Jason Tu's Tibetan Journey

At his next stop at Gengqing monastery in Dege, Sichuan province, Jason discovered sand mandalas, a practice in Tibetan Buddhism he had never before witnessed. "People are seldom allowed to see these or take pictures, it's kind of a secret ritual," he says.

Sand mandalas are intricate concentric diagrams made out of colorful sand for certain prayer rituals in Tibetan Buddhism. Jason says ten lamas at this monastery worked for 10 days to create the design, and then prayed for 12 days before destroying their creation.

Jason originally came to Dege to visit some old friends who are lamas in Genqing monastery. During his stay, they invited him to watch the process of printing sacred Buddhist texts; Dege is one of only three monasteries in China that print Buddhist texts. "Dege is famous for being the largest printer of Tibetan Buddhist texts," Jason says.

Thousands of ancient Buddhist text printing blocks are also housed on the site.

From Dege, Jason traveled to the city of Lhasa, and then finished his journey in Nepal, where he took pictures of the Himalayan Mountains at sunrise.

Now back in Beijing, he's already started to plan his next trip to the region for later this year. In the meantime, his stunning photographs of the Tibetan culture and landscape have been added to his already vast collection of trip photos, and he's happy to share his travel experiences and photographs with anyone who visits his store.

Opened in November of 2010, Mandala Tangka is a tiny shop on Wudaoying Hutong packed full of authentic Tibetan art, small souvenirs, and jewelry from Tibet, Nepal, and India. The shop, which Jason runs with friends, has become his labor of love; through his shop, he hopes visitors learn a little bit more about Tibetan culture. "So far so good," he says about his business.

But, learning is a journey; with each trip west, he returns with more spectacular photos and amazing stories about Tibetan culture in its less-traveled areas.