Zhongdian

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234Zhongdian.jpg (39890 bytes) Herding livestock on the Tibetan plain just a few kilometers from town.
The yellow hat monastery of Songzanlin comes into view.  It is a magnificent sight but is it the site. 235Zhongdian.jpg (39659 bytes)
238Zhongdian.jpg (39450 bytes) According to our in flight magazine it is: 

'By careful study and investigation it has been established that The beautiful Shangri-La described in 'The Lost Horizon' is the Zhongdian area'.
'The Lamasery of Shangri-la is Guihua Temple or in Tibetan Songzanlin Lamasery'

It does fit the description in the book.  An American plane flying the Sino Indo route during World War 2 did crash land in this area, on a red soil plateau surrounded by rushing rivers and mountains.  Rising from the plain was a lamasery.  Who knows, perhaps we really were in Shangri La, the land of 'sacredness and peace'.

 239Zhongdian.jpg (39360 bytes)
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