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Shangri-la...where is it? (non-teaching)

 
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moot point



Joined: 22 Feb 2005
Posts: 441

PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:23 pm    Post subject: Shangri-la...where is it? (non-teaching) Reply with quote

I've recently been reading James Hilton's "Lost in Paradise". This apparently is the first book to ever mention the word "Shangri-la".

For those who've read the book you'll be better informed about the general geographics of Hilton's ideas of where this lost paradise exists (written in 1930), although debate still continues of its location. PM me if you'd like to know my interpretations of this novel.

But by through this posting I want to know what modern travellers consider their Shangri-la.
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Echidna



Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, I too loved Hilton's book. I think people have been asking after and searching for Shangri-La forever; really, isn't that why most of us bumble around the world?

It seems likely that Hilton envisioned his mythical valley somewhere in the the mountains of SW China or her neighbors; Tibet, Nepal, or Bhutan.

Perhaps in northern Asia, in Mongolia or Tuva? Maybe farther west, in the rugged mountains of Kyrgystan?

One of the odder places that I've recently become aware of is the territory of Kalmykia; a chunk of Asia wedged into western Russia. Maybe?

Places like Tuva and Kalmykia are Shangri-La-esque to me, simply because they seem so other-worldly. I know if I actually went to these places, they would lose their status, so in a bizarre way, it's better just to imagine them.

Do you happen to remember a colorful book published about 15 years ago, (the title eludes me, but I THINK it was simply two names, *** and ***) that was a series of postcards, etc. from a mythical country? There was a story to it, a romance I think. It was quite a popular book, if memory serves, exactly because so many of us want to believe there is such a place in the world.

Where's your Shangri-La?
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Rice Paddy Daddy



Joined: 11 Jul 2004
Posts: 425
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Doesn't exist.
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liehtzu



Joined: 26 Feb 2003
Posts: 35
Location: North Thailand

PostPosted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Chinese government has officially renamed Zhongdian in northwest Yunnan Province "Shangri-la" as they have proven (read: decreed without a shred of fact) that Hilton based his mythical city on Zhongdian. Well, if you've ever been to Zhongdian, Shangri-la it ain't. But there are some interesting places in the vicinity....

Good luck in yr quest.

Cheers.
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stillnosheep



Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe

PostPosted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am reliably informed that it is to be seen by the dashboard light (but for a more exact answer you may have to let me sleep on it..)
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Dolma



Joined: 13 Jun 2005
Posts: 49
Location: Somewhere between samsara and nirvana

PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 3:24 pm    Post subject: Shangri La? Reply with quote

A terrific Nepali/Tibetan restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens, NYC. Just opened a few weeks ago. Best dal bhaat in town!!! Wink
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clyde



Joined: 13 Jul 2005
Posts: 52

PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shangri-la is Lijiang city in Yunnan province
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stillnosheep



Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe

PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.... but don't tell anyone!
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parrothead



Joined: 02 Nov 2003
Posts: 342
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 5:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Omaha, Nebraska.
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schwa



Joined: 12 Oct 2003
Posts: 164
Location: yap

PostPosted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hilton's book mesmerized me when I first encountered it as a young teenager. It set me to yearning after the peaceable wisdom of those lamas, which may well have altered my life course ever since.

Not as any sort of guidebook -- the novel itself is quite conventional & sentimental -- but as a spark that induced me to explore a wide range of less-trodden paths. I've learned something from each.

Now I'm an offbeat old guy & certainly far from perfected, but I think I'm close to recognizing Shangri La wherever I happen to be.

(The novel's titlle, by the way, is Lost Horizon.)
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Yu



Joined: 06 Mar 2003
Posts: 1219
Location: Shanghai

PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Went to the "Shangri-la" of China.... was so unimpressed.... but then again the friends I travelled with did not want to take the 6 hour bus ride to the snow mountains. I saw it from the plane (I think) and was impressed...

Lijiang is nice. I also like Yangshou.
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isanity



Joined: 05 Nov 2004
Posts: 179

PostPosted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lijiang was Shangri-la. It's now a theme park for Chinese tour groups. Ladakh's nice.
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mick_luna



Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 115
Location: toronto

PostPosted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

the other book mentioned was "Griffin and Sabine" by Nick Bantok. There was a series of them. Nicely illustrated.

So why Lijiang and Ladakh? what make them Shangri-la-like? Has anyone seen the Frank Capra movie Lost Horizon? i haven't, but i loved the book. i think its what a lot of travellers and expats would like to find. of course, if we did, we probably wouldn't be accepted there, we'd be deported or exploited by local mafia ;0)
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isanity



Joined: 05 Nov 2004
Posts: 179

PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mick_luna wrote:


So why Lijiang and Ladakh? what make them Shangri-la-like?


Two reasons. The people- Tibetans, which is always good. And the light- something to do with the altitude. Lijiang had better architecture before it was prettied up, while Ladakh's mainly stark, desert mountains with patches of green.
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