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Diary

Tessa Keswick

Wednesday, 8th August 2007

What is up with the once superb Blue Guide that it fails to so much as mention beautiful Qinghai province, up in China’s northwest?

Xining, Qinghai province, China

What is up with the once superb Blue Guide that it fails to so much as mention beautiful Qinghai province, up in China’s northwest? Here a lively mix of minorities make up 46 per cent of the population. Tibetans and Muslim Hui are the most prominent, alongside a sprinkling of Kazakhs and Mongols. At Xining, Ta’er Si (Kumbum) is one of the largest and most important (Tibetan Yellow Hat) Buddhist sites. Labrang, on the grasslands bordering Gansu, another. The exquisite Qutan mon-astery in Ledu county yet another. This is an early Ming complex built with the blessing of the first Ming emperor and the symbols on its roof are gifts in the Han style. At Xining the Great Mosque, the largest in China, has golden emblems on its roof, gifts from the Tibetan lamaserie next door. To ensure further harmony, two out of its four minarets are small Chinese pagodas.

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