13 September 2024
Shangri-La is only 200 km north of Lijiang and is well connected to Lijiang by car or train. It is worthwhile to spend some time in this city when visiting Yunnan. For us, we travelled to Shangri-La by car after our overnight night at Tiger Leaping Gorge.
We arrived at Shangri-La at about 6.30 PM, having travelled by car from Tiger Leaping Gorge. As we drove in the city from the South, we saw a large white stupa from our car. A stupa is a dome-shaped building erected as a Buddhist shrine highlighting the fact that the people in this area are pre-dominantly Buddhists.
Shangri-La used to be called Zhongdian (中甸) but the name was changed to match the mystical place James Hilton talked about in his famous novel Lost Horizon. Although Shangri-La is part of Yunnan, visiting Shangri-La is like visiting Tibet with lots of Tibetan temples, Tibetan people and a chance to experience Tibetan culture and food. There are 13 ethnic groups living harmoniously on this land and the main group is Tibetan. Our guide who accompanied us for our hike in Tiger Leaping Gorge lives in Shangri-La and is an ethnic Tibetan.
One of the best places to visit and stay in Shangri-La is at the 1,300 years old Dukezong Ancient Town. Dukezong is one of the oldest parts of the region and was first constructed in the 7th century as a stopping point on the Tea Horse trade route.
Unfortunately, a fire in 2014 destroyed a large part of the town, so what we see today is a newly reconstructed “old town”. Although the “body” could be new and reconstructed but the “soul and spirit” of the town remains. There is still plenty for first time visitors like us to experience.
Where we stayed in Shangri-la
Our hotel at Shangri-La is the 5th Meteorite Lightyear Hotel located in the northwest corner of Dukezong ancient city, just next to the North gate which is the main gateway of the ancient city.
A large black meteorite was displayed in the lobby. The signage said:
“According to legend, 5 meteorites representing courage, wisdom, love, health and luck once landed in Shangri-la. The first four were kept by local celebrities while the fifth one representing luck was missing. Local venerable elders once said that people who has seen this lucky meteorite and prayed piously in front of it would be blessed by the gods. Decades later, the fifth meteorite reappeared in China and has been preserved in Dukezong Romantic Village sine 2017. To carry forward the good luck of the fifth Meteorite and covey its blessings to tourists, the 5th Meteorite Hotels and Resorts is established.”
We had a large room located on the second floor. Since Shangri-La is located at a high altitude above 3,000 meters, people who are not used to this altitude could suffer from altitude sickness. Hence, the room which came with oxygen supply which was a bonus.
Dinner at Three’s Brother Cafe
From our hotel, it was a short walk to the main square of the Dukezong where we heard music and saw people dancing.
We had told our guide that we wanted to try the local cuisine. He brought us to the highly raved Three Brother’s Cafe that serves Western and Tibetan food.
The host speaks English and provided us with the English menu. We cannot come to Shangri-La and not try the yak meat. The yak or hairy ox (牦牛) is a large domesticated wild ox with shaggy hair used in Tibet as a pack animal and for its milk, meat, and hide.
We ordered the following dishes:
Our guide recommends that we try their local Tibetan wheat beer. We ordered three bottles to taste: namely the Pale Ale, Songa and Fat Dolma, each with different alcohol content and prices.
One of the highlights that occur in the evening within the old town is the folk dances that take place every evening at the town square known as Sifang Street. Local residents gather to perform Tibetan folk dances, holding hands, forming circles, and following the lead dancers. Anyone, including visitors, could join in.
The cafe is located next to the town square and we could sit in the terrace overlooking the streets and watch the people enjoying their dance in the town square below us.
After a long day hiking at Tiger Leaping Gorge and travelling to Shangri-la, we had a relaxing time and excellent meal at the Three Brother’s Cafe. The food is good and reasonably priced. In fact, we came back to this cafe for a yak hotpot dinner the next day.
Exploring Dukezong Ancient Town at night.
After our meal, we had time to wander and explore the town on our own. Shops were still opened and we saw many yak products and souvenirs for sale.
Prayer wheels are used by many Tibetans everyday. According to Tibetan Buddhism, the more mantras are chanted, the more devotion to the Buddha is expressed, and the suffering of reincarnation can be freed. Therefore, in addition to orally reciting the prayers, Tibetan people put the mantras into the prayer wheels. They believe that every turn of the wheel will have the same meritorious effect as reading the sutra once. The prayer wheel should be turned clockwise.
We saw a white stupa in the old town with prayer wheels all round. This stupa was not destroyed in the fire of 2014 but some of the surrounding buildings were.
Guishan Park and the Giant Prayer Wheel
We found our way to Guishan (龟山) Park or Turtle Hill, using maps that are displayed in the town. Since the weather was good, we wanted to see the famous Giant Prayer Wheel of Shangri-La. It was easy to find since it is over 21 meters high and shines like a golden beacon in the night sky.
Entrance to Guishan Park is from Moonlight Square (月光廣場). It is another place in town where locals do their nightly dancing. Also located in the square is the Red Army Long March Museum with some statues of Tibetan monks with soldiers of the Long March outside. The dancing had already finished and the museum was already closed by nightfall.
We took a short flight of stairs up to the Guishan Park. At over 3,200 meters elevation above sea level, what looked like easy stairs to climb was quite exhausting due to the thin air. We were also quite tired since we had spent a long day hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge.
On top of the stairs, we came to the Big Buddha Temple (大佛寺). 
Walking in a clockwise circle on top of the hill, we saw another temple building, adorn with prayer flags in front.
Colourful prayer flags could be seen all round. We finally came to the Giant Prayer Wheel that had become a famous tourist attraction in Shangri-La. Built in 2002, the 21-meter-high gold-plated bronze prayer wheel, weighing 60,000 kilograms, is the second largest of its kind in Asia.
The outside surface is decorated with images of Buddhist deities and symbols. I spotted what looks like the Songzanlin Monastery on it. 
Like many prayer wheels, the Giant Prayer Wheels contains millions of traditional six-syllable “Om Mani Padme Hum” mantra inside, plus other relics.
Locals and visitors were seen turning the prayer wheel in the clockwise direction. One circle of every turn is equivalent of 1.24 million chanting. Anyone, including non-Buddhists, could join in to spread goodwill and blessings.
On this night, there are many willing pairs of hands waiting to turn the wheel. As one person completes the task, another person would swiftly take his place and the wheel was kept spinning.
Guishan Park is also a good place to have a panoramic view of Shangri-La. We could see the contrast between the Dukezong Ancient Town and the modern high-rise area of the city.
After seeing the Giant Prayer Wheel, we made our way back to our hotel. We walked past the Sifang Square where we had seen the locals dancing earlier during dinner. It was now quiet, with the moon over it.
Dukezong seems like a nice town to explore. We will have time to explore it again the next day with our guide.
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