Docheng is located at the southwestern edge of Sichuan Province. Its ancient name is "Daoba," a Tibetan word meaning a wide stretch of open land at the mouth of a mountain gully. The Daocheng Plateau consists of the Gongga Ridge and the Haizi Mountain, both are part of the Hengduan Mountains. The two ranges stand opposite to each other north and south, accounting for almost a third of the area of Daocheng. From these meandering ranges emerge the three sacred mountains of Daocheng : Xiannari. Yangmaiyong and Xianuoduoji.Since the ancient times, the three sacred mountains have been a sacred place for Tibetan 3uddhism.Xiannari (6,032 meters), the main peak of the three sacred mountains, is first among Daocheng's high peaks. According to legend it is the incarnation of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy Guanyin or Avalokitesvara. Its slopes are vast, its gradient gentle, the mountain looks like Great Buddha sitting in peace, graceful and poised. Yangmaiyong (5.958 meters), the southern peak, means the Bodhisattva Manjusri, dignified and stately, gentle, quiet, noble and impeccable. Xianuoduoji (5,95R meters), the eastern peak, means Buddha with warriors' hands, resembling a young man of strong character, tall and handsome.
Within a thousand square kilometer range of the three mountains, rise dozens of peaks. like a myriad of stars surrounding the moon. To Tibetan thinking, they represent Buddhist gods performing their role of protecting the three sacred mountains.
At their foot lie wide pasturelands. crisscrossed by brooks and streams flowing gently into lakes. There are woods and bushes too, and waterfalls formed by melting ice and snow creating captivating scenes. Year after year, they have flowed in silence and this land of mystery had remained unknown to the world outside.
In 1928. when the American botanist Dr. Joseph Rock advanced into the Gongga Ridge area, "the clouds suddenly cleared to reveal the true look of the Thunder and Lightning Guardian as sharply defined pyramid " Stumbling upon this holy place by mistake. he shouted in surprise, thus bursting open the gate of the "garden preserved by God."
Many years later, the name of "Shangri-La‑ the imaginary utopia described in James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon — was given to this place, a paradise sought by many people troubled by worldly life, and stirred up an unahating tide of "Returning to Nature."
More information about Shangri-la :
ReplyDeleteThe myth of Shangri-La was born in 1921 with the novel by James Hilton "Lost Horizon". In his book, Hilton describes a paradisiacal place in the foothills of the Himalayas isolated from the outside world where people lived a harmonious and happy life. Several places in India, Pakistan, Tibet and China claim to have inspired James Hilton.
Shangri-La has become a symbol for Oriental exoticism and luxury. The Chinese Shangri-La is located in the northwest of Yunnan province (south of China).
The two main reasons for visiting Shangri-La town are its old city and the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery. Many tourists come to Shangri-La to start an overland trip to Lhasa, in Tibet.
On the following pages I will give you some information on the town of Shangri-La, its monastery and other destinations in Tibetan Yunnan and Sichuan.
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Joseph rock who work in This area :
ReplyDeleteDr Joseph Rock was an Austrian-born American botanist, anthropologist and explorer. He lived in South West China from the 1920s to 1949. During that time he went on many expeditions to remote parts of the Tibetan borderlands, collecting plants, taking photographs and collating maps. He described his trips in several articles in the National Geographic journal. After reading his articles, I was inspired to revisit places he described in Sichuan and Yunnan such as Muli, Yading, Deqin and Gongga Shan.