Deqen: Shangri-la on Earth

By LIU HUANZHI & WANG NAN

MORE than 60 years ago, British writer James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon described Shangri-la as a dream-like Utopia. Hollywood adapted the novel into a film, and ever since, Shangri-la has been famous worldwide. Many people come to China, Nepal, India and related areas to look for this paradise.

Deqen is Tibetan for "auspicious place." It is the only Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Yunnan Province, and also one of the ten Tibetan autonomous prefectures in the country. Located at the juncture of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet, it is a strategic passage from Yunnan to Tibet and was a pivotal point on the Ancient Tea-Horse Trail. Ethnic minorities constitute 84 percent of the prefecture's total population, of which Tibetans make up one third. Experts conclude that Deqen's Zhongdian County is the Shangri-La James Hilton described, and the county's name was changed to Shangri-la.

Mountains surround the small Shangri-la Airport, and clouds hang halfway up the mountains like curtains. Kyhigyagla, governor of Deqen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, praises Shangri-la's connection to the rest of the world, "Shangri-la belongs to all of China and the entire humankind. It is humankind's spiritual homeland, not merely that of Deqen or Yunnan." Top leader of the prefecture, Kyhigyagla dresses in Tibetan clothes and takes pride in Deqen's rich tourism resources and good opportunities for developing tourism. He is, however, aware of the area's fragile ecological environment and weak economic foundation. Shangri-la is nonetheless a marvelously utopian Tibetan area and a realm of harmony between humans and nature.

Yagra Township: "North Pole of Yunnan"

Ethnic minorities constitute 84 percent of the prefecture's total population, of which Tibetans make up one third.

Yagra Township is easily the most beautiful place in Deqen Prefecture. It is situated deep in the mountains at the juncture of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet. Covering an area of 1,087 square kilometers, it is called "North Pole of Yunnan."

Yagra Township is also the poorest township in the province, though the Yunnan provincial government has taxed its ingenuity in an effort to help it shake off poverty. No highways pave the way into the area; instead visitors must trek for two days along a 37-km mountain path. In recent years, several thousand tons of materials, such as cement, steel and rubber pipes and daily-use articles have been transported to the township by horse and human shoulder step by step up the mountains. Nyimagyi, deputy secretary of the Yagra Township Committee of the CPC, says that only the Yagra people could endure such hardships. In the 1970s, the Yagra people caused a sensation when they purchased a bulldozer from the interior area. When the machine was transported to the end of the highway, they dismantled it and carried the parts one by one over the mountain, and re-assembled it on the other side. They used the bulldozer to turn wasteland into fertile farmland.

The locals say that Wang Xueren, Yunnan Province's deputy Party secretary who is in charge of poverty alleviation, always has the welfare of the masses at his heart. He came to Shangri-la and Deqen counties many times to inspect the implementation of poverty-alleviation policies and projects, and to investigate the readjustment of rural economic structure. He talked with local Tibetans, to get to know their living conditions, and discussed achieving well-off life with locals.

Wang stressed that poor areas should grasp opportunities and make "shaking off poverty and solving the problems of food and clothing" central to their economic work. He has repeatedly heard reports on Yagra's poverty alleviation work and instructed Yunnan Province's Ethnic Affairs Commission and Poverty Alleviation Office to investigate and draft poverty alleviation plans. When he heard that 480,000 yuan of compensation for young crops did not figure in Yagra's highway construction projects, he immediately rectified the situation.

Laoxi, head of Yagra Township government, says that moving the mountain is inferior to moving the home, which is inferior to conducting construction. Highway connecting the town with and the county seat and prefectural capital have now been built. With the completion of another highway along the Jinsha River in the near future, the Yagra people will no longer have to cross snowy mountains.

Wang Xueren (first left), Yunnan Province's deputy Party secretary who is in charge of poverty alleviation, on his way to Yagra Township. He often talks with local Tibetans.

Ugyain Zholma, a poor farmer aged 36 has nothing but the bare walls in her house. This roofless home has only support beams in place, and was built by the government at a cost of 10,000 yuan. The prefectural government earmarked 400,000 yuan and farmers raised 800,000 yuan to solve the housing problem. A number of houses has since been built.

The government has also helped the township to develop a copper mining industry, and the Yagra Copper Mine is currently working to become the largest copper mine in Yunnan Province. Deqen Prefecture's Danda Hydropower Plant will go into operation by the end of 2004, and 58 villages in the township will have been covered by power grid. Solution of the problem of roads and power supply has increased Yagra's school attendance rate from 20 to 98 percent.

Dialogue Between Man and Nature

In Deqen Prefecture there are rare low-latitude modern glaciers and snowcapped mountains. In Shangri-la County alone there are 470 snowcapped mountains higher than 4,000 meters above sea level. The Moirig Snow Mountain's 13 peaks traverse the whole territory of the county. Its highest peak, the 6,740-meter-high Mt. Kagebo, is still a "virgin mountain," and one of the nine sacred mountains revered by Tibetan Buddhists. The river valleys are deeply cut; the most famous gorges include Jinsha River's Tiger Leaping Gorge and the Lancang River Gorge. There are also vast plateau pastures, dense primeval forests and alpine lakes.

An elderly person prays with prayer wheel.

Deqen Prefecture is located in the Three Parallel Rivers non-ferrous metaliferous belt; copper reserves rank highly in Yunnan Province. As a mountainous area, Deqen has more than 4,800 species of higher plants, and 1,400 species of wild animals. Snowcapped mountains, meadows, rivers, gorges and lakes make Deqen one of the world's most biodiverse areas. It is known as the "natural kingdom of flora and fauna," "natural alpine flower garden," and "gene bank of biological resources."

Coming to Shangri-la is like entering a wonderland of vast meadows, wild flowers, grazing cattle and sheep, and lofty mountains. On mountain slopes there are grand buildings with golden roofs, and white pagodas in temples of Tibetan Buddhism.

Travelers in Shangri-la are in dialogue with nature. The sight of Tibetan houses, drying racks, yaks and goats along the way arouses admiration for this land. The Nagpag Lake is habitat of the black-necked crane, a national protected bird. Horses wade across the marshland, and the environment is quiet. Mountains in four directions surround the lake, situated nearly 4,000 meters above sea level. Traveling in Deqen Prefecture tourists can see Mani stone piles carved with Buddhist images and the universal mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum."

Shangri-la has a diverse cultural tradition, including Tibetan, Naxi, Han Chinese, and even Western Catholic. Cultural relics include Baishui (Sinter) Terrace, origin of the Dongba religion, Gadain Sumzanling Monastery, known as the "mini-Potala Palace" and Cizhong Catholic Church.

Yunnan's golden monkeys are one of the many forms of wildlife living in the area.

Gadain Sumzanling Monastery is a must for tourists. On the way to the monastery are hills, where, at harvest time, the highland barley known as qingke waits to be harvested by Tibetan women working the fields. This scene is reminiscent of French artist Jean Francois Millet's painting "Gleaners."

Sumzanling is the largest Tibetan Buddhism monastery in Yunnan Province. Covering an area of 30 hectares, it looks like a mini Kumbum (Ta'er) Monastery. It is located on a mountain slope five kilometers from the county town of Shangri-la. At sunset, the lamasery is shrouded in a mysterious atmosphere - thangka paintings line the corridors and the lamas chant sutras. Such a sacred place seems to purify the soul.