Dongzhulin monastery

On the way back from Deqin county back to Zhongdian, we dropped by at the Dongzhulin monastery. The monks here are quite friendly and welcoming. Unlike some of the monasteries i've visited here, who only care about whether you make donations, the monks here were very sincere and took me on a tour around and inside the monastery to see the beautiful mandelas and statues.

Painting on the outer wall of the monastery. These wall murals are done by the monks themselves. While staying in the monastery, apart from learning Buddhism, the monks also learn reading, writing and art. Life here is simple and spartan but at least they receive an education! Many tibetans drop out of school at an early age to start supporting their families, especially in the rural areas. Even if they do stay in school, they do not study the Tibetan language but only the Han chinese language. As a result, these tibetans grow up missing a pice of their culture! The only place you can learn it , it seems is the monastery. The novice monks here have "vacation" time where they go home to visit their families for about 2 months a year. They also have to provide their own necessities, such as robes, stationery, toiletries etc.