Qutan Monastery Travel Guide

Brief Introduction
Located in Qutan Town, Ledu County, 80 kilometers from Xining, Qutan Monastery was built during the reign of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty. Qutan Monastery is units understate protection, and it is famous for the Ming-style buildings, precious relics, and valuable murals of the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Also known as the Lesser Forbidden City, the pattern of the building complex resembles that of the Forbidden City in Beijing, with chapels, halls, pavilions, gallery of murals, Buddhist pagodas, and drum towers scattered symmetrically on both sides of the axis.

The monastery was firstly built in 1392 with a construction area of 27,000 hektare, carrying a history of more than 600 years till now. It keeps the most intact Ming-style building groups in northwestern China.Now, in the Qutan Monastery, there is a 600-year-old stele passing down from Ming Dynasty which records the unusual relationship the monastery had with the Ming Dynasty.

The mural gallery with an area of 360 square meters has a collection of huge painted murals, vividly depicting the life of Sakyamuni. The colors of the murals are still bright after experiencing 600 years of wind and rain.

Features
The Qutan Monastery has been inscribed on the 2nd batch of National Key Protection Cultural Heritage by the State Council in 1982.