Qutan Temple: Visiting Xining's Little Forbidden City by Train

Most visitors think of one Forbidden City, the palace in Beijing. Qinghai has its own version, nicknamed the Little Forbidden City, and it actually came first. Qutan Temple near Xining predates the real Forbidden City by about 14 years. This guide covers its history and what makes it different. It also covers how to see it by train on the way out of Xining.

A Brief History of the Forbidden City and Qutan Temple's Little Forbidden City

Construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing began in 1406, at the order of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Workers finished it in 1420. It became home to 24 Ming and Qing emperors over the next five centuries. Rulers barred ordinary subjects from entering, which is where the name comes from.

UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1987. Today, the complex covers about 180 acres and houses nearly 1,000 buildings. That makes it the largest preserved palace complex in the world.

Qutan Temple is a 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Ledu, about an hour from Xining. It uses imperial Ming palace architecture throughout. Construction began around 1392 during the reign of the Hongwu Emperor. That is roughly 14 years before ground broke on the real Forbidden City. The Ming court built it as a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, not a palace. The goal was to strengthen ties with Tibetan Buddhist leaders in the region.

Later emperors kept adding to it. Longguo Hall was modeled directly on Beijing’s Hall of Supreme Harmony. It was completed in 1427, during the reign of Xuande. That is about 35 years after the original temple was built. Inside, a 400-meter mural corridor still holds its original color after roughly 600 years.

The name itself carries meaning. Qutan comes from a Sanskrit word for Buddha, reflecting the temple’s religious purpose from the very start. When construction finished, the emperor sent an inscribed board bearing the temple’s name. Few regional temples ever received that kind of imperial approval. A rammed-earth wall once enclosed the entire complex, and weathered sections still stand today.

That timeline flips the usual assumption. Most travel writing calls the Qutan Temple a copy of the Forbidden City. The temple existed first, and only one hall inside it was borrowed from Beijing decades later. That resemblance runs in the opposite direction from what the nickname suggests. The two buildings share a name and a layout philosophy, but very different stories. For travelers, that timeline turns a routine stop into a small history lesson before boarding.

Silk Road Express: How the Train Fits In

Qutan Temple is not a train stop. It works because of when it happens, not because the train reaches it directly. On the Bustling Beginning Luxury Train Tour, travelers choose between two morning excursions. Both happen before boarding the train that afternoon. One option is Qutan Temple itself. The other is the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau Natural History Museum.

Travelers who pick Qutan Temple spend the morning at the temple, then return to Xining by early afternoon. The Silk Road Express departs that same afternoon, carrying travelers toward Hami. From there, the route continues deeper into Xinjiang, toward Luntai and Kashgar.

Seeing the older Forbidden City right before boarding gives the whole week a kind of bookend. The trip opens with a 600-year-old palace built before the famous one. It then moves into the desert landscapes that follow.

This sequencing matters more than it sounds. Most visitors who visit Qutan Temple on their own do so as a single-day trip from Xining. Then they fly out. Pairing it with the train changes that.

The morning becomes the first page of a longer story, not a standalone stop. Travelers sleep aboard the train that first night, waking up already closer to Hami than Xining. There is no hotel changeover, no repacking, just the next leg of the same trip.

Boarding follows the same 40-minute, valid-ID rule as any other stop on this route.

What Makes Qutan Temple Different From the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was a home. Qutan Temple is a place of worship, and that single difference shapes everything else about it.

Beijing’s palace housed emperors, their families, and thousands of staff. Visitors today walk through empty halls built for daily court life. Qutan Temple still functions as an active Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Monks live and pray inside it right now, not centuries ago.

The architecture borrows the same idea, a central axis with halls front to back. The details split apart fast after that. Beijing uses imperial yellow roof tiles, reserved only for the emperor. Qutan Temple mixes Han-style red walls and gray tiles with Tibetan Buddhist murals and prayer wheels. A 200-meter corridor alone holds 108 gilded wheels. Nothing like that exists inside the real Forbidden City.

Visitor numbers tell the rest of the story. The Forbidden City draws roughly 14 million visitors a year, sometimes more. Qutan Temple sits far enough from any major city that crowds rarely form, even during peak season. Anyone who wants the same architectural style without the lines gets it here instead.

Qutan Temple is not the only major monastery in Qinghai worth knowing about. Kumbum Monastery, closer to Xining itself, holds a different kind of significance tied to Tibetan Buddhism’s Gelug school. The two sites make a useful pair for travelers curious about the region’s religious history.

A popular legend claims the Forbidden City has 9,999 rooms, just short of heaven’s mythical 10,000. Architectural surveys count closer to 8,886. Qutan Temple keeps no such legend. Its halls are few enough to count by hand.

Forbidden City vs. Qutan Temple at a Glance

Numbers contrast easiest to absorb. Each row below reflects verified figures, not rough estimates.

Both share the same axial layout philosophy. Everything else about them runs in a different direction.

What to See Inside the Qutan Temple

Visitors enter through the Mountain Gate, guarded by carved Vajra warrior statues. Their job is to block bad energy from the sacred halls beyond. The path runs straight back along the central axis, the same layout principle as the Forbidden City.

Baoguang Hall comes first along the axis, completed in 1418 and named personally by Emperor Yongle. A gilded bronze Buddha he gifted to the hall once stood inside it. Longguo Hall sits further back. It is the tallest building in the complex, modeled after Beijing’s Hall of Supreme Harmony. It was finished in 1427, under Yongle’s grandson, Emperor Xuande.

The real draw for most visitors is the mural corridor. It runs 400 meters, painted entirely in mineral pigment. The colors have barely faded in roughly 600 years. Locals call it the Dunhuang of the Plateau, after the more famous cave paintings further west.

A separate 200-meter corridor holds 108 gilded prayer wheels. Spinning them in sequence is part of the visit, not an optional extra. Hats and sunglasses must be removed before entering any hall. Photography is not allowed in the main hall. Most visits last two to three hours, enough time to see every hall without rushing.

Outside the gates, local Tibetan vendors sell fresh yak yogurt by the bowl. Mountain temperatures swing widely between day and night. A light jacket is worth packing even in warmer months. Travelers who want more on the region’s Buddhist heritage can find it in our guide. It covers historic Buddhist sites across Qinghai and Gansu.

Conclusion

Qutan Temple earns its nickname honestly, just not in the direction most people assume. It came before the Forbidden City, not after. It also still functions as a living monastery, not a museum piece. Visiting it on the morning of a Silk Road Express departure changes that.

A single fact becomes something you actually see. The train ride that follows runs out through Hami and on toward Kashgar. That makes the morning feel like the first chapter of a longer story. It is not a side trip squeezed in before a flight. It is a quiet way to start a much louder trip.

FAQs

Is the Qutan Temple older than the Forbidden City?

Yes. Qutan Temple's construction began around 1392, while the Forbidden City broke ground in 1406. That makes Qutan Temple roughly 14 years older than the palace most people associate with the name. This single fact is the reason most comparisons between the two buildings exist in the first place.

Why is Qutan Temple called the Little Forbidden City?

It shares the Forbidden City's imperial axial layout, with halls arranged front to back along a central line. The Ming court built it using the same Han palatial architectural style. The court then added Tibetan Buddhist religious elements on top of that base. Few other Tibetan Buddhist monasteries anywhere share this exact architectural mix.

How do I get to Qutan Temple from Xining?

Qutan Temple sits near Ledu, about an hour's drive from Xining. Both private cars and local buses make the trip. Travelers on the Silk Road Express visit it as part of a guided Day 2 excursion. They board the train that same afternoon.

Is Qutan Temple still an active monastery?

Yes. Monks live and practice there today, unlike the Forbidden City, which now functions only as a museum. Visitors should remove hats and sunglasses before entering the halls, and photography is restricted inside the main hall.