Toling Temple, meaning "flying in the sky and never fall", is located by the Langchen Zangbo River, northwest of Zanda County in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China. It was the first Buddhist temple to be built in Ngari Prefecture in the Guge Kingdom (10th – 17th century). In 1996 it was classified as a "national level first class cultural relic protection unit".

For centuries, nature and man have damaged Toling, but many temples and towering pagodas still stand there.

The temple has been standing there towering and majestic for centuries although it had been damaged by nature and man.

The King of the Guge Kingdom, Yeshe Wo, and the master of Buddhist scripture translation, Rinchen Sangpo, built Toling Temple in 996 AD. They built it based on the design of Tibet's Samye Monastery.

Toling Temple is a fusion of Indian, Nepalese and Tibetan architectural styles and was built through research of local architecture, sculptures, paintings and other precious materials.

The temple is flat all around. It was originally used to house monks, but now other people live there too.

There are three famous treasures in the Toling Temple The first is an elk antler. It is said that Atisha brought them from India and that they were preached about by the Buddha. The second is The Five Dhyani Buddhas's ivory crown (it symbolizes the crown of the five Dhyani Buddhas). Apparently it was used by the first Khenpo and passed down through the generations; every Khenpo wears it during Buddhist activities. The third is a big black stone, which has a one-inch palm and footprints clearly carved into it. Apparently, they are the footprints of the venerable Atisha.

Tips

Entrance tickets: 50 yuan

Opening times: 8:00 – 19:00

Best time to visit: July - September

Transport: North Zanda County. It can be reached on foot and is roughly 300 meters from the armed forces hostel.

Notes: take appropriate measures to prevent altitude sickness.