Shangri-La Cultural Map

Author: Gao Xing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: There is a beautiful place that people all yearn for, where it is always green all year round, where birds sing and flowers bloom, where there is no pain, and where there is no sorrow. Its name is Shangri-La, a place said to be inhabited by immortals. The author of the book is not satisfied with simple praise for Shangri-La, but rather provides objective eyewitness accounts, with both criticism and research. If Shangri-La is a myth, then this book takes the myth of Shangri-La to its extreme. "The earliest place where the sun shines is Jiantang in the east, and the most extraordinary place in the world is Shangri-La by the Naizi River." Here are tranquil and transcendent lakes, stones full of spiritual energy, a deep and far-reaching blue sky, vast and boundless mountains and rivers, magnificent and beautiful gorges, grand temples, and wise lamas. The meadows here are covered with wildflowers, always filled with a romantic atmosphere of joyful times. The people here live in harmony because they have gods in their hearts, giving them a natural acceptance of fate. Among the many books currently available about Shangri-La, this one is undoubtedly different. The author is not satisfied with simple praise for Shangri-La but rather provides more objective eyewitness accounts, with both criticism and research. This book offers a panoramic cultural map of Shangri-La, with numerous historical narratives and cultural concepts forming the author's multiple routes of "returning" to Shangri-La. Of course, this is not just at the geographical level but more so a spiritual orientation.