Repair work commences on Qinghai's Taer monastery

XINING: Repair work on Taer Monastery, one of the six best-known monasteries of the Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, was launched on Thursday, the third such initiative since 1992.

Maintenance and restoration of two major buildings in the 400-year-old monastery in the northwestern province of Qinghai will be completed next year. However, when to launch the second stage - to repair two other key constructions - will depend on the progress of the current work, according to an official with the project's administration office.

A four-year, large-scale repair plan for the monastery was launched in 1992 at a cost of 37 million yuan ($5.3 million). The second project was launched in 2001 on a main palace, involving more than 30 million yuan.