Tibetan abbot becomes ill as pollution near Qinghai's Kumbum monastery worsens

After spending 15 years at Qinghai’s historic Kumbum monastery, birthplace of religious teacher Tsongkhapa and a popular tourist destination, Tibetan abbot Kumbumtenli lama said worsening pollution from nearby factories has forced him to consider leaving the monastery - something that never occurred to him before.

The Kumbumtenli lama took some disturbing photographs during the past week, which were later posted on his Weibo account. These show black smoke being emitted from factory chimneys. They also show Xining’s Huangzhong township, where the monastery is located, shrouded in a thick layer of smog.

Factories, only several kilometres away in nearby Ganhe Industrial Park, have been secretly discharging pollutants in the evenings, according to locals. This has infuriated Kumbumtenli and other Huangzhong residents.

“The air smells foul now in the morning when I wake up,” said Kumbumtenli lama, who along with several fellow abbots, became ill this week.“I've got a headache, and feel like vomiting,” he said. “I couldn’t open my eyes or eat."