Shangri-La was formerly called Zhongdian County but was renamed on 17 December 2001 and upgraded into a county-level city on 16 December 2014 as Shangri-La (other spellings: Semkyi’nyida, Xianggelila, or Xamgyi’nyilha) after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the 1933 James Hilton novel Lost Horizon, in an effort to promote tourism in the area. Formerly, the Tibetan population referred to the city by its traditional name Gyalthang or Gyaitang, meaning “Royal plains”. This ancient name is reflected in the Tibetan Pinyin name within the town of Jiantang, the city seat.
In the early morning of January 11, 2014, a fire broke out in the 1,000-year-old Dukezong Tibetan neighborhood. About 242 homes and shops were destroyed and 2,600 residents were displaced. About half of the old town was destroyed by the fire, half was spared. After the fire residents were allowed back to their homes and shops. By the end of 2014 rebuilding had started and tourism started to come back. Generally tourism was not affected by the fire, since the main sights in the old town, such as the prayer wheel and temples were not damaged. Many of the other main sights are located outside of the old town.
The town’s airport is Diqing Shangri-La Airport. Covering an area of 225 hectares, it is one of the biggest airports in the northwest of Yunnan. There are flights to Kunming, Chengdu, Lhasa, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Since there is no railway available in Shangri-la, taking a long-distance bus is also a major means to get to Shangri-la besides flight. It takes about four hours to get to Shangri-la from Lijiang by bus. Tourists who rent a car for the trip can also visit the Tiger Leaping Gorge and the First Bend of Yangtze River on the way. The Lijiang–Shangri-La railway is under construction and estimated to be completed in 2020. Many travelers use the county town as a gateway into Tibet, either travelling many days overland by jeep to Lhasa, or by flying from the city’s airport. However, the town itself is a tourist destination, primarily due to the nearby Gandan Sumtseling Monastery, Pudacuo National Park, and Tiger Leaping Gorge.
