Shangri-La: The Lost Horizon

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We got up early on the morning of October 26, and I said goodbye to Selective Tours' Managing Director Christine who was to return to Sydney. I, however, was lucky enough to be embarking on a short tour of other areas in the province. Our first stop this day was Kunming Airport, where we boarded our flight to Shangri-La.

Shangri-La is the main county in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Dêqên, which is situated in north-west Yunnan, bordering Sichuan and Tibet. It can be reached by air from Kunming, with flights taking approximately one hour. The county was named Zhongdian until 2001, when it was renamed Shangri-La as it claims to be the inspiration for the fictional Shangri-La described in the 1933 novel ‘Lost Horizon’ by British author James Hilton. In the novel, Shangri-La is described as a mystical, peaceful valley enclosed in the Kunlun Mountains, and the name has since come to represent an isolated spiritual utopia.

Visiting the real Shangri-La does feel like stepping into a spiritual legend, far removed from modern China. The county has a very high altitude, with an elevation of 3200m, and the majority of the small population is Tibetan. The Buddhist influence is felt everywhere, with prayer flags tied to trees, rocks, and Tibetan style houses that dot the sparse countryside.

I had a true spiritual experience in Shangri-La by visiting Songzanlin Monastery, the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan. The monastery covers an area of 33 hectares, and is a faithful imitation of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. It was built from 1679 to 1681 and at one stage over 3000 monks lived and studied within its walls. The monastery contains many treasures, such as large gold-covered sculptures of the Buddha and intricate wall murals. A visit requires a climb up many steep steps, but it is worth the hike for the reverent experience inside the worship halls, where you can see monks chanting and lighting candles, and ordinary visitors presenting prayers and offerings.



A visit to the pristine Potatso National Park, 22 kilometres from the centre of Shangri-La, was also be a spiritual experience, albeit in a different way. The park opened in 2008 and is virtually untouched; a haven from the outside world. It is home to an incredible diversity of plants and animals, and each season brings a different kind of beauty, whether it be spring and summer flowers, the vivid red and yellow colours of autumn, or a blanket of snow in winter. Eco-friendly hop-on/off buses take visitors around the park, to sites such as Shudu Lake, where the clear water perfectly reflects the surrounding trees and hills, to Militang, a lookout over tranquil grazing land, and the Bita Lake viewing platform, which provides an unparalleled view over a brilliant blue lake, surrounded by forest, with snow-capped mountains to the side. Development of the park is still continuing, with campsites and longer walking trails expected to open in the coming years.

After visiting these two amazing sites, we boarded our private bus to Lijiang. Although I was excited to see Lijiang, I was sad not to spend longer in Shangri-La: it truly was an incredible place, a completely different side of China, and somewhere I would definitely recommend visiting.

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