a contemplating monk. Or is he guarding the timber?
there is more activity at the main entrance
a line-up of colorful inscriptions
our guide tests the prayer wheels
a couple of monks turn the corner
where monks are at work
stairs lead you and the rest of the crowd to the lower buildings
a view of the royal plains from above
we approach the monastery from the quiet backside, which is clearly less attractive
In his 1933 novel
Lost Horizon, James Hilton described a fictional secluded Himalayan valley as an earthly paradise, which he named Shangri
La.
Nobody knows which specific place inspired Hilton for this moving story.
To promote tourism, in 2001 the city of
Zhongdian in the north of Yunnan was renamed
Shangri La.
Improvements on the poor infra structure, including a full fledged airport, were
then started to facilitate the anticipated increase in tourism.
Clearly Shangri La's main attraction is
Songzanlin Monastery,
the largest of all the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Yunnan.
On a rainy day In August 2005 we visited Shangry La's old town
and the monastery.
There was a lot of construction and renovation going on in the old town but we found a shop where they sold
excellent tea.
We found the monastery very interesting but also dirty and run down.
The weather forecast promised continuing
heavy rain so we cut our trip short and flew home to Shanghai the next day.
in the old town our guide turns heads. He must be good-looking
but we turn our heads up, we are going to that monastery
the monastery lurks in the background
a nice view of the Songzanlin monastery
