Admiring the Himalayan foothills and mystical canyons underneath.
Tibet has the highest average elevation of any region in the world, which sparks curiosity about how people live there and the extraordinary landscapes that lead to the famous Himalayas. Yet, as it is on the other side of the planet from my home, I never thought about visiting it. However, that changed when I got an opportunity to go to Sichuan, a Chinese province bordering the region. So I looked into it, but only to find out that Tibet has heavily restricted access for non-Chinese passport holders. However, as the mountains of the Tibetan Plateau stretch beyond the administrative borders, I was still eager to make use of them. Doing so wasn't without challenges, though. One can't rent a car without a Chinese driving license, and public transportation is sparse in the area. Moreover, while it is possible to navigate eastern China relatively well without being any good in Chinese, it is more difficult here in the west. I was lucky, though, as a good friend of mine kindly showed me around. We met in Kunming and set off to Shangri-la.
For decades, Shangri-la existed only in fantasy. It was introduced to the world as a hidden, harmonious lamasery in the Tibetan mountains by English writer James Hilton, who coined the term in his 1933 novel Lost Horizon. Fast forward, Shangri-la became a real place in December 2001, when a city near the Tibet, Yunnan, and Sichuan junction officially adopted the name to boost its tourism potential. And here was I, going to visit it.
The city, situated at an altitude of ~ 3200m / 10500ft, is in the southernmost Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Diqing. The area used to belong to the Kham region of the former Tibetan Empire, and Tibetan is still the most represented ethnic group of the prefecture. This dictates local art, architecture, cuisine, and religion.
Streets of Dukezong, Shangri-la's old town.
The biggest concentration of this can be seen in Dukezong district ("moonshine town" in Tibetan), located around Great Turtle Hill. The hill itself is topped with Guishan Temple:
Guishan Buddhist Temple: the golden tower to the right is said to be the largest prayer wheel in the world. It has Om mani padme hum mantra in it, and it takes multiple people to get it to move.
The temple has roots in the 17th century, but most of the structures were recently rebuilt due to a 2014 fire that caused extensive damage. Still, it is full of details to enjoy.
Besides the Tibetan culture around the city, one could see many visible influences of Beijing's leadership. For instance, right across the temple complex is the Red Army's Long March museum, which presents the Red Army as cooperating with locals to bring safety and prosperity to the region. While it was interesting to see that side of the story, being aware of the policies of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, as well as of the reports of the current treatment of other minorities in China's west, it was also quite unsettling.
Yet, the overall impression the place left on me was rather good, because of the locals' attitude. Even though the city faces a pretty harsh climate and its economy can't compete with China's lowlands, the ratio of smiling people I saw here was higher than in the other cities I visited in the country. No matter the age or activity, many locals had an expression that they were at their happiest. Shangri-la might not have the visual appeal of Suzhou or the history of Nanjing, but its spirit was impressive.
Other striking features were just outside the city, as behind a short stretch of agricultural lands are towering massive mountains. Excitement, that's why we came for! One of the closest and most accessible is the Shika Snow Mountain, where we went next.
Shika Snow Mountain, as seen from Shangri-la's fields.
The mountain is 4,449m / 14,596ft tall – a tad higher than Colorado's Pikes Peak, my previous record in high altitude. Speaking of altitude, many shops in Shangri-la sold bottled oxygen to help tourists cope with the thinner air. It then gave a surreal spectacle: many people smoked cigarettes, then inhaled oxygen, and repeated. Each to their own. We set off towards the mountain without the tanks and survived just fine.
Gaining the height rewarded us with fabulous outlooks.
I found the vegetation around me especially fascinating, as the treeline here is at some 4000m / 13,000+ft. In comparison, the mentioned Colorado has it at around 3,650m / 12,000ft, and mountains in central Europe at ~1,400m / 4,500ft. The Scottish treeline is at under 500m / 1,600ft. It illustrates that elevation is only one of many variables determining mountains' conditions. Once at the high plateau, the views were staggeringly beautiful.
Even with the proximity to the city, we saw only a handful of people around. What a place! This is exactly what I hoped to see. Remote and rugged, yet peaceful and charming, unspoiled landscapes. There are no fabricated borders, no prejudices. The only respect demanded is the one for nature, which applies to everyone in equal doses.
Inspiring, calming, and yet refreshing: Areas like these always seem to do the trick for me.
Looking around, the natural wealth of Diqing was evident. But little did I know that our next stop would further elevate the outdoor prettiness to new heights – or depths – as we went to visit the Shangri-la's Grand Canyon in the Balagezong Scenic Area.
Even though it started raining, getting there was promising. The canyon is part of a steep-walled gorge holding the Gangqu River, and the sole access road follows the river upstream.
Gangqu River
The further one went, the bigger the walls around got.
At the point where the walls were near-vertical cliffs soaring above 1000m / 3300ft, there was a section with a bit of opening, and the paved road left the canyon to climb up. Still, it was possible to continue deeper into the canyon by a wooden pedestrian path.
Note the path on the right side of the river.
While tourism was still relatively new to this area, attraction providers were already making use of the canyon's potential: one could take a raft tour to see the canyon from the river. Yet, both the river and pedestrian traffic were pretty low; at no point was it crowded – something which can't be said about some national parks in the Chinese southeast, like the dream-like Yellow Mountain. The rain stopped, and the path revealed more of the canyon's magnificence.
The river is fed by glacial waters from nearby snow-capped mountains.
Once we returned to the paved road, we got on a bus that climbed up the canyon towards an old village, Bala, another point of interest on our itinerary.
The village is around 700m / 2,300ft above the river, and so reaching it provided loads of scenic goodness.
Bala's history dates back over 1,000 years, but it is a small settlement with a few houses.
Dagoba, a Tibetan-style stupa at the edge of the village.
Until the road was constructed in 2008, it took many days to reach it. Hard to imagine how isolated the village was not too long ago. A small community far away from the conflicts and stress of the modern world, but also far from any technological and medical conveniences. Now, the village mostly serves as a museum of local traditions and shops for tourists.
Going further up from the village and from the canyon took us to a Buddhist monastery. It was fitted with a colorfully decorated interior.
On the other side of Bala was a shelf trail that went towards the canyon's rim – a must!
It had several viewing platforms, from which it was possible to see the canyon in its entirety:
Meanwhile, the floating clouds occasionally unveiled the contours of the high peaks around.
As we returned to Bala to catch a bus back down, the air got freshened up by the wind, which started flapping hundreds of prayer flags hanging near a local Buddhist reliquary, and light began to fade.
Prayer flags in Bala.
I thought that I could spend years exploring other valleys and mountains of the region, but this journey was approaching its end. Nevertheless, I was very grateful for the colourful glimpse of what there is in store.
A local tourism-promoting website says that Tibetan folk songs celebrate Bala as a paradise. Whether it is true or just an advertising campaign, looking around, I might as well take it.
Thanks for reading! If you liked this article, you might also enjoy my other long stories, like:
Finding inner peace during a solo adventure through Glen Nevis |
..or, experiencing Dresden, another place where I felt great. |
You can also browse my blog archives for more categories and topics.
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