The Secret Realm of Western Sichuan Meets an 87-Meter-High Wall of Faith in Aba

As the wheels roll over the last stretch of prayer flag road, the gilded roof of Gemo Monastery pierces the clouds—this Guinness World Record-holding connected Buddha hall uses its 87-meter vertical height to embody the meaning of "sacred oppression." The giant red, white, and yellow walls resemble the armor of a celestial deity; walking beneath them feels like the tiny humans in "Attack on Titan" gazing up at the colossal wall.

🗺️ Sacred Pilgrimage Route

🛕 Half-Day Shock Line (3-hour immersive version)
Morning: Aba County → Gemo Monastery prayer wheel corridor (push thousands of copper cylinders) → Photo shoot of the giant wall from behind the Faxiyuan → Visit the Maitreya Hall to worship the 27-meter indoor seated Buddha
Afternoon: Eight Meritorious Water Pavilion to drink holy water → Debate Hall to watch the red robes flutter → Wait for the golden roof to swallow the sunlight

📿 Deep Practice Line (6-hour full version)
Additional stops: Tibetan Sutra Pavilion to see palm-leaf scriptures → Butter Flower Workshop to participate in making → Meditation Center to experience morning lessons → Sacred mountain behind the monastery to hang prayer flags

🏰 Architectural Code Interpretation

▎ Connected Buddha Hall—Vertical Faith
• 87 meters tall, equivalent to 30 floors; the gilded roof used 300 kilograms of gold
• Best photo spot: stone steps on the west side of Faxiyuan, golden light piercing clouds at 4 PM

▎ Inside the Maitreya Hall

· 27-meter-high indoor seated Buddha with pupils inlaid with luminous pearls, sparkling like a starry river in the dark
· Dome features a 680㎡ thangka of "Shambhala Pure Land," requiring a fisheye lens to capture

▎ Hidden Treasures
✅ North prayer wheel: contains 17th-century handwritten "Kangyur," requires full strength to turn
✅ Underground palace mandala: gilded sandalwood carving of the "Wheel of Time Vajra Mandala," open only on ritual days

🧈 Monastery Taste Memories

▎ Offerings Before Buddha
• Butter tea after morning lessons (monks serve pilgrims with brass pots)
• Sweet dew pills (made from tsampa mixed with herbs, can be taken away as offerings)

▎ Authentic Aba Flavors
✅ Traditional Tibetan restaurant: beef stew with blood sausage (dipped in chili powder with barley cakes)
✅ Halal noodle slices: handmade noodles stewed with wild mushrooms (broth made from yak bones)
✅ Butter tea house: sweet tea in pots served with curd cake (best enjoyed squatting in the sunshine)

▎ Experience Choices
• Meditation Center: vegetarian set meal (walnut-fried bracken + yogurt rice)
• Tent outside the monastery: DIY tsampa (served with sea buckthorn sauce and wild honey)

💡 Pilgrimage Pass Guide

🚗 Transportation
5-hour drive from Chengdu (recommended to stay in Aba County to acclimate to altitude)
Monastery parking is free, but during peak season arrive before 9 AM

📿 Etiquette
Circumambulate the hall clockwise (counterclockwise disturbs the chanting monks)
When photographing Buddha statues, first join palms and nod; after permission, turn off the flash

🎒 Equipment
Wide-angle lens (for architectural panoramas) + polarizing filter (to reduce golden roof glare)
Portable oxygen bottle (climbing the Buddha hall is like continuously climbing 30 floors)

🌄 Secret Moment
After fresh snow: red walls covered in snow look like the deity has changed into silver armor
During rituals (Tibetan calendar 1st/15th): witness the scene of a thousand monks chanting

When the sunset burns the 87-meter giant wall crimson,
you understand that faith
is what gives tiny humans
the courage to gaze up at the sky.