Ah Ma La

Top choice in Xining


Delish Tibetan food, tacky decor, English-speaking Tibetan boss, picture menu. That pretty much sums up the Ah Ma La experience. Slide into a booth seat and order up authentic Tibetan dishes such as yak tongue and mómo (馍馍, dumplings) and wash it down with Lhasa beer. The restaurant is along Nanshan Donglu, opposite the Tibetan Hospital.

At the time of writing, Ah Ma La was opening another restaurant just round the corner on Jianxin Lu.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Xining attractions

1. Xining City Wall

0.53 MILES

One or two isolated sections of Xining’s Tang dynasty city wall still remain, the most accessible being this short stretch within a park on Kunlun Zhonglu…

2. Nanguan Mosque

0.84 MILES

This beautiful and recently constructed mosque is really quite an astonishing sight. Built from marble and a variety of other stones and carved tilework,…

3. Dongguan Grand Mosque

0.96 MILES

As becomes quickly evident to even the most casual observer, about one-third of Xining’s population is Muslim, and although the city's biggest mosque may…

4. Golden Stupa Temple

0.98 MILES

This small temple on the south side of Hongjuesi Jie was named after a long-destroyed golden chörten (Tibetan stupa). It's now used as a place of study by…

5. Nánshān Gōngyuán

1.1 MILES

This park, which is also known as Fènghuáng Shān (凤凰山), rises above Xining south of town. The grounds are home to two Buddhist temples: Nánchán Sì and…

6. Nanchan Temple

1.34 MILES

Standing atop Phoenix Mountain, this Buddhist temple overlooks Xining from the south. The temple was built during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127),…

7. Beichan Tulou Temple

2.53 MILES

This Taoist temple at the foot of a barren hill on Xining’s north side is nothing special but halfway up the steep climb to the top you pass cave temples…

8. Qinghai Provincial Museum

2.57 MILES

At the east end of Xinning Sq (Xīnníng Guǎngchǎng), this provincial museum looks like an ominous government building from afar. Once inside, galleries…