highlights of qinghai: xining , birds islands of qinghai lake, xining,ta'er monastery,yark butter flower,murals,thangka,tiaoqian, guomari shilun buddhism tower,longwu temple,
besides
mural art, ta’er monastery is also renowned for its “butter flower” and
raised embroidery. together these three constitute the “three peerless art
forms at ta’er monastery”. the so-called butter flower is not the flower of
a plant, but sculptures of buddha, flowers, birds and buildings made from
yak butter. traditionally, such handiwork was exhibited only on the night of
the 15th day of the 1st lunar month and then were burned the next day. now
ta’er monastery has an exhibition center where visitors can see all kinds of
brightly-coloured lifelike butter sculptures at any time, and pilgrims can
also go and worship them.