Shangri La

Well, its been found. After Lost Horizon was published everyone began to look for it, and in 2000 the Chinese government announced they had discovered Shangri La - here in Zhongdian. It was a beautiful drive up - we are over 10,000 ft. Terraced fields, a tributary of the mighty Yangtze, picturesque villages, and a very narrow, if paved, road. The kind of driving that could give you a heart attack - steep drop-offs, passing on curves, lots of honking at slow-moving vehicles. The town itself feels almost like a ghost town - lots of nice hotels, a mini building boom, but not many people. The writing on signs has Tibetan first, Chinese second. We did see a Chinese flag flown upside down on a flagpole, the sole symbol of this area's resistance to Chinese government control of Tibet.
The park up on the mountain is carefully controlled. Our bus parked in a giant (if somewhat empty) parking lot, then we boarded a park bus that took us up to the "hiking trail." The 2 trails, one a little less than 2km, one about 4km, are boardwalks through the trees around a couple lakes. The scenery was wonderful, but you can't strike out on your own. There were azalea/rhododendrons blooming, wild strawberries, a type of tree that looked like dogwood, horses, donkeys, and some Chinese tourists. We spent the night here, and go back to Lijiang after visiting a monastery this morning.
Just a few more days and I'll be home.
be safe,
rem