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Tucked away in the mountainous region of China's Yunnan province, Shangri-La is now a tourist stopover and a staging post for magnificent views of snow-capped mountains, misty lakes and endless grasslands. But is this the fabled utopia described in novelist James Hilton's Lost Horizon?

Text and Photos: Pete Wong

Napahai lake outside Shangri-La.

A gust of wind swept across the land causing the Tibetan prayer flags to flap loudly. At that very moment, the first rays of daylight pierced through the clouds, bathing the holy Meili snow mountain in a golden hue. Mother Nature was the maestro that morning conducting an orchestra of elements, with a group of us mortals as awestruck audience. We are standing on the rooftop of a hotel in Feilaisi in sub-zero temperature, watching a scene that has been enacted millions of times and inspired holy men to bow down in reverence to the mountain gods. This could have been the inspiration for Hilton's Shangri-La.