Songzanlin — known in Chinese as Songzanlin Si and in Tibetan as Ganden Sumtseling Gompa — is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan. The complex sits on a hillside about five kilometres north of the town, with a row of whitewashed monastic dwellings climbing the slope below the gilded roofs of the main temple halls. It is often called the "Little Potala" in tourist material, which oversells it slightly, but the resemblance to the great monasteries of Lhasa is real and the setting is striking.
Allow two or three hours. The walk from the entrance up to the main temples is steep and at 3,300 metres altitude; pace yourself. Inside the main halls the air is heavy with yak butter and incense; the chant of the monks during morning prayers (around 7 a.m.) is the right time to come if you can manage the hour. Modest dress, no photography inside the prayer halls.