Located at the foot of Foping Mountain (Fúpíng Shān 佛屏山) just near Zhongdian, Songzanlin Temple (Sōngzànlín Sì, 松赞林寺), also known as the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, is the largest Buddhist monastery in Yunnan, and is modeled closely on the Potala Palace in Lhasa.

Originally built in 1679, the Songzanlin complex, ordained and inhabited by the fifth Dalai Lama, sits at an elevation of 3,300 m (10,827 ft) and boasts three temples and an eight-meter-high statue of Sakyamuni.

Home to some 700 Tibetan Buddhist monks, Songzanlin was severely damaged during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The majority of the temple has since been restored.

The monastery is just a short walk out of Zhongdian, also known as Shangri-La, down a dirt path and around a small hill. Once you make the turn, an entire village of monks appears before you, stretched out across the face of the mountain.

The village is a collection of small, cozy dwellings where the monks live when not in the monastery attending to religious affairs. The monastery itself is massive and rarely crowded; the view from the top terrace takes in the entire Tibetan sky, fuzzy green mountains that disappear into purple peaks and the fluttering prayer flags of the faithful.

The entrance fee is charged a little arbitrarily, but be prepared to cough up RMB 85 nontheless. The monastery grounds are usually very quiet and if you walk amongst the small lanes of the monks' village you will see solitary monks sitting, chanting and brushing their teeth; groups of monks chatting, laughing or reciting prayers and the occasional yak, wandered in to munch on weeds.

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