Shangrila, Songzanlin Temple, Potatso National Park, Stone Card Mountain

After rising several thousand feet in elevation from Tiger Leaping Gorge, we found ourselves in Shangrila ("Shang Ge Li La"), renamed as such after the mystical city from Lost Horizons.  We first visited the Songzanlin Buddhist temple upon a hillside overlooking the city.  Filled with the uniquely cool Tibetan Buddhist iconography and monks aging from 14 to 80, it was a good dose of a quieter, more peaceful China before diving back into the city.

Luckily, we wouldn't have to stay in the city for long.  In what was easily the most beautiful portion of the trip, we headed into Potatso National Park, reminding us again that China wasn't all polluted and still had natural beauty.  Blue water, green grass and trees, and a brilliantly clear, blue sky raised our spirits ever higher.  Heading back to Shangrila for the night, we tra

veled out to the edge of town to join a Tibetan family's quasi-dinner party, a fascinatingly ethnic affair with dancing, roasted whole lambs, and lots and lots of singing, laughing, and chanting.  To top the night off, we walked outside to find a sky almost untouched by light pollution, for the first time in months being able to see stars so clearly that the Milky Way was a visible band from horizon to horizon.

The next day, we took the "Longest Cable Car in Asia" to the various elevations (including the summit) of Stone Card Snow Mountain outside of Shangrila.  Offering a gorgeous view of the Himalayas (and setting me a new elevation record at 14,600 feet), the mountain capped off what was a great last travel break before we settle in for the final month of classes and finals here in Nanjing. 

You can find the album of these adventures here.