Since James Hilton imagined Shangri-La in his bestselling 1933 novel Lost Horizon, a host of Himalayan areas have laid claim to this earthly Eden.
But only one place—Zhongdian in China’s southwestern Yunnan Province—has officially gone by the name Shangri-La County since 2001.
The region covers a stunning land of snowcapped peaks and plunging parallel gorges carved by three of Asia’s mightiest rivers. UNESCO recognized Three Parallel Riversas a World Heritage site and called it “the epicenter of Chinese biodiversity.”
The Songzanlin Monastery and surrounding city is seen from a distance. (Photograph by Stephan Schwaabe, My Shot)
Despite throngs (Read more...)
More information in Breaking Travel News