Shangri-La

Shangri-La is a fictional place in Tibet's Kunlun Mountains, described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by the British author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. In the novel, the people who live in Shangri-La are almost immortal, living hundreds of years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly ageing in appearance.

Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise, particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia – an enduringly happy land, isolated from the world. Ancient Tibetan scriptures mention Nghe-Beyul Khembalung, one of seven utopian beyuls which Tibetan Buddhists believe were established in the 9th century CE by Padmasambhava as hidden, sacred places of refuge for Buddhists during times of strife.

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