I believe everyone has heard of the term "Shangri-La"? Even if you don't like to travel, you've been 100% "indoctrinated" with the word.
But can you clarify what "Shangri-La" is? As long as the ranking is honest enough, I believe that 99% of people will not be able to answer.
Its meaning is really a bit complicated, and it is not clear in two words.
This is actually a word for "export to domestic sales", which was "sub-virtual" at the time, and now it can no longer be "nothing".
Traveler Locke
People who like to travel have probably heard some of the deeds of the traveler Locke.
Joseph Locke, a Yankee 100 years ago.
This product was born in 1884, when the Great Qing Guangxu was still reigning. However, he was born in Vienna, Austria, and later went to the United States to become a naturalist.
This jun can only be said to be a genius. He learned Hungarian and later English from an early age with his mother. He also taught himself Chinese from the age of 13. After burping, he received a whole bunch of titles: explorer, anthropologist, botanist, Naxi scholar.
Other things are not listed, just talk about the origin of this product with China. From 1922, he traveled to China six times, going deep into the ethnic minority areas around Yunnan, Sichuan, Xikang and Gannan. It was not until the founding of New China that this "imperialist" completely ended his exploration career in China.
He first visited China between 1922 and 1924 in search of virus-resistant chestnut species. He harvested a lot in Yunnan, collecting tens of thousands of animal and plant specimens.
Because of this trip, he suddenly became a celebrity, and the reason was not because of the specimens he collected, but because the photos he took in Yunnan were published in the American magazine National Geographic, which caused a sensation.
After that, he became more of an explorer and has been active in China for a long time. He has written numerous articles for National Geographic. Many peerless beauties in northern Yunnan, western Sichuan, Gannan and eastern Tibet in China were first introduced to the world by him.
The reason why he doesn't want to use good words for this guy is because he also resells Chinese cultural relics. When his old age was struggling, he sold thousands of Dongba sutras he had acquired in China to museums in the West.
The disappearing horizon
Locke's illustrations published in National Geographic inspired a British writer. Against this background, he created a work that caused a sensation in the world.
The writer's name is James Hilton, a man with a deep connection to China. Interestingly, he had never been to Yunnan, China, and Locke's work became his link to Yunnan.
In 1933, he published the novel Lost Horizon in London. It was in this novel that he coined the term "Shangri-La".
In the novel, he tells the adventures of four Anglo-American people. After the plane crash, they survived, but accidentally came to a beautiful and simple paradise - Shangri-La. After all the interesting events, they all fell in love with this secret place, and except for 2 who had to leave, the other two stayed to live.
The novel caused an even bigger sensation and soon sold well all over the world. Many even made a special trip to China to find the ideal kingdom in the book, Shangri-La.
In 1937, Hollywood invested heavily in making the novel into a movie, which also caused a sensation. It broke box office records for three consecutive years, and the theme song "This Beautiful Shangri-La" also spread around the world.
Shangri-La Scramble
It should be said that Shangri-La does not exist, it is just a fictional place name in literature.
However, it is not entirely fictional, as it is based on Locke's travels in China. So, where Locke went before 1933, you could say it was Shangri-La. The scope of Locke's activity was the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, from Gannan to the north to Yunnan in the south, with Sichuan and Xikang (some areas now part of Tibet) in bet.
It is said that the word "Shangri-La" comes from the Tibetan word meaning "sun and moon of the heart", is it a very romantic word? However, I personally prefer to think that it is a word invented by a writer, who obviously does not understand Tibetan.
Since the term "Shangri-La" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and has great tourism development value, it has also sparked competition in China. The three provinces of Yun, Sichuan and Tibet all resolutely participated in this battle.
The first move was made in Yunnan. In 2001, Zhongdian County, Diqing Prefecture, Yunnan Province, was renamed Shangri-La City (county-level city).
Sichuan quickly counterattacked, and in 2002 Riwa Township in Daocheng County, Kardze Prefecture was renamed Shangri-La Township. At the same time, Daocheng Aden in Sichuan has always called itself the "last Shangri-La".
Tibet, for its part, has always claimed that Shangri-La is in the Qamdo area.
Gansu and Qinghai did not participate at first, but they were eventually given a spoonful of soup.
Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet will inevitably be a little angry in order to compete for "Shangri-La," and the mutual demolition of Taiwan has also caused all parties to lose face.
At this time, the mainland's institutional advantages came into play. In 2004, at the Third Sichuan-Yunnan-Tibet China Shangri-La Ecotourism Coordination Conference, the three provinces reached a consensus to delineate a large Shangri-La area across the three provinces, and even included parts of Qinghai and Gansu.
The three provinces plan to jointly invest 50 billion yuan in the next 10 years to cultivate Shangri-La into a "cash cow" for everyone.
This area not only has beautiful natural scenery, but also a unique Khamba culture. At present, this area already has a large number of high-quality scenic spots.
However, as a bystander, I still feel that Yunnan has become the biggest winner. It may be that at that time, they did not realize the value of "Shangri-La", so they approved the request to change the name of Zhongdian County in Yunnan, which invisibly pulled the bias. Today, when many people hear the word "Shangri-La," they equate it with Shangri-La County in Yunnan.
The Sichuan side had to emphasize its connection with Shangri-La through additional explanations.
What can this say? This can only say the old saying "start first is strong", which is too powerful!
I am Lighting Up Shenzhou, a traveler driving a mobile slum and currently on a long journey around my country. Of the 333 prefecture-level cities in the country, I have traveled through 100. Welcome to give a free follow, let's go to understand the wider world together.