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 "The Place God Dwells" 

                      ------Shangri-La


The Shangri-la Tour Route (19 ROUTES)

 

Your Country
Chengdu  
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Diqing

 
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Your Country
Guangzhou 
 

Diqing

 
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Your Country
Kunming  
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Diqing

 
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   Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is located in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province. Under its jurisdiction, there are three counties, i.e., Zhongdian, Deqin and Weixi. Total population of the whole prefecture is 340,000, in which 112,000 are Tibetans, accounting for :33% of the total. It is also the home of another 25
nationalities, including but not limited to Han, Bai, Yi, Hui, Pumi, Lisu and Miao. The total area of the whole prefecture is 23,870
.
   In Tibetan language, the word "Diqing" means "A Land of Happiness and Good Luck". This tour destiny with unique characteristics, sitting in the heart of Conjoint of Three Rivers (Nujiang River, Lancang River and Jiasha River), is a national level scenic resort. It is the only way to go to Tibet from Yunnan. As one part of the former Kangba Area, it has the names of "-lea-horse Ancient Road" and the southern "Silk Road" in history. Today, the 214 National Highway from Shanghai-Yunnan-Tibet passes through the whole territory, and there are flights flying directly to Kunming,Guangzhou,Chengdu and Lhasa.
   On May 5th, 2002, the weather was sunnywith a clear sky.On that day, the name of Zhongdian County,the capital of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was solemnly changed to Shangri-la County.
   The word "Shangri-la" originally came from the novel Lost Horizon written by Jam-es Hilton, a famous English writer, in April of 1933. The book depicts four westerners in the early 20th century. Due to "an accident", they were brought to a Tibetan ar-ea named "Shangri-la." The novel describes the area as "the Eden." After the novel was published, it produced a great effect in the world. Later the word "Shangri-la" also became the word indicating "the Eden on the Earth" in English, and explorations to "Shangri-la" were initiated from every part of the world almost half a century ago. People often gain lots of discoveries when they are continuously seeking.
   What is most exciting is that, someone discovered a word ---"Shangbala" that has the same meaning as "Shangri-la." Some records about "Shangbala" were discovered in documents on Tibetan Buddhism. In addition, a book named Guide to the Kingdom of Shangbala written by Banchan the Sixth (according to the Great Tibetan Buddhist sutra) has also been found. Thus, most of scholars now believe that, "Shangri-la" and "Shangbala" are originally same. Both represent "the perfect world".
During the ten years since the novel Lost Horizon was published, there were already a number of dream-seekers who were seeking the Shangri-la of their hearts around the vast Tibetan area. In addition to the fact that these adventurers were all from the west, they also had one belief in common: there exists a greater wisdom m oriental culture. Some of them ultimately announced that they have become the apostles of "Shangri-la".
   Over the past half of the century, many people have declared that they had found Shangri-la, but these statements have not been widely acknowledged. When Time stepped into the last decade of the 20th century, more and more travelers went to Diqing Plateau in Yunnan. Finally, some people found a pleasant surprise. The mystical Diqing Plateau was so similar to the Shangri-la described by the novel Lost Horizon! It aroused the worldwide attention. One researcher or team after another made special trips to Diqing because the discovery had obtained worldwide acknowledgement.
   It is probably because history has a special fondness for Diqing --in Tibetan lang-uage the literal meaning of Diqing is "the place of happiness and good luck." Or it is because the earth is in deep love with Diqing ---the name of a place "Nirizong" originally means the city of "the sun and the moon", while "Shangri-la" in Tibetan Language means "the slope leading to the sun and the moon in the heart."
   Both phrases, "the city of the Sun and the moon" and "the slope leading to the sun and the moon in the heart", have the same meaning except that the latter seems more solemn, which exactly fits with the spirit that Tibetan people would like to live with gods and the aspiration that people and nature will grow in harmony. Moreover, the pictures of the sun and moon are universally placed in Lamaseries, Lama towers and people's dwellings of Tibetan areas in Diqing, from which we can see that the people there have placed themselves in "the slope leading to the sun and the moon in the heart." That is the world of Shangri-la.
   Besides, the areas within the Zhongdian county traveled by the Jinsha River from Wujing village to Luoji village has formed the marvelous shape of a large "V". Had it been decreed that this place would exclude other places to be the real "Shangri-la"? Moreover, what is most incredible is that, another name for Zhongdian is "Jiantang", which is justly indicating "victory" in Tibetan language.
   On this mysterious, beautiful and pure land, there is the Baimang Snow Wt. Natio-nal Level Nature Conservancy, and three provincial level nature conservancies, i.e., Bita Lake, Napa Lake and Haba Snow Mt. It covers the snow mountains, meado-ws,canyons, lakes, monasteries, folklores of Shangri-La, and it is a holy land in which man and the gods stay together, where man and nature live in harmony. It is a remarkable place producing outstanding people. It has wonderful natural landsca-pe, many mysterious human relics, and colorful nationality folklores, rich and unique
specialties.
 


The Shangri-la Tour Route (19 ROUTES)

To enjoy the Shangri-La view, Tour to Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan is recommended.