One-Day Tour

The Origin of Kumbum Monastery's Name Kumbum Monastery is beautiful in the sunlight. There are many local guides at the entrance. I hired one for CNY 80/hour. They explained the details of each hall, which took about an hour. After the guide left, I took some more photos and returned to the entrance. Kumbum Monastery is definitely worth visiting. If you can't go to Tibet, you can experience Tibetan culture here. The monastery was named after the stupa, which contains the Bodhi tree where Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school, was born. Later, Emperor Qianlong, who valued Tibetan Buddhism, built a temple next to it, hence the name "Kumbum Monastery" ("Ta'er Si" in Chinese, meaning "Stupa Temple").