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The Tibetan Neighborhood

Near the Wuhou Shrine and the Southwest University for Nationalities is a small neighborhood that features Tibetan shops and restaurants. From the outside this area is only recognizable by the Tibetan script written above or below Chinese characters on storefronts. There is usually a handful...

Near the Wuhou Shrine and the Southwest University for Nationalities is a small neighborhood that features Tibetan shops and restaurants. From the outside this area is only recognizable by the Tibetan script written above or below Chinese characters on storefronts. There is usually a handful of Tibetan monks, dressed in traditional red and yellow attire, milling about the area as well. It is not possible to say whether the shops sell items any more or less authentic than the Tibet Autonomous Region itself. Still, any travelers or tourists looking to pick up a Buddha figure, incense, or Tibetan-style jewelery, handcrafts, clothing, or weavings should stop by for a browse. Generally speaking Tibetans are particularly friendly, however, the neighborhood does unfortunately host a few unfriendly beggars, including some children.  

The neighborhood itself is really just one intersection. Running north/south is Wuhouci Hengjie. The east/west cross-street with Wuhouci Hengjie is Wuhouci Dongjie on the west side and Ximianqiao Hengjie on the east side. The restaurants in the area are all vegetarian and moderately priced.  

A Tibetan restaurant facade, notice the unusual Tibetan script

Buses 8, 94, 109, and 110 all stop on Ximianqiao Hengjie, which forms the eastern end of the neighborhood. If you head south from the Wuhou Shrine on Wuhouci Dajie, you will soon turn left onto Wuhouci Dongjie.

Daocheng

Daocheng is located in the south of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 800 kilometers from Chengdu. Daocheng and Yading Nature Reserve has an area of 56,000 hectares. 

with beautiful glaciers, snow-capped mountains, forests and lakes, Daocheng displays a charming landscape. Th...

Daocheng is located in the south of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 800 kilometers from Chengdu. Daocheng and Yading Nature Reserve has an area of 56,000 hectares. 

with beautiful glaciers, snow-capped mountains, forests and lakes, Daocheng displays a charming landscape. The glaciated rock knobs and fault basins are scattered in the highland, which witnesses the biggest glacial vestige in China. The Yading Natural Reserve ,with its 3 snow-scapped peaks towering proudly into the sky, is a famous Buddhist holy land, which is inspired by the local religion and exotic customs. almost isolated from the outside world, the quiet mountains and limpid rivers lie in Daocheng and make it known as an unearthly heaven of peace. far away from the hustle and bustle of the world, therefore it is called "the last Shangri-la", a peace of rare and pure land in the world. 

Daocheng is know as  Shangri-la 

    in 1928, Joseph Rock, an American missionary, reached Daocheng from Lijiang of Yunnan Province. He found this was a peaceful and beautiful land, which was far awar from the turmoil of the world. he published his photos  taken here in the American magazine National Geographic, and aroused people's interest. The place he reached, he believed, was Zhongdian of Yunnan, but later, experts proved it was Daocheng of Sichuan Province. 

     in  1934, the American writer Hilton, based on Joseph Rock's experience and his imagination, wrote a novel entitled the Lost Horizon, in which a place as peaceful as a fairyland was vividly described. in the story,Conway and three other westerners were hijacked by a mysterious man. The plane crashed in a place named " Shangri-la", where the  Tibetans and the Hans got along well, lived a long life, and different religions of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam coexisted harmoniously. The book caused a great sensation in the west, for the people disliked war and longed for a happy life in Shangri-la. The name of the place contributed a new word to the English language, "Shangri-la" , a synonym for "the Garden of Eden" . later, it was adopted as a brand name for hotels and restaurants .