Yarchen Gar – the largest nunnery in Tibet

Yarchen Gar Nunnery was built in 1985. It is located in Acha Village in Baiyu Xian, Garze Prefecture of western Sichuan Province. It is 122km east to Baiyu Xian and 120km west to Ganzi Xian. There are about 20,000 Nuns live here. Nuns in Tibetan are called Juemu. Yarchen Gar Nunnery is famed by its huge numbers of red houses and cubes built by the Juemus. The “Island” is its iconic presence to the outside world. The houses on the island are the dormitories of the nuns here. The river is called Changqu River. It is listed along with Larung Gar (Sertar Buddhist School) as the biggest Tibetan Buddhist Schools.

Different from Larung Gar, constructions in Yarchen Gar Nunnery are built along the rivers. It is built on the Zhangtai Grassland with rolling mountains around. It has an altitude of about 3900 meters above sea level, a quite cold place even in summer.

You often see the nuns and monks chanting in the morning and in the evening. Every year in the 6th month of the Tibetan Lunar Calendar, there is a Ritual Dance in Yarchen Gar Nunnery. It is a dance conducted by religious people wearing masks and the dances are meant to expel the evil spirits and to accumulate blessings. The other activity is the 100-day meditation conducted by the nuns at the beginning of every November. It is very stunning views when the nuns do the class together and the gatherings before the meditation.

Recommended length of visit: hours or days depending on what you do there. If you are on a photo tour, you are recommended to stay 1 to 2 days if you want to do a north-south hiking to Tsopu Lake, it requires 5–7 days.

It is open to visitors all year round.