Eric's Beijing Diary

It's called the Everest Cafe. It is part of the Overseas Tibetan Hotel here in Xiahe. This place has three basic cuisines: Western, Chinese, and Nepali. If you ever come here, have the Mutton Curry Set. It's pretty good, and not too spicy. And the banana milkshake will help neutralize the spice. Don't even think about having breakfast here.

Xiahe is known for the Labrang monastery, which is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside of Tibet (I'm supposed to sound excited when I say that). I tend to feel that foreigners are overawed by Tibetan Buddhism, but it could be said that I am underawed, because I grew up next to a Buddhist temple. But this monastery is big, you sure can't deny that.

I did the tour today. I thought it was a bit expensive (40 RMB), but it was useful in a way, because the monk who led the tour spoke English, and he was able to answer some questions I had based on what I had seen in Langmusi.