Today in Science and Technology History | 1997·9·25 Chinese scholars solved the mystery of "Shangri-La"

In 1933, British writer James Hilton described in his documentary novel Lost Horizon that there was an "ice world" at the "end of the horizon" that was almost "isolated from the world"... This beautiful place was called "Shangri-La". Since then, the name of "Shangri-La" has become popular all over the world, and the search for the mysterious and beautiful "Shangri-La" has become a hot spot for tourists, explorers and folklorists for half a century.

27 years ago today, on September 25, 1997, a world mystery that had plagued the world for more than half a century was finally solved by Chinese scholars. After thorough investigation and research, Yunnan Province announced to the world: The world-famous paradise - Shangri-La is located in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Diqing.

A world mystery for more than half a century

In 1933, British writer James Hilton described in his documentary novel Lost Horizon that there was an almost "isolated" "ice and snow world" at the "end of the horizon", where there were "pyramid-like snow peaks and blue plateau lakes", "deep and steep canyons", and "three great rivers rushing forward"; there were amazing "magnificent lama temples", "pure-hearted Tibetan people and profound religious culture"... and this beautiful place was called "Shangri-La".

Hilton's novel was very successful and became a bestseller as soon as it was published. Hollywood in the United States bought the copyright and made a movie, which later became a sensation around the world. The dozens of "Shangri-La" hotels founded by Mr. Robert Kuok, a famous Hong Kong entrepreneur, made the reputation of "Shangri-La" popular around the world. Therefore, searching for the mysterious and beautiful "Shangri-La" has become a hot spot for tourists, explorers and folklorists for more than half a century.

Since the 1940s, people who knew about "Shangri-La" have been asking: "Where is the beautiful Shangri-La?" Many explorers and tourists have been tirelessly looking for "the beautiful Shangri-La" in the Karakoram Mountains in India, Nepal, and Tibet, China. More than half a century has passed, but there is no result. So some people say: "Shangri-La" is a mystery, a world mystery, a century-old mystery, a mystery that may not be solved until the 21st century.

However, Mr. Xuan Ke, a famous Chinese scholar and honorary doctor of anthropology and ethnomusicology at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, suggested that the "beautiful Shangri-La" described by James Hilton is located in Zhongdian County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, near his hometown.

The magnificent spectacle of "Three Parallel Rivers"

Xuan Ke believes that the Jidi and Langgla areas in Zhongdian County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, have the same beautiful natural landscape and simple local customs as the "Shangri-La" in "Lost Horizon". Hilton wrote in the book: "... the highest and most deserted place on earth that has not yet been developed. A large river valley is surrounded by some round red earth low mountains. This is the most spectacular mountain on earth. The white pyramid-like snow peaks have a masculine aura..." "The water on the glacier flooded the canyon meadow into a lake..." and so on. You can find corresponding scenery in Zhongdian. The mountain is the Balagzong Snow Mountain, the canyon is the Jidi Canyon, and the lake is the Napa Lake.

However, some people believe that snow-capped mountains, grasslands, plateau lakes, ancient castles and lamaseries can be found in Tibet, India and other places. Why do we believe that they are in Zhongdian? In this regard, Xuan Ke put forward a more important argument. He believes that the geomorphic features of the red soil plateau and the three parallel rivers described in "Lost Horizon" are only available in Zhongdian. The only red soil plateau on the earth is in Yunnan, and the world wonder of the three parallel rivers is definitely a wonder unique to Zhongdian. The Jinsha River, Lancang River and Nujiang River in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the three major rivers, rush eastward in the shape of a "three" in Zhongdian, forming the magnificent wonder of the "three parallel rivers".

After a year-long investigation and demonstration by Yunnan Overseas Travel Company, two famous Singaporean travel groups and relevant experts, it was confirmed that the "Shangri-La" described by Hilton is located in Zhongdian County.

Once the argument of Chinese and foreign experts on "Shangri-La" was spread, Zhongdian, which was considered to be a "paradise of paradise", attracted the world. A gorgeous picture of tens of thousands of square kilometers with an altitude of 1,000 to 6,740 meters, a three-dimensional cross-climate zone with a temperature of more than 30 degrees Celsius to several degrees below zero, was presented to people: surrounded by snow-capped mountains, endless grasslands, three parallel rivers, a thousand lakes, rare low-latitude glaciers in the world, thousands of hectares of virgin forests, black-necked cranes, golden monkeys, and coexisting Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism cultures...

After that, Cheng Wendong, then deputy director of the National Tourism Administration, believed after inspecting Zhongdian’s tourism resources that "Shangri-La" would become one of my country's most important tourist routes.

Rich and diverse ecosystem

Alpine lakes, snow-capped mountain meadows, and virgin forests are stacked one after another. Tibetan customs and Buddhist culture coexist and blend here. The natural ecological landscape resources and cultural landscape resources complement each other. This is the harmonious, holy and beautiful "Shangri-La" located in the core area of ​​the "Three Parallel Rivers" World Natural Heritage Site, the one that people all over the world yearn for.

Shangri-La was originally named "Zhongdian" and its Tibetan name was "Jiantang". On May 10, 1950, Zhongdian County was peacefully liberated and the name of Zhongdian County was retained. On December 17, 2001, the State Council approved the change of Zhongdian County's name to Shangri-La County. On December 16, 2014, the State Council officially approved the abolition of Shangri-La County and the establishment of Shangri-La City.

One of the greatest charms of Shangri-La is its breathtaking natural landscape. It is located in the eastern Himalayas and is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, forests and lakes. Famous attractions include Haba Snow Mountain, Meili Snow Mountain, Pudacuo National Park, and Bitahai Nature Reserve, which is known as the pearl of the plateau.

Looking from a high place, Shangri-La Bitahai Nature Reserve is like a dazzling emerald gem inlaid among the mountains in the Shangri-La National Park creation area. The clear blue lake is surrounded by green mountains with an altitude of 3700-3900 meters. In the distance, snow-capped mountains are towering and surrounded by white clouds. Here, forests, lakes, swamps, meadows, glaciers and snow-capped mountains are in the same frame, forming a magnificent natural landscape.

The altitude difference of 3,074 meters creates a unique landscape here. The vertical climate zones with significant differentiation have bred a complete vertical vegetation spectrum from warm-temperate sparse trees and shrubs to sparse meadows on alpine rocky beaches, with 13 vegetation subtypes distributed from bottom to top. The world's typical low-latitude, high-altitude cold-temperate coniferous forests and sclerophyllous evergreen broad-leaved forests are preserved here. The cold-temperate coniferous forests are represented by the endemic species of the Hengduan Mountains, such as the Lijiang spruce and long-bracted fir, the endemic species of China, the oil-wheat hanging spruce, and the large-fruited redwood. The cold-temperate mountain sclerophyllous evergreen broad-leaved forests are dominated by the yellow-backed oak, the hat oak, and the Sichuan-Yunnan alpine oak, forming a unique type in the vertical zone of the subalpine mountains in southwestern my country.

It is also a species refuge and diffusion area, a concentrated distribution area for endemic species, narrow-range species and rare and endangered species in the Hengduan Mountains, and a differentiation center for temperate alpine plants, with rich biodiversity. It is precisely the richness and diversity of ecosystem types that has formed a unique "forest-lake-swamp-meadow-glacier snow mountain" complex ecosystem in a relatively small space.

Shangri-La is also dotted with relics of glacial activities since the Quaternary Period, and has completely preserved the sedimentary records and ancient glacial landforms of four glacial activities, namely the Yulong Glacial Period, the Ganhaizi Glacial Period, the Lijiang Glacial Period and the Dali Glacial Period. The numerous and clearly structured horn ridges, glacial U-valleys, moraine terraces, glacial lakes and other geological relics fully present the activity tracks of ancient and modern glaciers, making it a concentrated display site for rare Quaternary glacial relics in the world.

Comprehensive from "Blue China", People's Daily Online