Today I'd like to tell you a story about Zhongdian, a tiny little town in the western Yunan province of China. For many years Zhongdian looked enviously toward the south at its neighbors Dali and Lijiang and all of the coveted tourist dollars the two towns brought in every year. How can we get in on this calvacade of foreig money? Zhongdia wondered. There is't much to speak of here, and there's even less to do here in the winter when the we are shut down for the better part of six months.
About a decade ago, Zhondian had a great idea. They would rename themselves Shangri La after the fictional Himalayan paradise in James Hilton's novel The Lost Horizon! Several other Chinese and Tibetan towns had for years claimed to be Hilton's inspiration, but Zhongdian was the first two have the audacity to actually rename themselves, and thus Shangri La ne Zhongdian was born.
And low and behold it worked. The tourists (both Chinese and foreign) started coming in droves, and Shangri La ne Zhongdian started building what it thought these people wanted: giant western style hotels. The Old Town, traditional locations of markets, hot pot restaurants, laundries, and other businesses was igored in favor of new construction. What was once a one yak town was fast becoming one of China's favorite tourist destinations.
But wait a minute, said these foreign (and occasionally Chinese) tourists: where are the markets? Where are the traditional restaurants? OK, OK, said Shangri La ne Zhongdian. We hear you. Give us a second here... And thus, New Old Town was born in the rubble of Old Town. New Old Town is full of traditional-looking architecture that is no more than two years old. It is chock full of travel agents, souvenir stands selling "traditional" Tibetan (we've seen the real thing, so no thanks.), restaurants serving "western" breakfasts, "coffe", and "hanburger." New Old Town has all the authenticity of a country of the world exhibit at Epcot, and feels like a wild west tourist town in the west. Even the street food is cleaner and more organized than it has any right to be, and the "traditional" dancing in the square could not seem more like a staged photo op.
The lovely, yet nonancient streets of New Old Town
The only dagger game in town
Our Lonely Planet Guide is less than two years old, and NONE of New Old Town is featured in it, letting us know that 90 percent of it is also less than two years old. As you explore its erstatz cobblestone streets you are greeted by the sound of nailguns and table saws, signs that New Old Town will soon be competing with the likes of New New Old Town as the last vestiges of Old Town are buried beneath faux pagodas and artificially aged hand carved signs advertising book exchanges and free wireless internet.
New New Old Town: Coming 2011
Yes, Shangri La ne Zhongdian destroyed or abandoned Old Town in favor of building western style hotels for tourists, only to build New Old Town when it became clear that that's what the tourists really wanted. Nonetheless, were staying an extra day day to do laundry and back up our photos. Tomorrow we'll continue our way south to trek at the spectacularly named Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Thanks for reading, and I'll talk to you all soon!
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