The Yin and Yang of Shangri-La

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Written By Oscar Fuchs
The Yin and Yang of Shangri-La.jpeg

“Shangri-La” is two things.

  • One is a mythical Himalayan utopia invented by a British author in the 1930s, designed to evoke the exoticism of the Orient.

  • The other is here, a real place in the Tibetan part of Yunnan province. It was formerly called Zhōngdiàn (中甸) and its name was changed to Shangri-La in 2014 to promote tourism.

I’m not sure why this was needed, seeing as it is home to Sungtseling: a Buddhist monastery built in 1679, and a cousin to the Potala Palace in Lhasa.

For the Instagram version, see here.

For the Facebook version, see here.

Oscar Fuchs https://oscology.com
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