December 4th, 2007 
Sheila Simkin Zhongdian, known as Gyalthang in Tibetan, recently changed its name to Shangri-La. Our new guide was an English teacher who had the worst English of all the guides. Very nice but his poor speaking ability made it difficult to communicate and get answers to some of our questions. He was knowledgeable about technical facts that we weren’t interested in.
Zhongdian had only been opened to tourism by the Chinese Government for about two years, and there was absolutely nothing to see in Zhongdian at that time. The infrastructure was very basic but it was a chance to visit an area before the huge influx of tourists and discover some untouched Tibetan culture. The outskirts of Zhongdian was filled with picturesque Tibetan villages that still kept unique customs and traditions. We’d spend three nights in the Diqing Hotel (that looked a lot better on the outside than inside) before traveling on to Lijiang.
Tomorrow we’d start sightseeing but for right now, it was time to relax after the long day’s drive and get used to the high altitude. Zhongdian is set on a plateau at 3,300 meters/10,826 feet. Very high. Years later, we came back to Yunnan for a trek in the breathtakingly beautiful Mt. Khawarkarpo area.
Somewhat recuperated but still woozy from the altitude, our guide took us to visit a typical Tibetan household where we could catch a glimpse of their daily life. You would never think from the outside of this two-story Tibetan home that the inside would be decorated so beautifully. Intricately painted panels, custom-made woodwork, and the animals housed below on the main level. This was unique visiting at this time. Years later in Tibet, a visit to a Tibetan household was scheduled again. It turned out that every tour group visited the same Tibetan household! Not so in this case.
Tomorrow, we’d travel to the outskirts of Zhongdian but for now, took our headaches (from altitude) back to the hotel for a little rest…
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