Naitang Monastery in Riwoqe County, Chamdo
Chinese Name:乃堂寺
English Name: Naitang Monastery in Riwoqe County, Chamdo
Location: Located in Riwoqe County, Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region
Admission Fee: Free
Opening Hours: All Day
About Naitang Monastery
Naitang Monastery（乃堂寺）is located in the southeast of Binda Township（滨达乡）, Riwoqe County（类乌齐县）, Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, which is on the back of Dingxia Mountain（丁夏山）, facing Naishui River（乃水河）, and with Duoji Rock（多吉岩） on the north. Buddhists call it the Naitang Monastery which means the “divine monastery of the sixteen arhats”. It was built in 1433 AD by the local benefactor. He was one of the best disciples of Tsongkhapa（宗卡巴）and a master of Buddhism. Naitang Monastery is a Gelug sect monastery, with more than 70 monks. There are exquisite buildings, mysterious murals, main statues and various Buddha statues which are well-preserved. It is one of the places where millions of people pay Buddhist worship quietly.
Naitang Monastery consists of three parts: the good hall, the monk’s house and the grand hall. There collects a set of Tengyur（《丹珠尔》）and 18 sets of Tsongkhapa Biography（《宗喀巴传》） , as well as other thousands of volumes, but it has been lost during the cultural revolution period. The walls of the hall were painted with murals of the Gelug sect（格鲁派）.
The Collections of Naitang Monastery
The main treasures of Naitang Monastery are: the gilded statue of sakyamuni, the gold-plated bronze statue of goddess of mercy, the gilded bronze statue of maitreya, the six arms Yigumu statues, and other 50 gilded bronze statues all about.
Scriptures: three sets of Hundreds of Praises（《十万颂》）and the three sets of Very Praise（《十分颂》）.
Attraction Transportation
China National Highway 214
China National Highway 317
How to Get to Qamdo Riwoqe County
Air
Located in the Bangda Grassland, the Chamdo Bangda Airport is the world’s highest airport and has the longest runway. It is 136 kilometers (84.5 miles) from Chamdo County. As the first lateral airport in Tibet, Chamdo Bangda Airport started to be built in 1993 and finished in October, 1994. At present, it has air routes to/from domestic cities including Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Lhasa, Tianjin, Xian, and Xining; meanwhile, flights to/from Nepal are also operated at this airport.
Passengers can take airport shuttle bus to Riwoqe County from the airport.
The airport inquiry number is +86 0895-4821004.
Bus
The Prefecture is over 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) from Chengdu and over 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) from Lhasa. Every week at least three buses travel between Qamdo and the two cities. Apart from regular buses, the tourist bureau sometimes sends special buses to Lhasa for visitors. It usually takes 10 days from Lhasa to visit Riwoqe.
Attraction Travel Tips
- Traveling Hours: 2 to 3 hours
- Traveling Seasons: May, June and October.
- High Altitude Sickness Avoiding: Better take some medicines for relief and keep warm all the time.
- As there is a large temperature gap between daytime and night, it is highly recommended to take along some pieces of thermal clothing, hat, and gloves and so on.
- Please try your best to respect the religious belief and local customs.
