Each Wednesday at 5 a.m. at the Puning Monastery, the largest of its kind in north China and home to the world's largest gold-lacquered woodcutting Kwan-yin (Buddha) figure, the lamas start their day when the bell tolls 108 times.
"To toll the bell for 108 times helps to release us from the 108 kinds of sub-celestial woes," said Losang Shiqung, a 45-year-old lama with bright, smiling eyes in a red cassock and black Mongolian boots. "Sutra (Buddha's doctrine) says, on hearing the bell, woes vanish, wisdom blooms and bodhi grows."
After his breakfast of Tibetan milk tea and steamed bread, he serves tribute to the Buddha figures. Behind him, young monks are seated still and their chanting voices echo in a classroom of the monastery.
Puning is one of 12 temples and monasteries around the famed Imperial Mountain Resort. It was constructed between 1713 and 1780 by emperors of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in Chengde City of the northern Hebei Province, about 200 kilometers from Beijing. The temples and lamaseries were built in the hopes of improving ethnic solidarity as Lamaism was a major religion during the Qing Dynasty.
The monastery has been filled with the sound of chanting voices for more than two centuries now.
At present, 80 lamas live in the monastery, most of whom are Mongols. There is also five Tibetans and two of the Tu nationality. All speak fluent Tibetan and Mongolian languages.
Overlooked by a figure of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, the lamas chant sutras in the grand monastery, which bears the name "worldwide peace".
"We pray for prosperity for the country, peace for the people, and benefits for everyone." said Losang Shiqung.