Bringing prosperity to paradise

Shangri-La is developing tourism to alleviate poverty, Xu Lin reports.

Yunnan province's Shangri-La city has long lured travelers from home and abroad, who seek to discover the paradisiacal place described in British author James Hilton's 1933 novel, Lost Horizon.

But its association with the "mystical, harmonious valley" described in the book - especially since Diqing Tibet autonomous prefecture's Zhongdian county changed its name to Shangri-La in 2001 - is bringing newfound prosperity to the settlement, which became a city in 2014.