27°49′N 99°42′E / 27.82°N 99.70°E / 27.82; 99.70
15-499: Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in northwestern Yunnan province, China. Covering an area of 23,870 km (9,220 sq mi), it is bordered by the Tibet Autonomous Region to the northwest, Sichuan province to the northeast, and other parts of Yunnan province to the southwest and southeast; Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture and Lijiang , respectively. Its capital and largest city
30-609: A boat ride around the lake and to the island in the center. Price for the boat ride is 50 Yuan . It is just over 1.6 km (1.0 mi) from where the boat disembarks to the bus pick up point. Alternatively, one may walk down the 1.9 km (1.2 mi) path from the South entrance and hike to and exit the park from the West entrance. Getting to the West entrance requires both a boat and ferry ride. The entire hike can take 4–6 hours. Riding horses are also available. Free admission to Xiagei Village
45-546: Is Shangri-La . Diqing Prefecture is divided into three county-level divisions: Shangri-La, Deqin County , and Weixi Lisu Autonomous County . They were all formerly under the administration of Lijiang (located southeast of this prefecture). Diqing Prefecture was established in 1957 and named by its first governor. The prefecture's name is derived from the Tibetan word བདེ་ཆེན ( dêqên ), which means "auspicious place". In Chinese,
60-540: Is a provincially-administered natural reserve in Shangri-la , Diqing , Yunnan , China. The park covers 1,300-square-kilometre (500-square-mile). Despite the name, it is a national park trial site and is not part of the national park system of China. The park was announced on June 25, 2007, and is notable as the first natural reserve park in China to meet International Union for Conservation of Nature standards. It incorporates
75-554: Is in the southern part of a historical region called Kham , which belonged to the Tibetan Empire many centuries ago. After the decline of that empire in the 9th century, peripheral areas like southern Kham remained part of Tibet more in an ethnographical than a political sense. As a practical matter, by the mid-1700s, the Tibetan Government had mostly lost control of Kham to Manchu (Qing) China and that situation lasted until
90-421: Is notably home to vulnerable Black-necked cranes , many rare and beautiful orchids, and Himalayan Yew , a coniferous tree whose extracts are a source of the anticancer drug, paclitaxel . The park is 22 km away , about a 50-minute drive from Shangri-La City (previously called Zhongdian County). It has two lakes, a visitor center, several interesting minority villages, lush forests and pasture views. From
105-514: Is one exception: Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture contains two prefectures of its own. Under the Constitution of the People's Republic of China , autonomous prefectures cannot be abolished. The PRC's autonomous administrative divisions may be found in the first (or top) to third levels of its national administrative divisions thus: Pudacuo National Park Potatson National Park ( 普达措国家公园 )
120-660: The Bita Lake Nature Reserve and the Duhu Scenic Area in the Hongshan region. As such they are part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas World Heritage Site . The region of this park contains more than 20 percent of the country’s plant species, about one-third of its mammal and bird species and almost 100 endangered species , though it comprises only 0.7 percent of China's land area. It
135-567: The prefectural level , with either ethnic minorities forming over 50% of the population or being the historic home of significant minorities. Autonomous prefectures are mostly majority Han Chinese by population. The official name of an autonomous prefecture includes the most significant minority in that region, sometimes two, rarely three. For example, a Kazakh ( Kazak in official naming system) prefecture may be called Kazak Zizhizhou . Like all other prefectural level divisions, autonomous prefectures are divided into county level divisions . There
150-464: The administration of Lijiang . The Autonomous Prefecture was established in 1957 and named "Diqing" by its first governor. During the remainder of the 20th century, the prefecture's capital was called Zhongdian but was renamed on December 17, 2001 as Shangri-La City (other spellings: Semkyi'nyida, Xianggelila or Xamgyi'nyilha) after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the 1933 James Hilton novel Lost Horizon , with an eye toward promoting tourism in
165-1491: The area. On June 25, 2007 the Pudacuo National Park was established on 500 square miles (1,300 km) in this prefecture. On January 11, 2014, there was a major fire in the 1,000-year-old Dukezong Tibetan neighborhood of the capital city Shangri-La, causing much damage and hardship. Autonomous prefecture Provinces Autonomous regions Sub-provincial autonomous prefectures Autonomous prefectures Leagues (Aimag) (abolishing) Prefectures Provincial-controlled cities Provincial-controlled counties Autonomous counties County-level cities Districts Ethnic districts Banners (Hoxu) Autonomous banners Shennongjia Forestry District Liuzhi Special District Wolong Special Administrative Region Workers and peasants districts Ethnic townships Towns Subdistricts Subdistrict bureaux Sum Ethnic sum County-controlled districts County-controlled district bureaux (obsolete) Management committees Town-level city Areas Villages · Gaqa · Ranches Village Committees Communities Capital cities New areas Autonomous administrative divisions National Central Cities History: before 1912 , 1912–49 , 1949–present Autonomous prefectures ( Chinese : 自治州 ; pinyin : zìzhìzhōu ) are one type of autonomous administrative divisions of China , existing at
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#1732848995161180-674: The end of the Manchu Dynasty in 1912. Southern Kham along with other parts of Yunnan were ruled by the Yunnan clique from 1915 until 1927. Then it was controlled by Governor and warlord Long (Lung) Yun until near the end of the Chinese Civil War , when Du Yuming removed him under the order of Chiang Kai-shek . There are three county-level divisions in this prefecture: Shangri-La (formerly Zhongdian), Deqin County and Weixi Lisu Autonomous County (formerly Weixi) and they all were under
195-475: The main means of transportation to reach Diqing Prefecture. The major highway in this prefecture is China National Highway 214 (a Yunnan- Tibet - Qinghai highway abbreviated "G214"). There are also direct bus routes to Kunming , Lijiang and Panzhihua (Sichuan). Diqing Prefecture is divided into three county-level divisions: Shangri-La , Deqin County , and Weixi Lisu Autonomous County . མཇོལ་རྫོང་། Jol Zong mjol rdzong This prefecture
210-646: The name is written with the characters 迪 ( dí ) and 庆 ( qìng ), which mean "to enlighten" and "to celebrate", respectively. Alternate English names include Dechen and Deqing . Diqing Shangri-La Airport , also known simply as Diqing Airport, is one of the biggest airports in the northwest of the Yunnan Province. It is located about 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the center of Shangri-La City . There are flights to Lhasa , Chengdu , Beijing (via Kunming ), Shanghai Pudong , Shenzhen (via Guiyang ), Guangzhou , Kunming and Xishuangbanna . Highways are
225-415: The visitor center a park bus takes visitors to the first stop, 13 km (8 mi) away from where there are several miles of raised wooden walkways around the 120-hectare (300-acre) Shudu Lake (属都湖). The next bus destination is Bita Hai Lake (碧塔海), 3,500 metres (11,482 feet) above sea level. It is surrounded by dense deciduous forests. The bus stops a few feet from a wharf from where visitors can take
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