Lost horizon-Shangri-La!

  Shangri-La, Yunnan, China
Sunday, May 11, 2008

198 km (or 4 hours by bus) from Lijiang to Shangri-La (as it has been renamed 2001 from Zhongdian by the Chinese authorities, in a move probably to attract more tourists to "Minor Tibet", Shangrila is a fictional place first  mentionned by British author James Hilton is his 1933 novel "Lost Horizon").Since then Shangri-La has become synonymous with an earthly paradise, a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world by high mountains. But also other places in the Buddhist Tibetan Himalaya region claim to be the real Shangri-la, from Tsaparang in modern Tibet, to isolated Bhutan,to  the Hunza valley in Pakistan's  border region with Tibet, a place that James Hilton has visited before he published his novel.So I arrived now in one of the maybe a dozen of possible Shangri-las!The place is fantastic at first sight, but its impossible  to say which part is still original and which part has been rebuilt by arriving Han Chinese who come here to overtake the business of the Tibetan people as it is the case in Lhasa.
The 300 year old "Ganden Sumtseling Gompa"  monastery is well worth a visit,

Ganden Sumtseling Gompa monastery

and easy to reach with bus number 3 from the city.Officially there are still 600 monks living, working and praying here, but I have seen less than one percent of that with my own eyes!They have their own villages with tradional tibetan white painted stone houses.Its all in one compound on a hill, and on top of it the monastery with its golden roof and decorations, a very attractive sight.To find the way to the "viewing platform" on the top, its best to ask one of the monks, as there are no signboards in english, and its rather difficult to find the stairs.But it's well worth the effort, especially when the weather is clear and sunny!Entrance to the monastery is 30 yuan at the moment.
In the evening, whole of Shangri-La seems to dance around the main square, locals and tourists join in, and it's great fun to watch!