Tongren

Tongren, known in Tibetan as Rebgong, is the centre of a painting tradition several centuries old in which whole villages, particularly Wutun and Nianduhu, live by making religious art: thangka scroll paintings, murals, appliqué and sculpture, with techniques passed from master to apprentice within families and boys often starting in childhood. Regong arts were inscribed by UNESCO in 2009. Workshops are open along the village lanes with painters at work on stretched canvases, grinding mineral pigments and applying gold. Wutun monastery and Longwu monastery hold examples in place, and the June festival brings village dancing and rituals.

History

The Regong arts - painting, sculpture, carving, architecture and embroidery on Tibetan Buddhist subjects - trace their origins to the 10th century and belong to the communities of Tongren, known to Tibetans as Rebgong, and the villages along the Rongwo River. Their best-known form is the thangka, painted with pigments from plants and minerals and with gold, and in 2009 the Regong arts were added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage (Wikipedia, Regong arts).

Highlights

• The painting workshops - thangka in progress in village houses.
• The mineral pigments - stone colours ground and mixed by hand.
• Wutun and Longwu monasteries - murals and sculpture in situ.
• The summer festival - village rituals and dancing in June.

When to go

April to October for mild weather; the Regong festival falls in the sixth lunar month, usually around July, and is the liveliest time. Winter is cold at 2,500 metres.

What to expect

Workshops are working businesses and expect sales interest. Prices for genuine hand-painted thangka are high, and printed copies are sold as originals in tourist shops. Photography inside monasteries is restricted.

Nearby

Kanbula lies north; Xining is northwest.