Diqing，a Tibetan word meaning "land of good luck"，is a beautiful Shangri-la，world-known to tourists. Situated where Yunnan borders Sichuan and Tibet，it has the highest altitude in Yunnan. In this prefecture are such wonderful，fantastic landscapes as snow mountains and glaciers，vast fertile plateau meadows，boundless dense forests and widely scattered plateau lakes. Culturally speaking，the Tibetan based local ethnic religions and cultures of this prefecture are highly diversified. Diqing also possesses one of the largest forest zones in Yunnan and its percapita grassland ranks first in the province. The highland yak and dzo are special local animals found nowhere else in Yunnan.The area used to be an important hub of communications on the Old Tea-Horse Caravan Road，Also found in this prefecture are a natural world heritage (Three- River Parallel Flow) and three national tourist attractions：a national scenic area (Three-River Parallel Flow)，a key state-historical relic (Law Court of Zhongxin Town)，and a national nature reserve (Baimang Snow Mountain Nature Reserve).

Shangri-la

    In 1933，the British writer James Hilton published his novel Lost Horizon，in which he told a moving story and coined the word "Shangri-la" ．Since then，Shangri-1a has been a place for which people yearn．

    The novel is about Kangwei，a young British diplomat in India，and his three Western partners，whose plane crashed into a snowy world when flying from India to China．The place where they landed was a grand mysterious valley，a pure land and paradise inhabited by Tibetan people．When they returned to consciousness after the crash，they did not know where they were but found only that the people who came to the rescue called the place "Shangri-la" ，meaning"a haven of peace and beauty" ．

    The publication of the novel caused a great stir and many people began to look for Shangri-la．Because of its great similarity to the description of the novel，Diqing in Yunnan has been recognized finally as the real Shangri-la as described in the novel．Scholars have discovered further that "Shangri-la" ，a word from the Tibetan dialect spoken in Zhongdian in Northwest Yunnan，means "the sun and the moon in one's heart" ．It has been derived from the Tibetan word"Xiangbala"  which，in Tibetan Buddhist scriptures，refers to wonderful place which is inhabited by both gods and human beings and where man and nature co-exist in harmony．Based on compelling evidence．the Provincial Government of Yunnan proclaimed in September 1997 that Diqing was Shangri-la．In December 2001，the State Council approved the change of the name of the county from Zhongdian to Shangri-la．In a broad sense，Shangri-1a can refer to the whole area where Yunnan borders Sichuan and Tibet in Southwest China，it is inhabited by Tibetans．Naxi and Han．Now，Shangri-1a，with its beautiful and mysterious snow mountains and grasslands and colorful and diverse folk customs，is attracting more and more visitors．

 Kawagebo Peak

    Along the Yunnan-Tibet Road from Deqin County to Feilai Temple are hundreds of kilometers of grand and magnificent icy peaks stretching along the bank of the Lancang River．This is the well-known Meili Snow Mountain．Of the peaks of the mountain，13 are over 6,000 meters above sea level and are known as the "Thirteen Prince Peaks".  Kawagebo Peak，6，740 meters above sea level，is the highest of all and the highest point in Yunnan．It is a Holy Land for Tibetan Buddhists．

    Kawagebo is a Tibetan word meaning"white snow mountain" ． Also regarded as the snow mountain god，the peak is enshrined by the local Tibetans as their patron god．From the late autumn to the early winter of each year，pilgrims come here from Yunnan，Tibet，Sichuan，Qinghai，and Gansu to worship it．Banchan X conducted a religious ceremony at its foot．

    The towering Kawagebo has nurtured the Mingyong Glacier，the glacier of the lowest altitude and latitude on the Northern Hemisphere．With a total area of about 1 3 km²，this grand and magnificent glacier extends 11.7km like an enormous river pouring magnificently down the  peak，thus forming a fantastic view．On the southern side of the peak，slush rushes down the lofty cliffs shaping the well-known view called Holy Snow Water Fall (Yubengshenpu) which is especially spectacular in summer．Peak Kawagebo is a major part of the natural world  heritage―Three-River Parallel Flow．

    Because of its special landform and climate，the peak is still unconquered by climbers．The joint mountaineering team of China and Japan attempted to climb the peak in 1991 and 1996 but did not succeed，leaving the peak untrampled．

Three-River Paral lel Flow

   The three rivers refer to the Jinsha，Lancang and Nujiang Rivers，a11 originating in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Among the Yunling Mountains，Nushan Mountain，Gaoligong Mountain，and Dandanglika Mountain located in the logitudinal valley of the Hengduan Mountains in Nujiang，Diqing and Lijiang in Northwest Yunnan，the three rivers run southward almost parallel for about 400 km. The point where they come the closest to each other is near 27?30? north latitude where thevy are only 66.3 km away from each other. Then near Shigu and Bijiang，they separate gradually，shaping a broom-like water system. At their estuaries，they are over 3，000 km from each other.

    Near the north latitude of 27?30? is a special landscape where the three rivers descend one by one from east to west. As a result，the Jinsha River is 2，100 meters above sea 1evel，the Lancang River is 1，900 meters above sea level and the Nujiang River 1，600 meters above sea level，thus forming a steep stair. The whole landscape of the Three-River Parallel Flow is imposing and magnificent. With an elevation range from 700 meters to 6，500 meters and the particular  geographical conditions，this area has almost all types of landscape found in the Northern Hemisphere. For this，it is characterized vividly as "an area of 10 li around which are quite different seasons and ten thousand kinds of plants and animals all found on one mountain". This  area is rich in species and biological diversity. In 1988，it was approved by the State Council as a national scenic area. In 2003，it was accepted by UNESCO as a natural world heritage. After that  it attracted worldwide attention.

    The site of the Three-River Parallel Flow lies between 98? to 100?30? east longitude and 25?30? to 29? north latitude. It has a total area of 17 thousand km²，larger than the total area of all other world heritages in China. The site is made up of eight major sections. The Gaoligong Mountain Section，the first of these，is the part with the richest flora species such as the best reserved evergreen latifoliate forest and the largest nature reserve. The Baimang-Meili Snow Mountain Section is the habitat for Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys and the seat of the glacier at the lowest altitude in the Northern Hemisphere and at the lowest latitude. The Haba Snow Mountain Section is the seat for a glacier at the lowest latitude in china and types of landscape of alpine   vertical zone scattered along the Jinsha River and the only range for the remains of Dali Glacier. The Qianhu Mountain Section，an epitome of the variety of plateau organisms，has glacier erosion lakes and over one hundred plateau lakes. The Hongshan Mountain Section has a typical plateau planation surface，an alpine karst topography，remains of old glaciers，a complete biological system of plants，and plateau lakes，a valuable showcase for the study of ancient landscapes，a place of great potential tourism. The Yunling Mountain Section，a major reserve habitat for Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys，which constitute 10％ of the total number of this species. The Laojun Mountain Section，an area full of groups of plateau glacier erosion lakes，rhododendron woods，and red landform (1ava scarps)，which covers an area of 240 km²，1.4 times larger than that of the Danxia Hill of the same kind in Guangdong Province，and the largest and most completely developed 1ava landforms in China. Legend has it that Laojun (Master Lao) used to make pills of immortality here so that the flames from the furnace burnt the nearby scarp. The place was thus named after him. The last of the eight major sections is the Laowo Mountain Section which mainly preserves plateau lakes，plateau meadows and wild flora resources.

    Of these sections，the Meili Snow Mountain Section and the Laoiun Mountain Section epitomize the essence of the heritage. With three rivers flowing parallel among four mountain ranges，the typical topography combines the eight sections into a whole which is biologically，geologically and scenically diverse. Besides the uniqueness and integrity in its resources，the heritage fulfills the four criteria for a natural world heritage site，a matchless example of its kind.

Gadan Songzanlin Temple

    Gadan Songzanlin Temple，the largest Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Yunnan，is approximately 5 km north of the seat of Shangri-la County．It covers an area of 33.3 hectares and has 700 monks．The temple was built with approval in 1679at this site selected personally by the 5th Dalai Lama．The temple built at the foot of a hill took three years to build．As an imitation of the Potala Palace in Tibet，the temple is also called "Minor Potala Palace" ．The fifth Dalai Lama named it "Gadan Songzanlin Temple" ，Gadan is the Tibetan name for Tusita，the fourth of the six-1ayered Buddhist heavens．In 1410，Tsong-kha-ha，founder of the Gelu Sect of Tibetan Buddhism，built the first temple for Gelu Sect in Lasa named Gadan or Gandan Temple．Songzanlin is also a Tibetan expression in which "song" means"three" ，"zan" means the"playground for heavenly gods" and"lin""temple" ．Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty granted the name "Guihuasi" to the temple and his brother Prince Heshuoguo also granted to it a golden plaque inscribed with"慈云广覆" ("Blessings for All")．

The monastery consists of a group of Tibetan styled stone houses with earthen walls looking like a fortification. At the highest point in its center stand two major temples named Zhacang and Jikang，around which are eight branch temples，each in charge of a Buddhist parish．Beyond the branch temples are rooms for monks and nuns．The whole monastery is well arranged and majestically beautiful．The two major temples are five-storied，golden-pantile-roofed stone houses facing south．Zhacang Main Hall holds 1，600 people for meditation and scripture chanting．On the front altar of the hall is enshrined a bronze statue of the fifth Dalai Lama．In the back hall arc enshrined the statues of Tsong-kha-ha，the Maitreya Bcddha and the seventh Dalai Lama，all over 1 0 meters high．The Songzanlin Temple houses many valuable cultural relics from past dynasties，including eight gilded Sakyamuni statues from the periods of the fifth and seventh Dalai Lamas，the Pattra-leaf Scripture，the five-colored Thangka scroll paintings in golden ink，and a golden lantern．There are more than 200 volumes of Bak'-'gyur，a major part of the Tibetan tripitaka．    
In April 1 936 when the Red Army passed by Zhongdian，Generals He Long and Xiao Ke went to the temple，visited the living buddhas and lamas there and granted to the temple a banner with "兴盛番族"  ("Thriving Tibetan Nationality") which is now in the China Military  Museum.The temple supported the Red Army on their way to the north to fight the Japanese invaders by collecting over 20 thousand jin of grain and sending monks to work as their guides．

Baishui Platform

   The Baishui Platform is located in Baidi Village in Sanba Township of Shangri-la County，101 km from the county seat．It is a sinter deposit landscape caused by the chemical sediment of slaked lime overlaid on earth in the course of many eons．Covering an area of approximately 3 km²，it is one of the largest sinter platforms in China．The platform looks very much like terraced fields so  that in the Naxi legend it is regarded as a model used by the primogenitors of the Naxi people，Meilidong and Meilise，to show their offspring how to build fields．Because of this，the landscape is also called"Fields of Celestial Beings" ．

    The platform is not only a beautiful landscape but also the birthplace of the Naxi people．The village of Baidi，where the platform is located，is long been inhabited by Naxi．Every year on the 8th of the second month of the lunar year，the local Naxi make a pilgrimage here to worship their mountain deity．It is said that on his way home from Tibet where he had studied Budhhist scriptures，Dingbashiluo，the founder of Dongba，passed the village and，attracted by its views， decided to stay here to propagate the religion．Since then，Baishui Platform has been a holy place for Dongba religion．

    As early as the Tang and Song dynasties，Baishui Platform was a place of interest in West Yunnan．In 1554，the 33rd year of the Jiaqing Period of the Ming Dynasty，Mugao，magistrate of Lijiang District，inscribed the rock of the platform with a poem eulogizing it as"three thousand ridged fields look like waves of cloud and snow； tens of thousands of fields and dikes resemble jade banks and silver hillocks．"Now the rock carved with this poem has become a place of interest．The Baishui Platform has attracted many specialists，scholars and visitors from home and abroad for its beautiful landscape and because it is the birthplace of the Dongba religion．