From Wikitravel

Tongren (銅仁) is a city in Huangnan Prefecture, Qinghai Province.

[edit] Get in

• Tongren can only be reached by road. The closest major city is Xining, about four hours away by bus.

[edit] Get around

• The town of Tongren is small enough to walk, but to visit the painting monasteries you'll need to either hire a cab or catch a ride in a minibus. Both frequently roam the Tongren's streets, and it's easy enough to flag one down. Expect to about 5 RMB a person each way.

[edit][add listing] See

• The only reason to visit Tongren is to see thangkas painted. These elborate Buddhist works of art have been created here for centuries, and the town is still considered the best place in the Tibetan world to buy one.

• Studios are concentrated in and around the Wutong Monastery, in the village of Sangkeshan 10 km outside of town. There's an upper and lower monastery, of which the upper is far more impressive. Neither charge admission, but monks will offer to take you to studio. There's no pressure to buy anything, and you can watch as long as you like.

[edit][add listing] Do

• Tongren's main market is a lively place, with fruit stands and fun restaurants.
• There's a performance arts theater at the south end of the main market, but there are few shows outside of the summer tourist season.

[edit][add listing] Buy

• Thangkas. The best deals are straight from the artist at Wutong. Your main options are to buy a pre-made thangka or to commission one. Not all artists will have pre-made goods to sell, and the most popular ones may have years worth of reservations. It takes one month to create a small painting and up to four for a large one, but thankfully the artists all have e-mails, phones and fax machines, so it's possible to ship your work of art overseas whenever it's completed. These paintings run anywhere from 500 RMB to 10,000 RMB, depending on size, quality and reputation of the artist. Shop around.
• The town's main market has a couple of shockingly fashionable botiques, including a clothing store owned by a Tibetan with excellent English on the center of the main street. China's heavy army presence in these parts also means there's plenty of second-hand military stores in town.

[edit][add listing] Eat

• Hui food dominates, with dozens of noodle stands on every street.
• A few unnamed Tibetan places are hidden in small alleys, look for the people eating on couches instead of tables.

[edit][add listing] Drink

[edit][add listing] Sleep

• Walk north (uphill) from the bus station to reach a string of Chinese guesthouses. They charge between 10-30 RMB per bed, per night. Watch out because many of these have early curfews and rather primitive bathroom facilites.
• A couple proper hotels are in the market area, with better rooms and slightly higher prices.
• The Sanxin Binguan on Zhongshan Lu near the main market appears to not accept foreign guests. However, the Dianxin Binguan (130Y double, includes free within-country long distance and in-room internet access) and Huangnan Binguan (80Y double) both accept foreign guests.

[edit] Get out

• Buses run to Xiahe and Xining daily.

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