Today as I sat down to write a post I was looking for peace. Repair work at home has made the last two days full of crash, bang and vroom… and amongst this din of noises I couldn’t help but reminisce the peaceful time I had recently spent in China driving along the Yangtze (in the Yunnan region) and witnessing some of its many moves and moods.
The famous Yangtze River near the Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, China
I love visiting Buddhist monasteries and exploring their varied shapes, the beautiful paintings with bursts of vibrant colors and the calming silence surrounding it (no matter how crowded it is). Hence my trip to Shangri-La would have been incomplete without a visit to the ancient Songzanlin Monastery or the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery. This famous monastery, also known as ‘Little Potala Palace’ or Guihua Monastery, is located 5 km away from the city of Zhongdian on top of Fopinshan Mountain. It is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the Yunnan province and is one of the most famous and important monasteries in southwest China.
Songzanlin Monastery or the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, Shangri-La
“Shangri-La” – just the mere mention of this name would conjure images in my mind of a mystical city located in some highly inaccessible ranges of the Himalayas and filled with secrets, known to but a few chosen ones. Though in realty, it is located in the northwest Yunnan Province, in the Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Called Zhongdian in Mandarin and Galthang in Tibetan, Shangri-La is the name given by the Chinese tourism authorities to this city after James Hilton’s novel – The Lost Horizon. Though I haven’t read the book, I recently got a chance to visit this city and drive around its surrounding countryside. This area provides a quick glimpse into the Tibetan life and culture, and I am sharing these via a photo essay with you today –
1. Stunning Vistas – Shangri-La is at an average height of around 3,000 – 4,000 m and has beautiful mountain ranges and views as far as the eye can see.
Gorgeous Mountain ranges all around
getsetandgo 
You must be logged in to post a comment.