Land of Shangri-La

on the way to Kanze from Luhuo

the road leads to Chenri of Yading preserve

on the way to Kanze from Luhuo

Land of Shangri-La (SK03)

Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. In the book, “Shangri-La” is a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia – a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. “Shangri- La” is based on the concept of Shambhala, a mystical city in Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Shambala is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere beyond the snowpeaks of the Himalayas. It is mentioned in various ancient texts.
Nowadays, Zhongdian, a small county in the eastern Tibet of Kham, has been named “Shangri-La”; this trip takes us up into the Tibetan Plateau to look for the happy land of “Shangri-La” either in the real world or in your mind.

Day1: Arrive in Chengdu:
After arrival in Chengdu airport, pickup and transfer to your hotel, assist to check in. Relax in the rest hours of this day by having visit to the traditional Chinese teahouse at People’s park.

Day2 & Day3: Chengdu to Litang via Kangding:
Litang is about over 4000m high, within 2 days drive, we will arrive at this high town, the altitude goes up from 500m to 4000m and above. After arrive in Litang we will Litang monastery that is just on the northern edge of town and belongs to the Gelukpa sect of Tibetan Buddhists.

Day4: Litang to Riwa via Daocheng:
Departure from Litang southward to Dzagar holy mountain, stop by to visit the Dzagar temple and the holy cave, over this pass, descending along the river-valley to a vast grassland, one Karma Kagyu sect tibetan religion monastery is located by the east side of the road, an easy walking tour to this monastery, then drive to Daocheng, where turn to Riwa village. Yading, in tibetan it means a place facing to Sun, is located in the area of this village.

Day5: Riwa to Yading and return to Daocheng:
The three holy mountains of Tibetan in Yading are Chenresig (Avalokitesvara, 6032m), Jambeyang (Manjusri, 5958m), and Chanadorje (Vajrapani, 5958m). Tibetan Buddhists believe that making a kora (pilgrimage) around these mountains brings great merit, and these three holy mountains represent compassion, wisdom and energy – attributes one must cultivate on the path to enlightenment. From the reserve entrance we will traverse a beautiful wooded pathway leading to the valley, where the holy mountains located, the three holy moutnains of Chenresig, Jampelyang, Chana Dorje can be well enjoyable after about 3 hours hiking from Luorong Grazing Land, which is about 4100m high, if hike is kind of hard to some clients, a horse-riding is an option.

Day6 & Day7: Daocheng to Derong via Xiangcheng:
This is a pleasant drive during this two day, we will visit to the very seldom visited “south-corner” of Kham.

Day8: Derong to Zhongdian:
Drive through the big and small snow covered mountains to reach Zhongdian, which is also called as Gyltang, with altitude of 3300m, once we arrive in this bright town of highland, we are going to visit the Suntseling monastery – The largest Tibetan Buddhist complex in Zhongdian prefecture, and currently there are 700 monk, it has appearance of a small monastic town, and was originally constructed during the 17th century at advice of Dalai Lama V.

Day9: Zhongdian to Lijiang:
On the way to Lijiang, we are going to stop at the Tiger Leaping Gorge, and then onward to Lijiang, which is the center of the Naxi people, a relatively small minority group with a rich culture. Old Lijiang is an intimate mountain town of stone and tile, laced with swift canals and who has been put recently on the list of the world monument protected by UNESCO.

Day10: Lijiang:
Visit the Baisha village, the ancient capital town of the Naxi Kingdom. In the afternoon, a walk up to the Black Dragon Pond to have a look at the renowned Moon Embracing Pavilion, free time sightseeing of the Old Town of Lijiang.

Day11: Lijiang to the airport for departure:
After having breakfast, check out of your hotel and transfer to airport for your departure (transfer timings will depend on the flight schedule).