Seventy Years Later,James Hilton’s Shangri-la Rediscovered

WHEN the Beijing Olympic torch relay passed through Shangrila (Zhongdian) County in June, seat of Yunnan’s Deqen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and the likely inspiration for James Hilton’s book Lost Horizon, it began its second leg with a lighting ceremony at Potatso, China’s first national park on the mainland. The park was the brainchild of Kyhigyala, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Deqen Prefectural Committee, who proposed establishing the nature preserve in Shangrila three years ago, and today the park’s pristine beauty compares favorably with Hilton’s mythic Shangrila, an imaginary kingdom where no one grows old.

A Native Son’s Vision

A decade ago, few outsiders knew of Zhongdian. That began to change in 2001 when China’s State Council approved the county’s application to change its name from Zhongdian to Shangrila, a claim it based on the consensus view of Chinese scholars that Zhongdian was the probable setting for Hilton’s 1933 book.

Since then, Kyhigyala has personally overseen the changes brought about in his home province as a result. He describes himself as a “genuine Kamba (Tibetan) man,” born and raised in Shangrila’s Jiantang Grassland area. Growing up poor, he became a herder at a local stock farm at the age of 10 to help ease his family’s financial burden, working there for 10 years until 1979, when he passed a civil service examination administered by the Zhongdian county government and became a civil servant. His decade-long herding experience taught him a great deal about his native land, and inspired him to dedicate his life to the sustainable development of Tibetan communities.

Today, Deqen is a shining example of the harmony achievable between man and nature, and within human communities. Situated at the juncture of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet, it is the core of the “Three Parallel Rivers” area that was named a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in 2003. It is also home to the snow-capped Meili, Baima and Balagengzong mountains, and three major religions ― Buddhism, Catholicism and Islam ― coexist peacefully in the region.

To protect Deqen’s natural and cultural diversity, Kyhigyala deliberated carefully on the development plan the prefecture should adopt. He initiated the “joint development strategy” for eastern Tibetan areas, and has tirelessly guided the local people since to build Deqen into the “best Tibetan region in China,” marked by “a healthy ecology, cultural diversity and a strong economy,” according to Qian Xing, editor-in-chief of the Deqen Daily.

“Kyhigyala is a good CPC cadre, broad-minded and far-sighted. He has played a significant role in the rapid development of Deqen,” Qian said.

China’s First National Park

June brings out the Deqen Plateau’s natural beauty at its most spectacular, with blooming flowers, vast green prairies on which flocks of sheep and cattle graze, rolling mountains, running streams, emerald lakes and primeval forests that reach skyward to the clouds, all blending at 3,000 meters above sea level to paint a portrait of an earthly paradise.

Naturally enough, that beauty has been the focus of Deqen’s tourism industry, and the Potatso National Park has been crucial to the prefecture’s plans to develop the Greater Shangrila Ecological Tourism Area. When Kyhigyala first proposed his plan for the construction of a national park in his home region in 2004, he was obliged to travel to Beijing several times to consult with relevant government departments, and after considerable lobbying, China’s first national park was finally established in Shangrila on August 1, 2006.

Always mindful of maintaining the area’s natural harmony, the Potatso National Park, at the very heart of the “Three Parallel Rivers” area, has followed a development strategy that reconciles tourism construction with ecological protection, and it has become a model of eco-tourism for the whole province. More importantly, the development of Deqen’s tourism industry has benefited local Tibetan herders considerably.

Since opening, the park has shown great promise. According to Tang Lizhou, general manager of the Shangrila Potatso National Park Management and Administration Company, between August 2006 and April 2008 the park received 830,000 tourists and brought in RMB 150 million. In 2007 alone, it received 560,000 tourists and generated a tourism income of RMB 104 million.

Tang Lizhou credited Kyhigyala for having made the greatest contribution to the park’s achievement, as he was not only the park’s initiator, but also its planner and builder. Kyhigyala measured the park’s area on seven separate field surveys and investigative trips, trekking on foot through the wilderness. It was thanks to his hard work and visionary drive that the park was opened within two years of its proposal.

Building a World-class Brand Name

Kyhigyala and his colleagues in Deqen prefecture are currently concentrating on forging their “Greater Shangrila Ecological Tourism Area” into a world-class brand name, an endeavor which began years ago with the successful renaming of Zhongdian to Shangrila.

They are acutely aware of the value of a pristine natural environment to the development of local tourism, and have established in Shangrila the first county-level environmental protection bureau for Tibetan areas, closing down eight smoke-spewing factories at or above 3,000 meters. As early as 2001, they successfully brought plastic bag pollution under control, and initiated a sustainable development and environmental conservation policy to protect the “Three Parallel Rivers” area.

“Without a healthy environment, Shangrila and Deqen will not have a chance,” said Kyhigyala. The local government has followed a basic policy of ensuring ecological conservation and construction ahead of its tourism development plans. “Even though we are slower than our neighbors to develop our tourism industry, we will not change from our ‘low-arrival, high-efficiency’ policy, and we’d rather be slow than make mistakes,” he said.

That caution is well-founded, for there is only one Shangrila in China, not to mention the world. According to the prefecture’s plan, the heart of the “Three Parallel Rivers” area will become the “Greater Shangrila” national parks zone, including Potatso, Meili Snow Mountain, Hutiaoxia (Tiger Leaping Gorge), Shangrila Grand Canyon, and Tacheng Black Snub-nosed Monkey national parks. The local government will integrate tourism infrastructure construction, holiday destination projects and related financing and investments to build the “Greater Shangrila” into a world-class national park brand name within the next few years.

A Better Life

When evening falls, Sifangjie Square, in the ancient town of Dukezong, is transformed into a festive ground for the people of Shangrila and tourists alike. Hand-in-hand, they form a circle and perform Tibetan folk dances to the strains of joyous music. As more people join in, the circle becomes larger and larger, until it finally breaks up into more circles. If you ask what they are dancing, locals will tell you, the “Gyala Dance,” because this activity was initiated by Kyhigyala.

“Kyhigyala is the pride and joy of Shangrila’s people,” said Goinchu Toinzhub, who operates a family-run restaurant in Dukezong Ancient Town. “The current policy is wise, and local officials care about us. All this is making our lives better and better. My restaurant brings in an annual income of at least 300,000 yuan, and that is something I could never have imagined in the past.”

The old town was run down not so long ago, but thanks to the development of tourism in the area it has taken on a new look,filled with vacationers and travelers on its streets, and brimming with bars, teahouses, restaurants and shops. In 2005, theprefecture increased the tempo of the town’s reconstruction drive for the CCTV-sponsored election of “Charming Towns of China,” and Dukezong eventually won the title of China’s “Most Exotic and Charming Town.”

There are over 30 restaurants in Shangrila, one-third of them run by local residents, and the rest by new arrivals. In addition, there are nearly 100 businesses engaged in arts, entertainment and holiday-making services. A Briton who identified himself as William said he came to China for the first time in 2001 and immediately fell in love with the life and culture of the country. In 2004, he settled in Shangrila and opened an art studio here.

“I love the purity of the exoticism and also of the Tibetan people on the plateau. And the environment here is superb as a result of the local government’s effective pollution control,” he said.

If you talk to local residents, more often than not they will express a sincere appreciation for Kyhigyala and his enthusiasm, devotion and far-sightedness in leading the local people to transform an unknown and backward Tibetan area into a lively tourist destination in just a few years. Indeed, were he to visit today, James Hilton would have no problem recognizing his beloved Shangri-la, a land of enchanting beauty where people do not grow old.