Ahwensung Monks
Ahwensung is a small community almost completely made up of ethnic Tibetan Buddhists. The monks and novices were very friendly, compared to the ones I met in the large pilgrimage towns (like Xiahe) where the numbers of tourists (mostly Han Chinese but also folks from outside the country like myself) makes another strange face nothing special and perhaps even something mildly annoying. The monks had a small monastary above the village. I wish I'd had more time to spend with them, there. It was certainly a high point of the trip, lying back with a group on the grass as the later afternoon light turned warm and the sun dipped behind the hills.
This is their main temple and one of the stupas nearby.
In Tibet all the monks have longer hair than in other countries I've been too. After all, it gets darn cold there! The rule is a shave every two months, instead of once a month. But the red hat monks actually have long hair! The monk on the end here, with the signature white and red fabric thrown over regular robes, is wearing the hat and sporting the hair (beard, too!) that sets the red hats so quickly apart from the more predominant yellow hat sect. The red hats can even marry!
I met this old monk having a good chat with a contemporary on 'main-street'. After I caught their attention they gave me a thumbs up on the photo and just kept talking.
Ahwensung Ahwensung in B and W Ahwensung Kids Ahwensung Monks China Flowers Ganjia Grasslands Hezuo Karjam Labrang Monastery Linxia Linxia Farms in B and W Linxia Farm Kids Machu Machu People Nomads Near Ahwensung Qingdao Xiahe Xi'an
Andong Mask Dance Festival Tibetan Photos I Tibetan Photos II
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