June 30- Shangri-La

We woke up to a sunny day (initially) as we departed to visit Ganden Songzanlin Monastery, a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery and village. It is everything that one would expect a Buddhist monastery to be with men clad in reddish-orange robes, stupas, statues of Buddha, and burning incense. Many portions of this monastery were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and are in the process of being rebuilt. I learned a number of things that actually make Buddhism a bit more confusing. For one, there are numerous braches that go way beyond Mahayana and Theravada. Tibetan Buddhists place a strong emphasis on heaven and hell that seems to contradict the premise of reincarnation. I asked our guide about this but she kind of dodged the question. It was also interesting that there we no pictures of the Dali Lama up anywhere but numerous pictures of the Panchen Lama. This indicates either a strong governmental influence or a fear of government repercussion as the Panchen Lama is controlled by Beijing.
We also had the opportunity to visit a Tibetan family who lived in the monastery. Their home was a juxtaposition of traditional Tibetan life and modernity as many aspects of the home were extremely traditional yet there were a plethora of modern conveniences such as TV, DVD player, blender, and dishwasher. We were served a traditional meal of yak cheese (very sour), yak butter tea, and buckwheat bread. The most surprising aspect of the home, in my opinion was the small Buddhist shrine in the home. Looming over the pictures of Buddhist figures and Lamas, was a large picture of Mao. I found this incredible as Mao ordered this monastery destroyed. It simply shows the continued powerful presence that Mao Tse Tung continues to have on the Chinese psyche.
Following the monastery visit, we returned to the hotel for a free evening and rain (go figure). We walked to the old town section in a steady downpour and arrived to find the town square nearly vacant. We did some shopping the in stores that were actually open and headed home to pack for the final trip to Shanghai and to dry off…