Shangri-La County

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Shangri-La County (Simplified Chinese: 香格里拉县; Traditional Chinese: 香格里拉縣; pinyin: Xiānggélǐlā Xiàn) is a primarily Tibetan county in northwestern Yunnan Province in southwest China and the capital of Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It was formerly called Zhongdian County (Chinese: 中甸县 Zhōngdiàn Xiàn) but was renamed after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the James Hilton novel Lost Horizon in 2001. The local Tibetan population refers to it by the name Gyalthang (Tibetan: གྱང་ཐང་རྫོང་). "Shangri-La" or "Zhongdian" may also refer to Jiantang Town (建塘镇 Jiàntáng Zhèn), the capital of the county.

Many travelers use the county town as a gateway into Tibet, either travelling many days overland by Jeep to Lhasa, or by flying from the city's airport. However, the town itself is a tourist destination, primarily due to the nearby Ganden Sumtseling Monastery (Chinese: 松赞林寺 Sōngzànlín Sì) and Tiger Leaping Gorge.

[edit] See also

• Shangri-La

[edit] External links

• http://www.world66.com/asia/northeastasia/china/yunnanprovince/shangrila
• http://treehouse.ofb.net/guide/viewcity?loc=%E9%A6%99%E6%A0%BC%E9%87%8C%E6%8B%89
• http://www.chez.com/jmc/chine/yunnan/zhongdian.html