatives. Another hall, the golden-roofed Jokhang Temple contained a statue of Sakyamuni Buddha made in India 2,500 years ago. On many temple rooftops I noticed the sacred golden images of the deer attending the Buddha's first sermon at Sarnath and the Wheel of Life and Rebirth

　　Six long-established Buddhist colleges provide opportunities for monks to study Astronomy, Esoteric Buddhism, Law, Tibetan Medicine and Theology. Schools specialised in painting, dance and music. In a courtyard surrounded by crowds of Tibetan pilgrims I stood in awe as I watched a colourful religious performance. Dozens of monks performed slow dramatic movements to the musical accompaniment of deep wails produced from enormous brass horns, ringing of bells, banging of cymbals and beating of large drums covered with yak leather. The drums, some stood vertical on single carved wooden poles, were highly decorated with weird Lemon-like faces!

　　Nearby within a printing workshop other monks continued a time-honoured tradition of hand-printing strips of rice paper using carved wooden blocks. Visitors thronged the monastery's exhibition hall and marvelled at the displays - the treasures of Labrang including an incredible butter詓culpture of Tianamen Gate!Encircling the monastery and the Gongtang Pagoda, whose golden chorten dominates the town, is a long high wall lined with hundreds of red ornate cylinder-shaped prayer wheels. Large rectangular rooms at intervals along this earthen wall held single grand wheels. Lines of chanting pilgrims flowed past in a clockwise direction gently spinning the drums. Some held their own hand-sized rotating wheels or fingering rosary beads. They were embodying man revolving around the Buddha just as the planets revolve around the sun. Scrolls within the wheels symbolically released prayers to the heavens, earning merit for the pilgrims. Although entire family groups followed this religious walk many worshippers were elderly, with highly weathered dark skin. Some were lame, relying on crutches. All that mattered was being at Labrang. This was a pilgrimage at the culmination of their lives. An ambition fulfilled, they appeared completely enraptured. Devout followers even completed the circuit by prostrating themselves at full length on the ground - moving forward, slowly rising and dropping again to the ground. Following the trail near the river I came to an elaborate red and blue doorway surrounded by prayer flags. This was the entrance to the courtyard of the Gongtang Pagoda. A shrine of immense religious significance, its square base was lined with a red wooden walkway containing dozens of smaller gilded prayer wheels. Buddhist texts in Tibetan script lined the walls. Large processions of lamas and pilgrims moved around it at a brisk pace before returning outside to follow the great prayer wall. At an intersection of the wall with the town's main street, a small market sold lengths of maroon cloth to the monks and religious artefacts to the faithful. The prayer wall continued uphill behind the temple complex completing The Pilgrim's Trail?

　　Xiahe is a multi-cultural society with its population roughly 45% Tibetan, 45% Han and 10% Muslim. This is reflected in the fascinating scenes along its main street - monks wrapped in bright purple, red and yellow robes cycled past Muslim shopkeepers wearing white skullcaps and supporting long thin grey beards. Heavy sheepskins coats typified Tibetan nomads from the surrounding grasslands. Many small stores lined the street offering Buddhist religious objects such as hand-held prayer wheels, hand-printed religious texts (sutras), and silver jewellery. Also on sale were fur-lined boots, colourful Tibetan shawls and fine leather saddles - the horse is still important locally.

　　At the top end of the town live most of the Tibetan community. There, small family-run restaurants served tsampa - a mixture of hand-kneaded yak butter and barley flour, and, local versions of詁aozi Many residential building were constructed in Tibetan styleswhereshigh earthen walls with carved wooden doorways protected courtyards. Inside, domestic buildings were two-storey, squat, square and often with grand balconies. Straw and domestic utensils were stored on their flat roofs.

　　Many of the Tibetans are descended from Goloks who originally migrated to this area because of its good pastures and of course, the monastery. Women traditionally wore bright floral shirts under dark heavier dresses with colourful strips around the edges. The dress was characteristically worn off one shoulder and tied with a bright sash or belt. Their shiny pleated hair, embroidered with colourful ribbons emerged from beneath wide-brimmed felt hats. Popular also was the custom of wearing strings of beads and turquoise earrings.

　　On the south bank of the river a section of hillside was marked out for use during the Monlan (訥reat Prayer? Festival. This takes place annually from the 4th to the 16th days of the first Tibetan lunar month, usually February or early March. On the morning of the 13th the lamas Sun the Buddha by rolling out a giant 30 metre by 20 metre詔hangka (sacred red cloth painting) on the terrace. The festival is also accompanied with religious dancing and special butter sculpture shows.

　　From Xiahe a tree-lined road led outsintosthe countryside passing several small agricultural villages. Tibetans, some singing, worked in the adjoining fields cutting barley More peasants winnowed grain on large open-air concrete platforms. The grain was then spread out to dry on flat concrete beds around the villages. Across the river brown-walled houses climbed the northern slope of the valley. Next to them was Hongjiao Si or the Temple of the Red Hat Sect

　　Going higher, the valley narrowed and the clear waters of the Daxia River flowed fast. The construction of a small hydro-electric power station had produced a lake - its calm waters reflecting the surrounding green and red, treeless hills. Horses grazed around a shore dotted with groups of white tents. The road ultimately led onto the serene landscape of the Sangke Grasslands (sangke caoyuan). A wide, rolling plain grazed by yaks and horses and surrounded by distant hills. The clear air resulted in exceptional visibility. As far as I could see there were no houses or other sign of human habitation, just seemingly endless grassy ridges - Big Sky Country

　　A Tibetan horseman approached. This older rider, a local cowboy, was finely dressed with a white, wide-brimmed hat, white shirt, embroidered waistcoat and a green coat tied around his waist. He kept trying to persuade me to Wide a horse?(Ai ma. Several other horsemen galloped up accompanying a fellow Tibetan on a motorcycle - the new horse of the grasslands!

　　A girl in a red shirt and black costume walked across the meadows, singing. There was virtually no other sound except insects, especially bees attracted by the carpet of bright blue, purple and yellow highly scented flowers. During the summer thousands of bees are brought to the area, their keepers living in temporary camps.

　　Just as the sun was setting I returned to the town - it was a cool night. Many restaurants had notices in English. Lamas and Tibetans wandered the streets. I wentsintosa Muslim-run restaurant. Groups of monks were consuming large bowls of steaming noodles. Some came over to show me the Buddhist form of greeting.

　　I wandered back up the main street towards my hotel - a beautiful evening under a full moon - it actually was the Autumn Moon Festival. In my room, moon cakes had been left for me. I sat for a while thinking about how to start describing this remote but indeed enchanting corner of China. The following day I headed back down to Lanzhou. This short visit to the Gannan area would remain with me as one of the highlights in a life of travel.

　　I have visited Xiahe twice. My first visit in 1997 encouraged me to organise a tour called Journey to the Edge of Tibet which I recently led. Sixteen people from the Scotland-China Association and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society shared with me the stunning experiences of this wonderful place.