Gonchen Monastery, Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Gengqing Town, China
Gonchen Monastery is a Sakya school Tibetan Buddhist monastery located in Gengqing Town. Its walls display distinctive white, dark red, and gray horizontal stripes that reflect the architectural style of this Buddhist tradition.
The monastery was founded in 1448 by Thang Tong Gyalpo, a Buddhist yogi and physician known for constructing iron suspension bridges across the Himalayas. This monastery was part of his broader legacy of spiritual and technical innovation in the region.
The three inner sanctums honor Avalokiteshvara, Shakyamuni Buddha, and the coming Buddha Maitreya, showing how multiple Buddhist traditions coexist in these spaces.
The site is best explored on foot, though the high altitude requires gradual acclimatization before visiting. Check accessibility and which areas are open to visitors before planning your visit.
The monastery preserves around 217,000 engraved woodblocks containing scripture texts from various Tibetan Buddhist traditions through traditional printing methods. This rare collection represents one of the most comprehensive repositories of preserved texts of this kind in the region.
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