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As a bid to increase tourism, Shangri-La in northwestern Yunnan, formerly called Diqing, was renamed in 2001 after the fictional place in the novel Lost Horizon by James Hilton. A gateway for travelers into Tibet, the town is as close as you can get to experiencing Tibet without actually being there. Six hours drive from Lijiang, Shangri-La is an ideal location to do trips to the nearby Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Pudacuo National Park, Napa Lake, Xiagei Hot Springs and Haba Village.
If you are driving in from Lijiang, the road scales a bare plateau surrounded by mountains before arriving at this is the last major town before the Himalayas. With the name Shangri-La, the town has much to live up to, perhaps a bit too much. The novel's description of this mythical valley, surrounded by mountains, is one of an earthly Himalayan utopia isolated from the outside world. Some travelers have criticized the town for not being "authentic", saying the newly constructed Tibetan style houses that line the cobbled streets are not as rustic or austere as they are intended to appear. The southern end of town is the place to go for a more dìdào experience among the mazes of cobbled streets in the remnants of the old town. Cafes, bars and hotels prevail at this end of town while the northern area tends to border a jungle of concrete.
Shangri-La offers a good selection of places to stay—although the Shangri-La hotel chain is still sadly absent—and while the food is mainly typical Chinese fare, you can sit back sipping snow tea while chewing on a chunk of yak meat for a bit of a change of texture.
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