The 'World's Tibetan Studies Center'—Labrang Monastery

Labrang Monastery is located in Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. Its full Tibetan name is 'Ganden Shajia Darjeeling Tashi Gyisur Chikulang', which means 'The Auspicious Right-Turning Monastery Joyful in Teaching and Practice'. Commonly referred to as Tashi Chikulang, it is generally known as Labrang Monastery. 'Labrang' is a transliteration of the Tibetan 'Lazhang', meaning the mansion of the living Buddha master. It is one of the six major monasteries of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism and is acclaimed as the 'World's Tibetan Studies Center'. At its peak, the monastery housed over 4,000 monks, and it was opened to tourists in 1980. At the 2018 Northwest China Tourism Marketing Conference and Tourism Equipment Expo, it was listed among the 'Top 100 Marvelous Sights of the Northwest'.