Xining

entrance of Kumbum Monastery - place where Dzongkanba the founder of the Yellow Hat Buddhist sect (the one followed by the Dalai Lama)

incense sticks and other religious gifts

Hui potato seller- it was around -12 today!

pilgrims prostrating (lying down) around the monastery complex

stupa

Mansion of Da Bu Fang, a Guomindang General who had a magnificent house built, with jade everywhere. Da Bu Fang was flown to Taiwan by the Americans in 1949 when the Communists took over - sorry, liberated China. The reason why the mansion survived 1949 and the Cultural Revolution is that it was turned into an education centre to show how Guomindang rulers oppressed the people.

this building is made out of jade bricks!

Second courtyard

DaBuFang's seat- made out of root and trunk of one tree

his wifes' rooms (he had 7 wives)

Dongguan Mosque- the biggest in Xining

prayer hall

inside the prayer hall

street vendors near the mosque

neighbourhood mosque on 71st Street- traditional Chinese style, but it was built five years ago

Xining - Kokonor Lake

jiaozi as breakfast

inside the jiaozi restaurant

salted "brick tea"

first sight of the Tibetan plateau

shop in Do Tang He, trilingual sign

Tibetan lady shopping

Nomads have replaced horses by motorbikes, but kept the nice saddles.

Wenchen, the Chinese princess married to a Tibetan looking East one last time before making Tibet her new home.

the steppes, with electric poles and fences

yaks

sheep and nomad shepherds

Kokonor Lake, frozen at this time of the year

the lake shore seen from the lake

a lady welcomes her to her house

nice and cosy

East shore- sand dunes... and snow

prayer flags

in background: Kokonor Lake

the new Xining-Lhassa train line

"Atomic City" where Chinese first nuclear experiments took place

lunch stall- TangKe

Tangke- a newly built "old" town

Tangke "old" street

the real old town

Xining suburb- one of the numerous neighbourhoods being reconstructed. Only the mosque is left.