Where is Shangrila?

(First published in Small World Ezine on 8 October 2002)

 

Since we talked about Kashmir and Bhutan, our subscribers 
have been asking about Shangri-La. And I'd promised to 
find out about it. Only I could not find it. Confess!

Yes, I know the Chinese has this popular trekking tour to 
Shangri-La from Yunnan. I thought this was it until 
researches took me further to the point that someone had 
said, "knowing too much is knowing nothing".  Here's my 
findings.

 

The term Shangri-La was referred the first time in British 
novelist -- James Hilton's  "Lost Horizon" (1933). The 
scene was set in the Tibetan monastery of Shangri-La where
the inmates enjoy extended youth. Hilton had made Shagri-La 
sound like another Utopia. Later books and movies did so as
well... Making Tibet, and the Shangri-La region of the 
Himalayas sound clean and peaceful. The land of wisdom.

Indeed, you know how it's like. Tibet and the others have 
suffered grievous the rages of war since forever.

In 1994, the Chinese government claimed Shangri-La had been 
located around Deqen in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of 
Yunnan. They even changed the name of Zhongdian -- an old 
city to Shangri-La. And the Shangri-La trekking tours took 
off like crazy since. That has created doubts. Lots of 
doubts.

Somebody said Hilton's Shangri-La does not really exist. He
only borrowed the term from the name of a mountain pass near 
Mt. Everest, Changri La ("La" is Tibetan for pass). For me
kind of strange nobody had tried to get it out from Hilton
when he's alive. (On the other hand, if he told... it'd
destroy everything. Right?)

 

However, everyone agreed Hilton's Shangri-La was in Tibet.
So, how China has dressed up an old city as Shangri-La (no
matter if it's real or not) is not that bad for Tibetan. 
Since the siege by Communist China after WWII, Tibetan were
not allowed to carry on their religious, language and 
cultural practices. Now that tourism is there. Tibetans need
to be able to present their usual way of living -- the 
older, the more ancient, the better. As one local retires 
school teacher said, "Tourism is helping to revive Tibetan 
culture".

Talking about the culture of Tibet...  Tibetan originated 
from the nomadic, warlike tribes known as the Qiang. Chinese 
records of these tribes date back as far as the 2nd century 
BC. In its history, Tibet was in and out as a colony of
China for several times. But this is the most recent...

In 1947 an attempted coup d'etat rocked Lhasa. And in 1949 
the Chinese Nationalist government, against all odds, fell 
to Mao Zedong. And the Chinese 'liberation' of Tibet  
eventually lead to 1.2 million Tibetan deaths, a full-on 
assault on the Tibetan traditional way of life, the flight 
of the Dalai Lama to India and the large-scale destruction 
of almost every historical structure.

In 1950, Chinese troops attacked central Tibet. An appeal to 
the United Nations had done nothing effective to help the 
desperate nation. There is only on country, El Salvador,
which put the motion to condemn the behaviour of China. 
Britain and India, former friends of Tibet, actually 
managed to convince the UN not to debate the issue. China 
was then already one of the founders of U.N., though. 

From then, there were numbers of rages and riots in the 
attempts to free Tibet. All ended up with Tibetans' death 
and arrest. All the world's governments are still careful 
not to show in any way that they recognize Dalai Lama's 
political status as the head of an exiled government. The
good sign is there has been no fighting for a while. The
recent visit of Dalai Lama's to the U.S. (and probably the 
growing of American Buddhist communities) had reminded the
world not to forget this tiny state. 

I am a Theravaj Buddhist. Don't know much about Tibetan 
Buddhist except that they are full of miracles and myths. 
But that is their business. We don't agree or disagree with 
others' beliefs if they do no harm. And I am not writing 
this to solicit for any fellow Buddhists.

And one thing I think it's funny is the fact that both 
Hilton and Shangri-La are the name of the world's big hotel 
groups today!
 

 

More:


If you want to go there, July to November is the best time.
It's still going to be very cold at night, and much warmer
during the day. Prepare proper clothes.  
 

How to get there...

From Kunming, the capital city of Yunan province (Kunming
International airport has daily flights from / to Beijing
and Bangkok. See which way is closer to you. Safest way is 
go with a caravan tour group. You can also go by yourself, 
but it is not convenient AT ALL.

Travelling in the remote area of China, prepare your own
toilet paper and other hygienic stuff. Bring food such ad
canned foods, boiled eggs, dried fruits, etc. with you in 
case you cannot eat local food. Oh and diarrhea pills and
energy drinks are must!


If you want something easier, come via Nepal (on a 4WD). 
Enter Tibet at Lhasa, the capital city. There are numbers of 
tour operators in Nepal who will arrange the trips and 
papers for you.


One more thing is it's highest place on earth. The air is 
very thin. It could be dangerous if you have a health issue. 
You have to be healthy enough. Do the check-ups before 
reserving your trip.


Do not be scared yet. It's once in a life time trip. And
what you see is worth all the difficulties. It's the roof of 
the world. Remember?