Shangri-la in flames

Much of the reporting about the blaze that destroyed close to 300 homes and businesses in Shangri-la—otherwise known as Zhongdian, capital of Diqing Prefecture, a Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in western Yunnan Province—has fixated on the “ancient” Tibetan quarter of Duzekong. But there was little about Duzekong that was “ancient.” Shangri-la was, for the most part, a commoditized, state-endorsed face of Tibet. Read more