Xiahe Labrang Monastery - Part 2

The Labrang Monastery is a center of Gelug, or the "Yellow Hat Sect" of Buddhism.

I knew there'd be monks in and around Xiahe, but I was surprised by the sheer number of them that you saw both within the perimeter of the monastery as well as the streets outside of the monastery in Xiahe.

Here are some of the better photos and videos I have of the, largely Tibetan, monks at Xiahe's Labrang Monastery:











And then some monks singing on as the noon hour approached:

Xiahe Labrang Monastery - Part 1

Two French people we were with, my friend Andy and I were the first foreigners to visit Xiahe in Gansu Province in months.



Xiahe is in a military lockdown. Foreigners are not allowed in and haven't been for months.

It is a complicated story how we got in to the monastic village town. I'm not going to go into great details on how we did it right now. We didn't sneak in or go in illegally though.

Andy and I were granted one morning to visit the Labrang Monastery by the local authorities. Although we only had a few hours, we were able to see the place and get a good feel for the culture that pervades there.

Here is the first batch of photos that I'll post to my blog:











I'll post more photos and videos from the Labrang Monastery in the coming days.

Insanely Busy

I've been so busy over the past few weeks that I haven't really had much time to blog. Back in August before the Olympics before my old blog - blog.metabetable.com - was shut down, it seemed like I was blogging every day.

Those days seem like a long time ago.

Beginning this coming week, I think I'll be able to get back in the blogging mode and going again with this site.

Bear with me.

Chinese to Remain at Guantanamo

Although a group of seventeen Chinese Uighurs were granted release from Guantanamo by a federal judge, the Bush administration is trying their hardest to make sure they stay imprisoned.

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the release of 17 Chinese Muslims held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The appeals court granted the Bush administration's emergency request for a stay of a federal judge's order that the members of the Uighur ethnic group be released into the United States at the end of this week.

In a sharp rebuke to the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled on Tuesday there was no evidence the detainees, who have been held at Guantanamo for nearly seven years, were "enemy combatants" or a security risk.

He ordered that the prisoners be brought to his courtroom for a hearing on Friday morning, when they would be freed and allowed to live with Uighur families in the area.

Read On

Detaining people for years without evidence and without pressing charges, incredible. Sounds like America is following the motto: "Guilty until proven innocent."

It's no wonder the rest of the world despises America and what it currently stands for.

Back From Gansu

Andy and I are back in Xi'an after a grueling few days of traveling in Gansu Province. We saw some great stuff in Gansu, but the trip did not go according to plan at all.

We made it to our planned destination - Xiahe and the Labrang Monastery - but not without incident. Xiahe is a heavily fortified military state at the moment. Getting into the city was, well, interesting. While in and around the city we were told that we were the first foreigner visitors to make it to the city in months.

It's a long story how we entered the monastic village (we didn't sneak in or go illegally), and is one I'll explain in more detail at a later date.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to stay in Xiahe or go to Langmusi, another city with Tibetan flare near Xiahe.

So instead of doing more things in Gansu, Andy and I are back in Xi'an. I still have off two more days of work, so in a couple hours we're off to Hua Shan. I've written about Hua Shan extensively on my old blog and have a published article on the place.

This will be my third time to climb the holy mountain. A friend told me last night that this fact proves I'm masochistic. I don't know if I agree with that, I just think Hua Shan is one of the coolest places I've ever been on Earth.

I'll have tons of pictures to post in the coming days.