Kumbum Monastery — Ta'er Si in Chinese — is one of the six most important monasteries in Tibetan Buddhism and the most significant religious site near Xining. It stands 25 kilometres south of the city in the town of Huangzhong, on the site where Tsongkhapa, the 14th-century monk who founded the Gelug school, was born. A great chorten marks his exact birthplace; a juniper tree growing through the chorten is said to have sprung from drops of the infant's blood. Several hundred monks are in residence, and the monastery complex covers a large hillside with more than a dozen chapels.
The highlights among the chapels are the Great Gold Roof Temple, with its enormous gilded roof visible from the town below; the Three Roots Temple, with celebrated butter-sculpture displays; and the Jowo Sakyamuni Temple, which holds the monastery's oldest and most venerated images. The butter sculptures are remarkable works — detailed three-dimensional tableaux made from coloured yak butter, renewed annually for the Lantern Festival in the first lunar month. Admission is 80 yuan; allow at least half a day, ideally a full day.