How I Found Shangri-La

I wonder how many towns and cities in the west have changed their names in the last few decades? I suspect none, especially if the change was to commemorate a book. That is precisely what the authorities in China’s southwesterly Yunnan Province did in 2001. The small city of Zhongdian had never been very popular with tourists. With no train service and winding mountain roads, it was difficult to get to unless you took flights from secondary cities like Chengdu in neighbouring Sichuan Province or Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province.
Shangri-La Looking towards the Himalayas

And then someone had a bright idea.

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