Shangrila

Shangrila (香格里拉, Xiānggélǐlā; སེམས་ཀྱི་ཉི་ཟླ, Semkyi'nyida; formerly Zhongdian 中甸 Zhōngdiàn in Chinese, and Gyalthang རྒྱལ་ཐང། in Tibetan) is in Yunnan Province. The second town with this name is in Sichuan, and known as the gateway to Yading National Park.

Understand
Historically, this area was part of the old Tibetan province of Kham but the Qing Dynasty made it administratively part of Yunnan Province in the 18th century. Today, the town is split between Tibetan and ethnic Han residents, as well as a fair smattering of Naxi, Bai, Yi and Lisu, with the surrounding countryside almost entirely Tibetan.

While the crass name change in 2001 was a sign of the desire for increasing mass tourism a la Lijiang, the town has nowhere near Lijiang's crowds, and it's still possible to experience the area's Tibetan heritage and see gorgeous countryside in near isolation.

Zhongdian was renamed Shangrila for marketing reasons, however, signs in bus stations still use Zhongdian. There is also a third name in Tibetan, Gyelthang. The original Shangrila, from James Hilton's novel The Lost Horizon, was a (fictional) hidden paradise whose inhabitants lived for centuries. Hilton (who never went to China) located his Shangri-La in the Kunlun mountains which form the border between Tibet and Xinjiang near the southern branch of the old Silk Road. The Hunza Valley in Pakistan claims to be "the original Shangrila".

Elements of Hilton's story were apparently inspired by National Geographic articles about various places in eastern Tibet, written by an American who lived in Lijiang, hence China's rationale for claiming the name. Local Khampa Tibetans claim that the name Shangri-la was most likely derived from their word for paradise "Shambala," by Hilton through exposure to Rock's writings on the region.

By bus

 * Lijiang to Shangrila - these days a fast 2½ hours on the expressway.
 * Dali to Shangrila is a 6-hour drive - both night and day buses do this run.
 * Kunming to Shangrila is a 12-hour drive - also serviced by both night and day buses.
 * Panzhihua to Shangrila takes 12 hours, passing through Lijiang. There seems to be one bus per day, leaving at 17:00. Cost is around ¥140.
 * Deqin to Shangrila is a windy 4-hour drive (April 2017) it used to be much longer but the road condition is great now. The town of Benzilan, which lies about midway is worth stopping off at in its own right, and breaks the journey up nicely.

Shangrila is the important stop for the journey from Yunnan to Tibet (G214), with regular buses to Lhasa and Chamdo. see also Overland to Tibet.


 * Lhasa - there are several buses to Lhasa from the bus station, you should ask at the bus station as it is not a daily schedule. You could choose the seat bus or the sleeper bus. The cost for the bus is around ¥550 and takes about 4 days for the trip. Although it is convenient for travellers, it misses much of the great views along the route.
 * Chamdo - there is also a bus to Chamdo, an important city in East Tibet. Unfortunately, this bus is even less frequent than the Lhasa bus so it is important to check at the bus station for the itinerary.

Contrary to what the Lonely Planet guidebook says, it is relatively simple to get to Chengdu from Shangrila. Firstly, a sleeper bus to Pan Zhi Hua (攀枝花) at 17:10, with dinner break, arriving at 05:00. A 25-minute taxi journey (¥70-80 for 1 to 4 people; which bus driver almost push you) to the train station to catch a midday train to Chengdu (there is a bus 64 stop near station but don't know if it allows to go to train station and at what time it starts). No 08:00 train, next 12:00. This arrives at 23:15 and costs ¥82 for a hard seat. All in all, 31 hours from Shangrila to Chengdu at a cost of ¥315. At Pan Zhi Hua, there are 2 internet shops, one opposite the police station (¥3/hr, no Wi-Fi), and one near the market with a metal platform (named something like 'lo san', 1st floor, ¥3/hr, no Wi-Fi).

Get around
The main area of town runs along the north–south running Changzheng Road. The old town is at the south end of Changzheng Road, and the bus station is at the north end of town.

By bus
The bus costs ¥2.
 * Number 1- From the old city to the Bus station and Continues north.
 * Number 2-
 * Number 3- Songzanlin Monastery.

By motorcycle
Turtle Mountain Gear & Outfitters offer motorcycle rentals (dirt bikes of 200 cc) as well as 110 cc minibike adventures. Another motorbike tours and rental service is available at Kersang´s Relay Station.

By bicycle
Renting a bike is a great way to see Shangri-La, the old town and the surrounding attractions. A decent mountain bike will cost ¥20-30 per day to rent. One warning to cyclists, some of the rental stores in the old town can be dangerous to rent from, as they refuse to provide tire repair kits and spare tires. If you get a flat tire they also will not pick you up, saying it is not their problem, then when you return they charge you to repair the flat. When asked to call for pickup they wanted to charge ¥200. Enjoy cycling but beware of the first rental store at the corner of Dawa Road, called 枫星户外 (FengXing Outdoor). The rentals from Yak Bar next door are a good choice though, and the boss there is quite friendly (just across from the Old Town parking lot and main entrance).

See

 * The third floor of the Tsongkapa Temple has a small room with a resident Lama giving blessings to worshippers.
 * Away from the large Tsongkapa and Sakyamuni Temples are two smaller ones which are worth visiting. If you are facing the main temples, they are just to your left down the hill towards the large white chorten.
 * The one closet to the chorten is a Bon temple, the religion which predates Buddhism's acceptance in Tibet during the 9th century AD. Bon emphasizes the protective forces of nature, especially of mountains, and includes Shamanism and elements of black magic.
 * The second has some of the best artwork in the Monastery. From the second floor, you can access the roof for a commanding view of the area. There is a Bon temple on this floor as well with some fairly dark demonic images. In the courtyard lies a very old Tibeten Mastiff who has lived there since he was born in 1994!
 * The chorten is worth a walk to and is arguably one of the more important places for local people to worship on the Monastery grounds. It was built in 1981 in honor of the 10th Panchen Lama's visit to Shangri-la for the opening of the newly restored monastery which had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. For local Tibetans the 10th Panchen Lama is considered one of the most important religious figures in Tibetan Buddhism. You can see his portrait throughout the Monastery. Take a walk around it clockwise, spin its prayer wheels, and have a fabulous view of Shika Snow Mountain from its west side.
 * On the way down the long stairs leading to the main entrance/ exit of the Monastery are several smaller temples. They are quite interesting and few tourists visit them, especially the one to the right as you descend the stairs towards the entrance. Look for its beautiful rose garden.
 * Bus 3 goes direct to the Monastery, filled with pilgrims. For foreign passengers the bus driver will stop at the ticket office and gesture wildly for you to buy a ticket and may not let you continue onwards unless you do. Monks claim the ticket revenue goes to tourist company and not the Monastery.
 * Bus 3 goes direct to the Monastery, filled with pilgrims. For foreign passengers the bus driver will stop at the ticket office and gesture wildly for you to buy a ticket and may not let you continue onwards unless you do. Monks claim the ticket revenue goes to tourist company and not the Monastery.

Buy
The city is famous for Tibetan jewelry, yak tails, Nixi pottery, Yi lacquerware, Dried matsutake mushroom and Tibetan medicinal herbs. Very good Tibetan incense. For shopping the new town is better than the old, cheaper prices. There is no problem to find an ATM (one near the "entrance" of the old district).



Budget
Several budget guesthouses can be found in the old part of town, prices for a double should be in the region of ¥50 per night (low season). Heating is not provided even in the winter months, but additional blankets are happily provided and electric blankets are common.



Cope
Be aware of the risk of altitude sickness. Zhongdian is at 3,200 m vs 2,000 for Dali or Kunming. Plan your trip to allow time to acclimatise.

There is a cheap laundry service in dawa lu near old district. Costs ~¥2-3/piece.

Stay safe

 * Beware of local scam: men selling nuts and sweets by weight for an outrageous price.
 * Another tourist trap is the Tibetan medical man in a Tibetan herbal museum, which most of the guided tours will arrange to visit without informing you. The medical man in a private room, will look at your palm, and telling you that you suffer from certain health problems, and they can help you to cure it by their herbal prescription. If you are from overseas, they will suggested a 3 months prescription, costing hundreds to thousands of Reminbi. You may be facing undue pressure by their sometime health threatening talk or persuasion. If you are from the same religion, it will be added psychological pressure. An obvious tourist trap using medicine and religion.
 * Tangka painting - private tour will take you to a tangka exhibition, a form of Tibetan traditional painting. Tangka painting is linked to religion, not purely traditional painting. A guided tour will bring you to the exhibition, a lecture related to religion will take place in a room, after the talk, the speaker will give you a card with religion content, and pursue to buy tangka painting under undue pressure to buy linking with religion. It is ¥100 per tangka.
 * Herbal medicine, they will say it is better as it is grow in the higher attitude than Schechuan or other part of China. Unless you know the price and quality of the herbal medicine, it is better to avoid it as it is very expensive.
 * Oxygen - The tour guide will tell you that oxygen is a must in snow mountain tour, they will tell you the oxygen you buy at Lijiang or other place is of lesser quality, sometime they will tell you it led to poisoning. The oxygen you buy is of better quality, it is pure oxygen. Advise to take one tank before going to the snow mountain, and buy another tank to be used while at the mountain. Each bottle or tank is cost ¥50-55, ¥100 for 2 bottles. The tour guide that warned you of highland sickness will earn a commission on that as a little card issued by the shop will be given to tour guide to exchange with a bottle of mineral water. A little card determined how many oxygen bottles been sold. A bottle of oxygen will normally cost ¥15-20 per bottle. Oxygen requirement depended on the individual health condition, normally you do not need it, if you are fearful of the highland sickness, just buy one bottle. There will be unused oxygen bottle available as many may not need that.
 * Don't panic, just avoid large group organised travel, or hiring a guide through large agencies. Check first if guides run on a kickback basis (the norm and officially sanctioned throughout Yunnan.)

Go next

 * Chengdu, see get in/around