SHANGRI-LA (digital) (30 images)

Shangri-La was called Zhongdian until 17 December 2001 when it was officially named as Shangri-La after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the 1933 James Hilton novel Lost Horizon, in an effort to promote tourism in the area. The original Tibetan population refer to this place by its traditional name Gyalthang or Gyaitang, meaning "Royal plains".