Women chatting in Old Town Shangri La.
Downtown Shangri La.
Young and old in downtown Shangri La.
A statuette of Chairman Mao displayed, appropriately, on Long March Avenue.
Outside City Hall. The banner reads "Celebration of the 88th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party."
Brass goods on sale at the Shangri La market/
At the Shangri La market.
Monks at the market.
Yak butter for sale, outside the Shangri La market.
Yak parts at the market.
Tea at the market.
Watermelon seller and friend, sampling the goods, Shangri La market.
Yak cheese at the market.
Playing cards at the Shangri La market restaurant.
Vegetable seller at the market.
Old Town Shangri La.
in red: "The youth should stay away from drugs and value their lives." In blue: "Drive safely and achieve harmony, felicity, and a well-off life." (Outside Shangri La City Hall.)
"Insist on development as the top priority and be energy efficient when developing, use energy efficiency to promote development." (Outside Shangri La City Hall)
A small farm village high in the mountains, altitude about 4,000 meters above sea level. It takes about half a day by horse to get to the nearest road at the bottom of the mountain. The people raise farm cattle, sheep, and pigs.
Some of the women of Blue Moon Valley, in the mountains near Shangri La.
Farmhouse, Blue Moon Valley.
Farmer chopping wood, Blue Moon Valley.
Woman, Blue Moon Valley.
Donald, with Blue Moon valley farmhouses in the background.
Farmer, Blue Moon valley.
Close to a mountaintop, about 4,400 meters (14,400 ft) above sea level.
The town of Shangri La, as seen from a nearby mountain.
Potatoes and rape plants at the foot of a mountain near Shangri La. The rapde crop is dried on large wooden trestles, and the seeds used to make oill
frmhouse in a village near Shangi La. The bottom floor is used for cattle in winter, and the family lives upsairs.
Tibetan Buddhist stupa in the farm village.
A yak.
Village children.
Our 15 year old guide for our horseback tour of the farm village and surroundings. He left school after the third grade, and has been working as a guide for two years. Like most young men in his village,when he is in his twenties he plans to move to Li Jiang or the provincial capital of Kunming to work as a truck driver.
The road to Love Song Valley. The valley is at the foot of a mountain regarded as holy by local residents. The valley's current name, as far as I can gather, came with the advent of tourism in the area.
A wildflower in Love Song Valley.
