Shangri-La’ is from Tibetan Language. It means ‘the moon and the sun of heart’. In the novel The Lost Horizon, written by American novelist James·Hilton, it described that ‘the first place, the sun shining on, is Jiantang in the Orient; the fairyland in the world is Shangri-La, near the Naizi River’. Countless people’s hearts are yearning for the wonderful land. It is the synonym of Utopia and fairyland.
Shangri-La is honored with the title of ‘the Garden of High Mountain’, ‘Kingdom of Plants and Animals’ and ‘Non-ferrous Metal Kingdom’. Start from Dali and drive northwards 315 kilometers along the Yunnan-Tibet highway, and then reach the center town in Shangri-La County (Zhongdian), the capital of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It is 659 kilometers far from Kunming and takes 50 minutes by plane. The total number of the attractions in Shangri-La is 24. It is rich in natural sceneries and cultural sceneries. It is one of the eight national tourism hotlines.
Shangri-La is situated in the southeast of the Tibet Plateau and the northern end of the southern part of Hengduan Mountains which is the central region of Three Parallel Rivers. Shangri-La is a unique multi-function scenic spot which combined snow mountains, canyon, grasslands, mountain lakes, primitive forest and ethnic customs as a whole. There are many snow mountains in Shangri-La scenic spot, the highest hill—Kawakarpo is in it. Just in the Shangri-La County, the number of snow mountains over 4,000 meters is 470. Gorges in the area are deep and dangerous. The famous ones are Tiger Leaping Gorge of Jinsha River and the Gorge of Lantsang River. The vast mountain grasslands, luxuriant primitive forest and mountain lakes make the natural sceneries of Diqing appear more magical and beautiful. In Shangri-La lives Tibetan, Lisu, Han, Naxi, Yi, Bai, Hui and so on, about 13 ethnic groups. They have a united and harmonious relationship. They keep their ethnic customs and have formed their own special culture.
Shangri-La Attractions
Bita Sea
Napa Sea
Benzilan
Shangri-La Story
1. the culture of Shangri-La
About 1,000 years ago, there is a record about the word ‘Shangri-La’ in relevant Tibetan materials. While since the publication of the novel The Lost Horizon, the word became a symbol of eternal, peace and quiet. The most authoritative dictionary, Dictionary of British Writer, created the word ‘Xanadu’, according to the novel. Afterwards Hollywood studios bought the copyright and made a movie of The Lost Horizon. Therefore Shangri-La quickly swept the world and everyone knows it. The song of ‘This is the beautiful Shangri-La’ is sung all around the world. And then the Hong Kong entrepreneur, Guo Family, bought the word Shangri-La and used it as the name of hotel. Since then Shangri-La became a symbol of the best hotel brand in the world. That also proved the significant humanities meaning of The Lost Horizon. From then on the word Shangri-La became the symbol of ‘the Garden of Eden’, ‘Xanadu’, and ‘Utopia’.
2. The legend of Shangri-La
The story is that about 60 years ago, some British came to a strange place by accident. It belonged to Tibetan area and was surrounded by snow mountains. And under the bottom of gorge has gold. In this isolated place, the local people had a warm welcome for them. In there, time seems meaningless. They felt that they were at the core of the mysterious oriental culture. With deeper understanding, they known time really stopped running there. People in there were amazing longevity. They met with the spirit leader of the area in a Lama Temple. The leader was a living Buddha. Under the influence of the living Buddha, they were impressed by the oriental culture. They felt they touched the all new side of the world which is surprising and formidable. People lived happily in the gorge, and quietly enjoyed the gift of the sun and snow mountains. They were dismissive of gold. The Lama Temple leaded the gorge, forming Shangri-La society. The main residents of Shangri-La were Tibetan. Although their beliefs and customs were different, they got along with each other and loved each other. They were united and happy.
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