Many places in China claim to embody James Hilton’s idyllic valley that was immune to time. Now two deluxe resorts in Yunnan are creating their own Utopia, says Robin Lynam.
Nobody knows for sure exactly where in the Himalayas author James Hilton, who died in 1954, imagined the location of Shangri-la to be. The idyllic valley, immune to time, which he described in his classic novel, Lost Horizon, probably wasn’t in what used to be known as Zhongdian County though. The people of Lijiang Prefecture – neighbouring what since 2003 has been officially called Shangri-la County in Yunnan Province – are among many who also reckon they have a claim to the name. But where, if anywhere specific, it really was in Hilton’s mind, hardly matters anymore.
The associations of the name are powerful, and are now being used to open up a large, formerly relatively inaccessible area to the many mixed blessings of tourism. Greater Tibet, Greater Shangri-la – call it what you will – remote Yunnan at its breath-shorteningly high altitude is increasingly keen to welcome visitors from the world outside and below.
Once there, they are offered the opportunity to drink yak-butter tea – an acquired taste not easy to appreciate – and eat sour yak-milk cheese made palatable by sprinkling it with sugar, and compensated for sundry privations by the chance to feast their eyes on some of the most spectacular scenery in Asia.
For better or worse, tourism is transforming the area. The city of Lijiang got a serious boost when the 800-plus-year-old Dayan Old Town (also known as Lijiang Old Town – just about everywhere around here has at least two names in regular use) was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1997. A clean-up operation has turned its ancient narrow streets and winding waterways into picture-postcard material, showcasing the traditional architecture of the area’s Naxi people.
It must have been quite a task. Less than two years previously, in February 1996, an earthquake reduced one third of the town to rubble. That set back a burgeoning tourism trade – boosted by the opening of Lijiang Airport in 1994 – but recovery was swift. Today, the town is again immensely popular with Mainland Chinese holidaymakers and also attracts rising numbers of visitors from overseas.
Things aren’t what they used to be, however. Veteran backpackers of the 1980s, who struggled to Lijiang to view picturesque squalor and endure character-building discomfort, are inclined to dismiss the town as it now stands as inauthentic. But seeing it for the first time, it is difficult to feel other than charmed.
The city authorities are rightly determined not to return to the vermin-infested and fairly recent past. Litter bins are in plentiful supply and plastic bags are banned by local law. Anything you buy comes in a reusable and entirely biodegradable woven bag. There are big cities in more developed countries that could do worse than follow Lijiang’s example.
Many of the old buildings now house busy cafés and restaurants, and in the evenings, live local traditional music (and the inevitable Western-styled pop) echoes through the streets. Small hotels offer basic accommodation with more comfort and better sanitation.
For a real shock to the system though, those prone to nostalgia for hardship travel with Chinese characteristics need only visit the area’s first international five-star hotel, the newly opened Banyan Tree Lijiang. Built around an ornamental lake and commanding magnificent views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the sprawling property comprises 55 Naxi-styled villas, each with a private garden containing a jet or plunge pool.
The Lijiang property is Banyan Tree’s second in what area general manager Maximilian Lennkh calls “Greater Tibet”. A year ago, the Thai-based group opened its first property at Ringha, in the official Shangri-la County, and although Lennkh will not comment on rumours, the company is believed to be actively looking for the right opportunity in Lhasa. There is no real competition in this area of Yunnan, although he would like to see some.
“Unfortunately, there is no other luxury brand in the region, as this would help to put this beautiful destination on the map for international travellers,” comments Lennkh. It is probably only a matter of time.
With two hotels strategically situated, for Lijiang and Diqing airports, as well as for many of the region’s major attractions, and surrounded by local communities, Banyan Tree is already in a position to offer guests an authentically Tibetan experience, particularly at Ringha, which, although not as luxurious as Lijiang, brings the guest as close as comfort will allow to the local rural way of life.
At Ringha, accommodation is in genuine rustic farmhouses, dismantled at their original location, converted, and reconstructed on the site. The property is in the middle of a village, and it is common to see the farmers’ livestock wandering past the reception area.
With the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway link earlier this year, much attention has been focused on the tourism potential of what China calls, some might say misleadingly, the Tibet Autonomous Region, which for a long time hasn’t been all that easy to visit.
Access to the adjacent Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has generally been less restricted, and there is a tacit assumption that destinations within it are somehow not quite as interesting as those in what the rest of the world calls, simply, Tibet. Lennkh takes issue with this.
“I can foresee that Yunnan and Tibet will not only become secondary or complementary tourist destinations, but are going to become destinations in their own right. With its rich cultural and religious sites, there is so much undiscovered in the region.
“China’s Yunnan Province is part of Greater Tibet, both historically and culturally. At 3,600m above sea level, the setting is spectacular with day-trips and overnight excursions taking guests to divine mountain peaks touched by the clouds, awe-inspiring ridges, deep canyons, torrential rivers, mystical plateaus, endless valleys, crystal-clear streams and the most tranquil of lakes. Most importantly, the entire area is free from pollution,” he asserts.
There is, of course, no shortage of monasteries, and he is right about the natural attractions. Those within relatively easy reach of Lijiang include Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world and one of the most awe-inspiring sections of the mighty Yangtze River.
Banyan Tree is keen to promote Ringha as “a destination in itself”, which up to a point is true. Good treks start from the entrance, opportunities are offered to visit and sup in local homes and when you have walked enough, there is a good Thai/Tibetan style Banyan Tree Spa to unwind in.
Another reason for the designation is that the hotel can only be reached by a very long bumpy dirt road, and once there, it is an effort to leave. You wouldn’t casually just take a taxi into the Old Town and artist colony of Diqing with its restaurants and handicraft shops. However, if you did, you would find it rewarding. It’s a little like Lijiang but without the waterways.
PARADISE, NATURALLY
Picturesque towns, imposing mountains and sweeping plains aside, many of Yunnan’s natural attractions are to be found in the fine detail of its ecology, as veteran ecotourism planner and tour guide Uttara Sarkar Crees points out.
“The area is supposed to be one of the most important areas for biodiversity of plants in the Northern Hemisphere, according to the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh.
“They’ve been coming here seed collecting for a long time,” she says.
That is the kind of delicate natural asset to which much more tourism could well pose a threat, and with logging already a major problem in the area, if there is over hasty development over the next few years Yunnan’s pristine environment could be hit hard.
“As compared with the past, the region is aware that they have to make an effort to protect the environment should they wish to keep the region’s appeal as a tourist destination,” says Maximilian Lennkh, who oversees the Banyan Tree resorts in Lijiang and Rhinga. “However, the locals may not necessarily have the in-depth knowledge and expertise to be environmentally conscious and create sustainable tourism.”
He stresses that his properties have been developed responsibly, pointing out that the farm lodges at Ringha were conserved and recycled rather than built from scratch, which would have required the use of newly cut timber, and that various other environmentally protective practices were observed during construction.
Crees, who works with the WWF and various other organisations to train people in the local tourism industry to respect and conserve nature and culture in the area, believes that a balance can be struck but concedes it is hard work.
“People are beginning to understand that ecotourism is not just nature tourism or adventure tourism. It’s a kind of tourism that brings back proactively benefits to the environment and benefits to local communities. We bring benefits by helping poor students, helping communities, helping schools, different sorts of assistance depending on needs,” she says.
“We show that you can reach business goals as well as environmental goals. We’re trying to show people what this environment has to offer visitors and how to present it for their enjoyment, and also how to protect it.”
Indian and Austrian respectively, Crees and Lennkh are striking examples of people from a world outside who, like James Hilton’s Hugh Conway, have fallen in love with (Greater) Shangri-la. “There are icicles in the stream and snow covers the hills during winter. Wild flowers of different colours are always in bloom, ranging from the purple rhododendrons, white azalea and blue iris to crops, including the yellow mustard flower and wheat during spring and summer and the yellow and red colours of the trees in autumn,” rhapsodises Lennkh.
“I love the peace and tranquillity, the landscape breezes, the harmony between people and land, and the pastoral way life is still taking place. The animals roaming freely through the pasture – no fence, no hindrance.”
FACT FILE
Getting there: From Hongkong, Dragonair flies to Kunming, then it’s China Southern to Lijiang. If proceeding to Ringha, it’s a day’s drive. The return flight from Ringha to Kunming is on China Eastern departing from Diqing Airport.
Price: Until March 7, 2007, the Banyan Tree Lijiang and the Banyan Tree Ringha are offering a four-night package for two with tours, treks, a 90-minute spa treatment and road transfer, which includes a visit to Tiger Leaping Gorge, between the two properties. The rate is US$540.
Garden villas at Lijiang can be booked for US$400 per day, farmhouse suites at Ringha from US$280. For reservations, tel 65 6849 5800 or log on to www.banyantree.com
