Shangrila - a novel place...

Claiming to be the mysterious haven described in James Hilton's 'Lost Horizon,' Zhongdian, at the foot of the Himalayas, was renamed after the famous Shangrila and so destined to become a Mecca for paradise seeking tourists worldwide.

After searching through the brand new bitumen town, we in fact enter the sphere of fabulously maintained Shangrila. Fantastic Tibetan-style architecture awaits us together with elaborately dressed women. Men as always are nothing like their better halves yet give a smart appearance in their cowboy hat and high boots. At nights we stroll past stupas and through old alleys filled with locals having adapted their lives towards handicrafts and bars. Everything from hamburgers, to typical Chinese is on the menu, but we decide to treat ourselves to a nice 'Yak-hotpot,' a big bubbling cauldron of deliciousness. Approaching one of the central places, we encounter an example of China's all present group dances. Enthusiastically swinging their legs in a 50 link human circle we follow random Chinese tourists' ability to almost instantly pick up the local dance.

With the start of a sunny day (the burningly-close-to-the-sun kind of sunny), we head for the famous monastery of Shangrila. Frightened by a 20 Euro toll gate we decide our motorbike deserves the title of "cross" and work our way through muddy but springlike blooming fields. An hour later and past the gate we are awaited by the golden shiny temple complex. Green and yellow protectors, with teeth longer than healthy for themselves, stand guard to the enlightened man. Buddha, worshipped even secretly during times of strongest prohibition, and hundreds of other mysterious fellows try their best to enlighten the room in colour. He himself proudly presents in more than 15m tallness.

After picturesque days a race against time begins. Trying to get to the capital of the province before our visa expires, we watch as Dali, the famous hippy town, passes by and keep heading south for Kunming. As always things take longer than expected, and with a worse than usual road, it takes us three days to get there (as opposed to 3 hours, with a car on the express way to which motorbikes are forbidden). As we approach the mini metropolis - a modest 7 million people - the countryside becomes somewhat more butchered and industrialised. Cruising the endless roads we fight our way deeper into the heart of the town and drop happily into the arms of another Chinese hotel.