Zhongdian, China Travel Blogs

Zhongdian...to the edge of the Tibetan world
Jan 27, 2005 (6 photos)

... . The yak herder would be preferable though, the yaks being a major draw. I have learned a lot from coming to Zhongdian, but mainly I have gained a greater appreciation for the majestic yak. What a multi-functional animal. Here's to the yak. As much as ...

Horse festival - Zhongdian or Shangri-la's big one
Jun 29, 2007 (16 photos)

... a two-day affair, as a larger event is planned for September for the 50th anniversary of the area's 'liberation'. The Zhongdian horse festival usually takes place in June, when the labourers are less busy, having either harvasted crops or planted barley. ...

Film attractions in Yunnan
Sep 2, 2008

... a regulation in 2007 that bans filmmaking and artistic performances in most nature reserves, scenic spots and at sites of historical interest across China. Directions: Bus, train and plane are all available from Kunming, capital of Yunnan province.

Mormon still missing - presumed dead
Dec 2, 2009

... in Wyoming. Both on the gorge trail and then along the road to Shangri-La, and in Shangri-La, formerly called Zhongdian, the Sneddons met guides and shop owners who recognized David's picture on the placards the Sneddons wore around their necks. From ...

Trouble in Shangri-la - Zhongdian?
Sep 1, 2008

Yesterday Aljazera ran this story filed by a correspondant, which paints a rather 'good vs bad' picture of Zhongdian - better known now as Shangri-la. http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/51209-china-s-grip-over-shangri-la-31-aug-2008

Chinese - Indian relations and borders
Aug 18, 2008

... India. But it was surprising to see this piece about the conflicts between China and India and how China could possibly use Kunming, Lijiang or even Zhongdian airports for strikes on India (and vice versa). Within the next four months, a first batch of ...

The new Shangri-la
Jan 10, 2009

An interesting article looking at developments in tourism and Tibetan buddhism in Zhongdian . . . Turning paradise into profits The town of Shangri-la was called Zhongdian until 2001, when it made a bid to boost tourism by changing its name to ...

Perhaps blues skies is paradise afterall
Nov 2, 2008

Nice quote from a newspaper article in Indonesia, about Zhongdian aka Shangri-la, in Yunnan, China: And one of the first things you notice is the sky. It's a deep cornflower blue, with white cotton-candy clouds. After the gray, polluted skies of modern ...

Tibet-Sichuan Highway
Nov 8, 2007 (63 photos)

... claimed Shangril'la was in China and a political bidding war ensued over where this mythical place existed. They plumped on Zhongdian, which has pretty nice scenery, but anyone who claims it is 'paradise' is as misguided as Glenn Hoddle was ...

Local Tibetan singers going BIG
Jan 10, 2009 (1 photos)

... , and yet their chorus is also blended with elements of modern music. Since 2005, they have received numerous awards within China, and have performed in Germany, Austria, the United States, South Korea, Singapore, and other places around the world. ...

Joani Loves Chachi
Sep 2, 2006

... "Well, I love you as much as a man CAN love a woman" -- Futurama We've just spent a nice two days in Zhongdian, writing e-mails and reading books and pretty much doing nothing of interest whatsoever. It's been a nice change from the near constant ...

Children's Day in Shambala
Jun 1, 2005 (5 photos)

... , communities, and WWF projects, for use in education and fund raising. By chance or fate, I arrived in Zhongdian in the middle of a WWF-China gathering. Staff from all over China were meeting for a week. I joined them on field trips throughout the ...

Anthony Bourdain - chef in Shangrila Zhongdian
Nov 1, 2008

... . "Delicious". Anything else will surely offend the hosts. So when chef and traveler Anthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain goes to Zhongdian and tries yak meat, what does he say? The American chef, best known for Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the ...

Will the Real Shangri-la Please Stand Up
Jun 4, 2005 (5 photos)

... Shangri-la. And now China has its Shangri-la. China was late to the game, recently picking its Shangri-la here in Zhongdian, Dequin Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. But as the lama said: "you will not find Shangri-la marked on any map." So why ...

Lies in paradise? Shangri-la dreaming
Oct 18, 2008

... other than giving it money for last year's 50th anniversary, most of the development has been local. 2. "Originally named Zhongdian, the Chinese government renamed it Shangri-La in 2002, exploiting the mythical valley in the 1933 fictional novel, ...

Zhongdian
Jul 5, 2006 (35 photos)

... for the rest of our time here and our further travels. At least they are super cheap to buy. One of the main attractions in Zhongdian is the Ganden Sumtseling Gompa Monastery. We took the local bus out to it for 1 yuan, about 15 cents. It is a 300 ...

Climate for a new Shangri-la
Nov 21, 2008

Conditions around the world seem somewhat similar these days to the Great Depression of the 1930s. And with all the doom and gloom around, people are looking for some relief, some hope, some light at the end of the tunnel. I guess it is a ...

Snow storms in Deqin
Nov 4, 2008

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) of People's Republic of China urgently allocated 10 million yuan for disaster relief in areas such as Tibet, Qinghai and Yunnan, which have recently suffered from severe snowstorms. ...

New airport for Lugu lake
Nov 29, 2009

... and Sichuan provinces, the Mosuo ethnic minority has a population of about 40,000. Unlike the majority of China's ethnic groups that follow a strong patrilineal tradition, the Mosuo have preserved their ancient matriarchal system and the tradition of " ...

Wall Street Journal on Shangri-la and Tibet issue
Nov 4, 2008

... not about culture, it's not about religion, it's not about the environment -- it's about sovereignty and territorial integrity of China." Beijing is fixated on the idea that the Tibet issue is purely one of sovereignty -- despite the fact that the Dalai ...

Walking the Streets
Nov 17, 2005

Life settles down back in Zhongdian, one of the few places on earth where a bar could be named "Artistic Space of the Sacred World," and one of the few places I know where public bus number 2 rolls down the evening streets, and all the passengers are ...

Watching the Games with Tibetans
Aug 9, 2008

... 8:08pm and already it had started. We saw a young girl on a stage. Like those singing competitions they have around China outside supermarkets. Then, before we could sit down and get comfortable, the TV went dead. There was no power. People started ...

Happiest orphanage in the world
Oct 20, 2009

... heart, without love," says Gyalzur during an interview at her second orphanage, in Shangri-La (also known as Zhongdiàn), a town in China's southwestern Yunnan Province. "Now, after starting this orphanage, I think that there are many Chinese who love. The ...

Visitors up in Shangri-la
Aug 25, 2009

... of Big Valley National Park, Meili Mountain National Park and Hutiaoxia National Park are also in progress. Source: China Tibet Information Center Deqen Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, received 2.05 million domestic and ...

Funny, where've the fish gone from the NP?
Nov 11, 2008

... the past decade, local authorities have tried various ways to attract more visitors. The biggest campaign occurred in 2001, when Zhongdian was renamed Shangri-La, after the fictional land in James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon, in an effort to promote ...

Walking marriage
Aug 22, 2006

fight

Near Death Experience
Aug 31, 2006 (15 photos)

... a few days, and I decided that it didn't make nearly as much of a story as our next bus journey, from Xiancheng to Zhongdian, so I'm afraid you don't get my Dracula metaphor, you get this instead........ We had a couple of nice days in Xiancheng and ...

...a bucket of disinfectant
Nov 20, 2007 (33 photos)

... extremely lucky that the only long term damage is the broken camera that was in my pocket. In the previous entry i suggested Zhongdian should be named after Disney. To qualify this, Zhongdian is like EuroDisney, an amusement park that is ultimately a ...

New Tea=Horse Route book
Aug 31, 2008

A part time Zhongdian resident Jeff Fuchs has finish his book about retracing the Tea Horse Route - also known as the Southern Silk Route - from Yunnan to Lhasa. Here's an interview with him: Warrior tribes and yak-turd tea Horizons lost and found ...

Happy Birthday Tibet
Sep 5, 2005

... as our weapons, Tibet will be liberated. Our struggle must remain nonviolent and free of hatred." Meanwhile, in Tibetan China, the heavy army presence, the inequality between Tibetans and Han Chinese, the unfree press, and the heavy toll of past ...