Where is Shangri-La in the novel? Exploring the realistic prototype of Shangri-La

Shangri-La, Yunnan

Shangri-La, also called Shambhala, means "peace and happiness" and is the mythical world mentioned in Buddhism. Where is Shangri-La? Is there such a place as Shangri-La in the world? People are talking about it, and most people think that it does not exist at all and is just an illusory and legendary place.

Shangri-La in the Novel

In 1933, British writer James Hilton mentioned this place in his documentary novel "Lost Horizon", saying that it is at the end of the horizon and is almost isolated from the world. The world of ice and snow has pyramid-like snow peaks, blue plateau lakes, and deep and steep grand canyons. Here, three rivers rush forward. This place is called Shangri-La.

After James Hilton's novel was published, Shangri-La became the target of explorers from various countries. They set the search scope in the Karakoram Mountains in India, Nepal, and Tibet, China. For decades, explorers have visited every place that may exist or be similar, but no one has returned without being dejected. "Where is Shangri-La?" This has almost become a world mystery.

Looking for the prototype of Shangri-La in the novel

In 1957, the National Tourism Administration of India announced to the outside world that the town of Baltis, located under the ice peaks of the Kashmir Himalayas on the Indian side, was Shangri-La. In 1992, Nepal’s tourism department announced that the country’s border town of Mustang was the prototype of Shangri-La.

Dr. Joseph Locke, the "Father of Naxi Studies" in the West and an Austrian-American botanist, pointed out in the book "The Ancient Naxi Kingdom in Southwest China" that Lijiang, Yunnan, is more like Shangri-La than any other place. There are blue lakes, wide meadows and majestic lamasery. The local Xionggu Village was also determined to be the prototype of Shangri-La, because a stone tablet from the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty was found in the village, and the handwriting "Xiangge (Ge) Lila" engraved on it is still intact and clear...

September 1997 On March 25, Mr. Xuanke, a famous Chinese scholar and an honorary doctorate in Anthropology and Ethnomusicology from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, officially proposed that the "Shangri-La" that the world is paying attention to is located in Jidi and Langgla in Zhongdian County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, China. area. Mr. Xuanke gave examples to prove that many real scenes in Zhongdian are very similar to the Shangri-La described in "Lost Horizon", such as Balagengzong Snow Mountain, Jidi Canyon, Napa Sea, etc., as well as snow-capped mountains, grasslands, and lamasery groups. They can also be found here.

Some people have put forward different opinions. Plateau lakes, ancient castles, snow-capped mountains and canyons can also be found in India, Tibet, and even Pakistan. Why must it be Zhongdian in Yunnan? Mr. Xuanke said that although the novel "Lost Horizon" mentions that snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and canyons can indeed be found in India, Tibet, and Yunnan, China, the features mentioned in the book about the red soil plateau and the Three Parallel Rivers , but only Zhongdian in Yunnan has it. The only red soil plateau on earth is in Yunnan. The Three Parallel Rivers refers to the Jinsha River, the Lancang River and the Nu River. However, these three rivers only flow eastward in the shape of a "three" in Zhongdian, forming a veritable "Three Parallel Rivers". "Wonderful.