Ｓｅｖｅｎｔｙ　Ｙｅａｒｓ　Ｌａｔｅｒ，Ｊａｍｅｓ　Ｈｉｌｔｏｎ’ｓ　Ｓｈａｎｇｒｉ－ｌａ　Ｒｅｄｉ.docVIP

Ｓｅｖｅｎｔｙ　Ｙｅａｒｓ　Ｌａｔｅｒ，Ｊａｍｅｓ　Ｈｉｌｔｏｎ’ｓ　Ｓｈａｎｇｒｉ－ｌａ　Ｒｅｄｉ 　　WHEN the Beijing Olympic torch relay passed through Shangrila (Zhongdian) County in June, seat of Yunnan’s Deqen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and the likely inspiration for James Hilton’s book Lost Horizon, it began its second leg with a lighting ceremony at Potatso, China’s first national park on the mainland. The park was the brainchild of Kyhigyala, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Deqen Prefectural Committee, who proposed establishing the nature preserve in Shangrila three years ago, and today the park’s pristine beauty compares favorably with Hilton’s mythic Shangrila, an imaginary kingdom where no one grows old. 　　 　　A Native Son’s Vision 　　 　　 　　A decade ago, few outsiders knew of Zhongdian. That began to change in 2001 when China’s State Council approved the county’s application to change its name from Zhongdian to Shangrila, a claim it based on the consensus view of Chinese scholars that Zhongdian was the probable setting for Hilton’s 1933 book. 　　Since then, Kyhigyala has personally overseen the changes brought about in his home province as a result. He describes himself as a “genuine Kamba (Tibetan) man,” born and raised in Shangrila抯 Jiantang Grassland area. Growingd up poor, he became a herder at a local stock farm at the age of 10 to help ease his family’s financial burden, working there for 10 years until 1979, when he passed a civil service examination administered by the Zhongdian county government and became a civil servant. His decade-long herding experience taught him a great deal about his native land, and inspired him to dedicate his life to the sustainable development of Tibetan communities. 　　Today, Deqen is a shining example of the harmony achievable between man and nature, and within human communities. Situated at the juncture of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet, it is the core of the “Three Parallel Rivers” area that was named a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in 2003