Huangzhong is the town 25 kilometres south of Xining that grew around Kumbum Monastery and has been defined by it for seven centuries. Most visitors come only for the monastery itself, but the town's older streets — particularly the market lanes below the monastery car park — have a texture worth spending an hour in. Stalls sell Tibetan Buddhist objects (prayer wheels, incense, thangkas of varying quality), Tibetan clothing, and food.
The town fills with pilgrims and visitors during major Tibetan Buddhist festivals, particularly the butter sculpture festival in the first lunar month (usually January or February). At festival times the streets are dense with monks in burgundy robes, Tibetan nomads in traditional dress, and domestic Chinese tourists. Outside festival season the town is quiet and the narrow lanes around the monastery are pleasant to walk.