EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

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A Stone's Throw From Shangri-La

Credit & Copyright:  Dr. Bruce G. Marcot

  

Explanation:  Ah, to be so close to a legendary paradise!  This week we are flying into the city of Lijiang, located in the Yanggong River Valley in the northwest of Yunnan Province, southwest China.   And just over the hills a bit further northwest is Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and its county-level town of Shangri-La.  Some sources also show this prefecture itself to be called Shangri-La, and that it is part of Yunnan Province but is shared over the border with Tibet.   Shangri-La?  Also called Shimbala (also spelled Shimbhala) -- which I was told means "the moon is in the sun's place," meaning all is peaceful -- this is the stuff of legend, the isolated valley and perfect community of peace and prosperity and longevity.   In the area, I heard Shangri-La ("SHANG-rill-AH") pronounced locally as "shang-RILL-a."  At least one source suggests that the Yunnan Province city of Shangri-La was so-named only in 2001, renaming the city from Zhongian, although Google Earth (and Google Maps) and other maps suggest that it was the city of Dêqên, located a little further northwest from Zhongian, that was renamed as Shangri-La.   Maybe this is all part of the legend -- that no one knows for sure where Shangri-La lies.   All I know is that I was but a stone's throw from legend and nirvana.      Somewhere up this remote river valley lies the legendary paradise of Shangri-La ...