Tibetan Monks Zhongdian

Zhongdian, China (Shangri-La)

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June 18th 2009
Zhongdian is a small town high in the mountains just outside of Tibet. The population, architecture, food, etc. are Tibetan. In 2001 the Chinese authorities officially changed the name to Shangri-La (or as the Chinese say "Shangri-Li-La") to capitalize on their claim that Zhongdian is the basis for the fictional city in James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon. This is purely a marketing strategy to m ... read more

Asia » China » Yunnan » Zhongdian

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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more