Out of breath, he places his palms together and looks toward the snow-capped Mount Qomolangma, and enters the main hall of the monastery, 5,150 meters above sea level in Tingri County in Tibet.

 

And so begins another day for the 36-year-old monk at the world's highest Tibetan Buddhist temple.

 

Ngawang Paljor rises at 8:30 a.m., has a light breakfast and chants sutra in the main hall until noon. After lunch, he rests in the dormitory. It is summer, but a heater is still needed at such a high altitude. Modern technology, even something as simple as an electric heater, is still seen as novelty in the monastery.

 

After a postprandial snooze, the monk resumes his chanting in the main hall until 4 p.m.. Rongpo Monastery is currently home to 13 monks and 14 nuns. Meals are simple and vegetarian. Supper consists of rice, green vegetables and fried wood ear mushrooms.

 

 

While his life seems a world away from China's megacities, a MacBook and smartphone reveal that monastic life is not totally divorced from modernity. At night, his studies complete, he practices typing in Tibetan script on his laptop and chats to friends all over China via the instant messaging app WeChat.

 

The monastery provides each monk or nun with a monthly stipend ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 yuan (around 290 - 440 U.S. dollars). While Ngawang Paljor cares more about inner peace and the opportunity to read and understand the unique scriptures of monastery, his smartphone is also a most welcome blessing.