Painter's pilgrimage

Photos recording Li Xiaoke's journeys are also shown at the ongoing exhibition.

Liu points to one photo that had been taken during her husband's 11-day excursion in Qinghai in 1990, spotting an old down jacket he wore to keep himself warm in the freezing cold of that winter, and says the jacket was hers.

"Sometimes because of poor communication, we lost contact, and I didn't know his whereabouts for a couple of days. It also happened when he traveled years later," she says, adding that such trips were expensive. "We sold our cameras to raise money for transportation."

Li Xiaoke returned from his most recent trip last year. He has developed a heart problem and therefore is unable to undertake another expedition this year.

He often made sketches on paper sitting outside the monasteries he visited. Several of these meters-long ink works done over the past two years are also on show at the current exhibition.

Luo Yicheng, a friend and commentator on culture, says that when looking at Li Xiaoke's lengthy sketches, one would feel that sketching is not something that can be done leisurely, it is like pilgrimage during which one should respect every life and embrace kindness, just like Li does.