Blogs from Shangri-La, Yunnan, China, Asia - page 3

Shangri-la (and Lijiang) – An unexpected diversion but an insight of what is to come in Tibet. Because the heavy rain meant we were unable to trek the Tiger leaping gorge it was a quick impulse decision between myself, Steffi and Bianca to head to Shangri-la for a couple of days to experience the Tibetan culture and undertake a bit of exploration and trekking. The roads leading from Lijiang to Shangri-la are very much under construction, which is a similar story to the rest of China with large scale development everywhere you go. It’s very difficult to describe the roads but basically they are a cross between mud and rocks, when wet it’s like driving through a shallow stream and when it’s dry it is like going through a sand storm. Two hours of these roads ... read more

I am not sure whether it should be Shangrila, Zhongdian or Diqing, i think they are all the same. This place is culturally Tibetans but politically Chinese, the locals speak mostly Tibetans among themselves and Mandarin to the tourists. We flew to Diqing from Kunming by Eastern China Air, ~1 hour flight from Kunming Wujiaba airport. Shangrila was surprisingly cold. We didn't know it would be so cold in late April. Ground temperature was 2ºC. We were approached by a group of taxi drivers and tourist touts as we came out from the airport. We eventually decided to hire a car to take us around Diqing. Our little hotel is named Happy Garden Hotel, we booked online. It's located somewhere close to the Museum and the Big Temple. The hotel location is central and it's also ... read more

Shangri-la is a fictional place; an isolated, utopian paradise in the Himalayas featured in James Hilton’s famous 1933 novel “Lost Horizon”. Sometime around 2001, China decided to capitalize on the tourism boom in Yunnan province (mostly centred around Dali and Lijiang) by claiming that the nearby city of Zhongdian was in-fact the place that inspired Hilton’s novel. They even went as far as changing the name of the city to Shangri-la. And that’s how fiction becomes reality. In reality, the Chinese Shangri-la is very similar to other tourist destinations in Yunnan except with a Tibetan theme. It has the “old” town/new town relationship and a couple of “x-largest” items to add to China’s long list of superlatives. The Ganden Sumtseling Gompa or Songzanlin Monastery is the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan and is supposedly modeled after ... read more

Thur 28 / 10 Lijiang to Shangri La With yet another long day ahead of us it was a 05:30 wake-up call that got us moving and after a quick fix of overnight computer problems it was good to catch up with Christine back home (before being cut short with further computer issues. A fascinating 5 hr bus ride into the heavens as we travelled into Shangri La (previously called Zhongdian) at around 4000 m above sea level The weather was certainly a little colder and the air was thinning out. Lunch was at 3,500m to assist in climatisation of air and temperature After a quick check in at the hotel we continued on an afternoon drive to the beautiful Suodu Lake were we walked along the 2.6 km boardwalk After dinner we visited a Tabitan ... read more

Arrive donc a SL Min, mon CS chez qui je suis parti pour faire une semaine de benevolat, m'accueille et m'invite pas chez lui, mais plutot chez une amie qui tient une guest-house avec terrasse, je dis pas non :o) Un peu eberlue, je decouvre au cours des jours suivants une ville qui sent certes un peu le touristes (toutes les boutiques vont dans ce sens), mais petrie d'une douce quietude. Les rues de la vieille ville sont millenaires...enfin ca en donne l'impression, parce que renseignements pris, c'est la plus jeune vieille ville du pays. Shangri-la est nee dans l'imagination de James Hilton, dans sa nouvelle Horizon perdu (Lost Horizon) en 1993, decrivant une vallee mythique, douce a vivre bref une utopie himalayenne propre a faire saliver les imaginations occidentales. Suite a quoi le gouvernement, reniflant ... read more