Shangri-la Travel Guide - Brief Information on Shangri-la

Shangri-La in Chinese Pinyin: xiāng gé lǐ lā
Shangri-La in Chinese Writing:    

Shangri-La in Chinese Pronunciation:    Click the button to learn how to say Shangri-La Mandarin Chinese. Or you can download it to your hand device to play it to a conductor when buying a train ticket to Shangri-La.

Shangri-La Overview:   Shangri-La is a county of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It was first called Zhongdian in Chinese, and Jiantang in Tibetan, and was changed to Shangri-La in the year of 2001. Shangri-La is located between 99°21'—100°19' east, and 26°52'—28°52' east. It joins Daocheng and Muli counties of Sichuan in the east, Lijiang and Weixi in the west and Jinsha River that runs between Shangri-La and those two counties in the south and Deiqin in the north. The whole county covers an area of 11,613 square meters and has a population of 32,000. Within the county, there lived Tibetan, Han, Naxi, LiLi, Yi, Bai, Hui, Miao and Pumi among which Tibetan is the largest group.

Map of Shangri-La:  Here is a rough map of Shangri-La showing where Shangri-La is located on the map of China.

 

Shangri-La Climate & Weather:  Due to the large difference in altitude, climate varies accordingly.  The vertical climate is very clear in Shangri-La. There are six types of climate such as subtropical, warm temperate zone, cool temperature zone, sub-frigid zone, and frigid zone. The best time to visit Shangri-La is during May-June and September-October. July and August is rainy making road travel bit uncomfortable. Winter is very cold reaching  -7℃ or even lower some time. The average altitude of Shangri-La is 3380 meters and some people tend to nauseate. If you feel uncomfortable, please restrain from doing heavy activities, drink more water and keep warm. Due to the high altitude sun rays are stronger and hence it is recommended to do everything to protect from sun exposure such as to wear sunglasses, hat, sun lotions, lipstick etc… Also, take clothes that keep you warm.

Language in Shangri-La:  Chinese is the main language spoken in Shangri-La and Tibetan is used in rural areas.

Shangri-La Transportation: As there are no railway lines and only a small airport, road transportation becomes the main mode of transportation.

By Air: Diqing airport is located only about 4 km from Shangri-La County. It costs about CNY15.00 from the airport to Shangri-La County by taxi. There are daily flights to Kunming, three to four flights a week to Lhasa, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou during high season.

As there are daily flights to and fro Kunming you can transfer at Kunming if there is no direct flight from your departure cities to Shangri-La.

By Bus:  Bus is the main transportation modes in Shangri-La. Below are some bus information from different cities to Shangri-La, and to the counties of Diqing Prefecture from Shangri-La:

To Shangri-La from other Cities
From Kunming
It is about 720 km from Kunming to Shangri-La, and  takes about 12 hours to Shangri-La by bus. You can take bus from the following station of Kunming:
Bus station: Nanyao Passenger Transport Bus Station
Address: No. 60 Beijing Road, Kunming
Departure time: 08:20
Ticket Price: CNY 171
Bus station: Kunming West Passenger Transport Bus Station
Address: under the overpass near the Kunming West Railway Station
Departure time: 09:00
Ticket Price: CNY171

From Lijiang
It is about 200km from Lijiang to Shangri-La, and takes about 4 hours to Shangri-La from Lijiang by bus. You could take bus from Lijiang Transport Service Center Bus Station, which is located at Changshui Road to the southwest corner of Lijiang Old Town. Its departure time is as follows: 07:30, 08:30, 09:00, 10:30, 12:00, 12:30, 13:30, 14:30, 15:00, and the ticket price is CNY35.

From Dali
It is about 380km from Dali to Shangri-La and takes about 7-8 hours from Dali by bus. You could take bus from Xiaguan North Bus Station, which is situated at Tai’an Road (North). Buses depart every 30 minutes from 06:20 to 11:30, and every hour from 06:30-09:30. The ticket price is CNY45 and CNY58 for sleeper.

From Panzhihua of Sichuan Province
It is about 470km from Panzhihua to Shangri-La. You can take bus at Jinjiang station, the ticket price is CNY60 and CNY90 for sleeper.

2) From Shangri-La to other Cities
The Zhongdian(Shangri-La) Coach Bus Station is situated at Changzheng Middle Road, Shangri-La, where buses to the counties, towns or attractions are available.

To Deqin: It is about 180km from Shangri-La to Deqin. Buses to Deqin runs from 07:30 to 08:00, and the ticket price is CNY23.
To Napa Lake: Ticket price to Napa Lake is about CNY8.
To Bitahai Lake: You have to get off at Shuangqiao, then walk or ride a horse to Bitahai Lake. The ticket price is about CNY8
To Songzanlin Lamasery: about CNY1.5
To Baishuitai: There is no bus transportation available leaving you one option, to hire a taxi.

Shangri-La Food:  The local special of Shangri-La is Tibetan cuisine.  Among them,  Tibetan cakes, Tibetan butter tea- Zanba, Pipa Meat, Saimi Lamb, Guoben Hot Pot,  yogurt, and Suolima-a kind of Tibetan Liquor brewed with the highland barley etc are recommended.

Major Shangri-La Tourism Resources: Shangri-La means ‘Sun and moon in heart’ in Tibetan Language. It is a rare pure land of Natural Ecology and Traditional Folk Culture in the world. It is called the Large Highland Garden, Kingdom of Animals and Plants, Kingdom of non-ferrous metals. The natural scenery and the Tibetan culture here are its highlights. The Pudacuo National Park including Bita Lake & Shudu Lake and Tibetan village, The Songzanlin Lamasery, Baishuitai, Tiger-Leaping Gorge, Haba Snow Mountain etc are the other attractions.

Travel Agencies:  There are 1 licensed tour operators which can offer travel services to international travelers. Please refer to all these Shangri-la travel agencies.