South of the Clouds: Shangri-la, Yunnan, China

by Catherine Bodry on

Gadling’s last stop on Yunnan’s ancient tea horse road was Shangri-la, China, a high-altitude Tibetan city named after the mythical town in John Hilton’s “Lost Horizon.” Full of snapping prayer flags in high-altitude sunlight, the town has only been called Shangri-la since 2001, when a successful marketing venture changed its name from Zhongdian to appeal to adventure-seekers. Most Chinese still refer to it as Zhongdian, though it’s worth noting that its Tibetan name is Gyalthang.

Shangri-la’s residents are mostly Han and Tibetan, and it’s common to see red-cheeked Tibetan-Chinese dressed in traditional clothing. The architecture, especially in the countryside, is uniquely Tibetan: large, square, three story homes house animals on the ground level, with human living quarters above. New homes are still being built in this style. Wood stoves (frustratingly drafty) occupy space in every restaurant, home, and guesthouse, often with the staff huddled around them.

%Gallery-113848%Things to see and do

Like Dali and Lijiang, Shangri-la has an “old city,” with the usual cobblestones and new-old architecture, as well as a very Chinese “new city,” full of traffic and electronics shops. The Thangka Academy is a center in the old town for Tibetan culture and learning. Students, usually orphans, are taught the ancient art of Thangka, an intricate style of Buddhist painting of deities. Foreigners can study Tibetan or meditate here.

Though Shangri-la’s narrow, old-city streets are pleasant for a wander, it’s the town’s surrounds that make the trip worthy.

The Songstam Monastery houses monks of the yellow hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It’s the biggest Tibetan monstery in China, and certainly worth a visit. Besides monks and temples, you’ll see juniper burning in the mornings, pigs snuffing around the dusty grounds, tourists snapping photos, and a hodge-podge of colorful buildings built on several levels.

The monastery was built during the Qing Dynasty in 1679, and now houses 700 monks as well as 11 temples. In the tea-horse road days, the monastery stored tea, waited for the price to rise, and then sold it for a profit. The complex was destroyed by the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution and has since been rebuilt, though remnants of ancient mud walls still linger.

Beyond the monastery is Napa Hai, a lake and wetland with misty mountains backing them. More than a dozen Tibetan villages surround the lake, which is also home to black-necked cranes. We rented mountain bikes from one of the many bike rental shops in town, and road the often-muddy, sometimes treacherous roads out to the lake. A new highway being built ought to smooth the ride out significantly.

Getting there

Buses bound for Zhongdian depart regularly from Lijiang, Dali and Kunming. Diqing airport has daily flights to Kunming.

At nearly 10,000 feet, Shangri-la takes a day or two to acclimate to, especially if you fly in. Take care when drinking alcohol your first couple of nights, and be sure to drink lots of water.

For more about Gadling’s travels in Yunnan, click here.

Though our trip to Shangri-la was partially funded by WildChina, the opinions expressed here are all our own.

Capsule hotels come to China

by Melanie Nayer on

Following in the footsteps of Japan, China has introduced “capsule hotels” – a cheap, convenient and possibly claustrophobic option for travelers on a budget.

If your travel plans take you to Shanghai, you could enjoy a night at a capsule hotel for as little as $10 (68 Yuan). The 68 “room” hotel opened next to the Shanghai Railway Station, making it easy accessible for travelers on-the-go. The concept of capsule hotels — small pod-like spaces complete with a narrow bed, tiny TV, reading light and “shade” that you pull down for privacy — originated in Japan and book up with business and budget travelers needing a quick nap and cheap hotel option before their next stop.

The Shanghai capsule hotel imported the miniature hotel rooms from Japan, and each room is complete with a power point, clock, light, television and wireless internet. Each of the capsules is 1.1-meters (3 feet) high, 1.1-meters (3 feet) wide and 2.2-meters (7 feet) long. The hotel also has a public lavatory, shower room, smoking room and shared guest room.

As of right now, the hotel is for men only. Prices start at 68 yuan ($10) for 10 hours or 88 yuan ($14) for 24 hours.

Our friends at AOL Travel have more information.

Photo of the Day (01.10.11)

by Mike Barish on

Some meals are just made for the beach. When I think of sandy picnics, I imagine sandwiches, potato chips, fresh seafood (lobster rolls!) and lots of fruit. Other foods, however, just don’t seem right for the beach. I’ve never woking up from sunbathing and said, “Man, I sure could go for a shepherd’s pie right about now.” Not once have I wished that the vendors walking up and down the beach has piping hot lasagna in their carts. Beach food can be a fickle thing.

This photo by Flickr user Bernard-SD got me to thinking about what foods make the most sense on the beach. Noodles on the beach may seem odd, but after surfing in Bali recently, I slurped up a bowl of ramen just a few feet from the water and could not have enjoyed it more. This photo was taken in Lombok, not far from Bali, and I’m beginning to think Indonesian beach food might be better than the turkey sandwiches I’m used to back home. Hm, maybe a shepherd’s pie wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Taken any photos of beach food? Or maybe just some fantastic pictures of the people, places and things you’ve encountered on your travels? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Wikileaks Dumps on U.S./Japan v. Sea Shepherd

by Jon Bowermaster on

That the Sea Shepherd’s and Japanese whalers are skirmishing again — last week’s tête-à-tête included the sling shotting of stink bombs (by the Shepherds) and false attempts to ram (by the Japanese) — the bigger news was the Wikileaks release of conversations between representatives of the U.S. government and their Japanese counterparts about how to shutdown the increasingly popular conservation group.

On the eve of a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in November 2009, a U.S. representative, Monica Medina, apparently broached the idea with senior officials from Japan’s Fisheries Agency of the possibility of revoking Sea Shepherd’s tax-exempt status.

On what basis? According to the leaked cable, first published on Wikileak’s website and then in the Spanish daily El Pais, it was because the group “does not deserve tax exempt status based on their aggressive and harmful actions.”

In the past the Japanese have suggested that if the Shepherd would stop chasing them, they might actually slow down their annual whale hunts. The group’s charismatic leader Paul Watson, for one, doesn’t trust them. “This is not about politics, it’s about economics,” he has said. “They will stop until they realize it is bad business, not because some government tells them to.”

In the cables, both governments labeled the conservation group’s annual anti-whaling campaign an “irritant” in international relations.Contacted by the AP aboard his ship Steve Irwin in the Southern Ocean, you could almost hear the glee in Watson’s reaction to the leaked cables, saying the secret talks proved Sea Shepherd was having an effect.

“We have had our tax status since 1981, and we have done nothing different since then to cause the IRS to change that,” he said by telephone.

Meanwhile the daily cold war continues off the coast of Antarctica. For the past week the Sea Shepherd ships have been pursuing the Japanese factory ship the Nisshin Maru ever since finding the whaling fleet on December 31st. The pursuit has now covered a thousand miles.

If things continue like this – lots of harassment and engagement, few whales taken, no loss of life or ships and lots of media coverage — the Shepherd’s and Watson will be satisfied. As will the “Whale Wars” camera crews onboard documenting a fourth season.

This season’s campaign motto? “Operation No Compromise.” Watson’s goal is to cause enough distractions to force the whalers to give up and go home. For good.

[Flickr image via mikebaird]

Taj Mahal is getting a facial

by Sean McLachlan on


India’s most beautiful monument is going to look even more beautiful after a team of specialists give it a mud facial. The Taj Mahal in Agra is getting treated with multani-mitti , known in English as fuller’s earth, an absorbent mud that sucks up dirt and grime and is normally found in beauty parlors. The Archaeological Survey of India is conducting the cleaning.

The site’s mosque and some of the outlying buildings have already been treated, and the team hopes to start work on the main building in April. The process involves spreading mud over every surface, covering it with a polythene sheet, and waiting for the mud to dry and flake off. Once this happens, the surface is washed with distilled water.

The Taj Mahal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built by Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan in 1648 as a mausoleum to his wife.

[Photo courtesy jrodmanjr via Gadling’s flickr pool. For another of jrodmanjr’s great shots of the Taj Mahal, see one of our previous Photo of the Day entries.]