The Dege Parkhang, founded in 1729 by the eighth king of Derge, is one of the three great printing houses of Tibetan Buddhism — the others being in Lhasa and Narthang — and by many accounts the most important for textual preservation. The building contains over 140,000 carved wooden printing blocks, including scriptures, historical texts, and medical treatises representing all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism plus the pre-Buddhist Bon tradition. Roughly seventy percent of all surviving Tibetan literary heritage is said to be held here.
The printing process is entirely manual. Workers sit in rows in low-ceilinged rooms, inking the carved wooden blocks with a horsehair brush and pressing sheets of paper with a single smooth motion. A skilled worker can produce several hundred pages per hour. The paper itself — made from a local plant called stellera — is naturally insect-repellent and has a lifespan of centuries. Visitors can watch the work from the doorways; the smell of the ink and the rhythmic sound of block against paper are immediate and distinctive. Photography of the blocks and workers is restricted but the act of watching is freely permitted.
Entry is inexpensive — typically around ¥60 — and includes a circuit of the upper floors where some of the blocks are displayed. The building is a working enterprise, not a museum, and it operates with monastic discipline. Dress conservatively and move quietly.