Chupzang Nunnery, Buddhist nunnery on northern hillside of Lhasa, China
Chupzang Nunnery is a monastic complex on a hillside north of Lhasa featuring stupa fields with stone carvings, main temple buildings, and a dharma courtyard. The site includes residential areas where nuns live in individual quarters.
Trinlé Gyatso, regent of Tibet from 1665 until his death in 1667, founded the hermitage around 1665 for eight monks from Sera Je and Sera Me; the Fifth Dalai Lama chose the site and named it. The original hermitage fell into ruin, and the official founding of a new one is credited to his nephew Sanggyé Gyatso around 1696. Nuns renovated the site in the 1980s and established the modern nunnery in 1984.
The main temple displays statues of Tsongkhapa and his disciples, embodying the school's core teachings. Visitors can observe daily rituals performed here according to the Tibetan lunar calendar.
The nunnery sits about one kilometer from Sera Monastery and is accessible via a 20-minute walk along hillside paths lined with shrubs. The route climbs gradually through natural terrain.
The name Chupzang comes from Tibetan words meaning 'fresh water,' referencing the natural spring that still supplies the site today. This spring influenced the location choice and remains important to daily life here.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,803 contributors worldwide.