Rongbuk Monastery

It is located at the end of the Rongbuk glacier, the north of Mt. Qomolangma with its altitude of 5154 meters, which is a distance of 20 km to the summit of Mt. Qomolangma. The monastery is divided into two parts: the new and the old parts. The old part is 3 km to the south of the new one which is rather close to Mt. Qomolangma, where Padmasambava’s cultivating cave in the past, a piece of stone with his handprint and footprint and a stone pagoda, still well-preserved. The new part was completed in 1902. In the past, the Rongbuk Monastery was quite scaled in construction with more than ten branch monasteries. However, some of them are now still in Nepal and been destroyed somehow for historical reasons. Today, there are eight branch monasteries of Rongbuk including a nunnery. Due to the favorable distance to Mt. Qomolangma, the Rongbuk is taken as the base camp for the mountaineers who may climb the Everest peak from its north slope. Looking into a distance southward from here, travellers may find out the location, which is the best spot to enjoy scenery or take a good picture of Mt. Qomolangma.