Daocheng Yading Scenic Area in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture enters its most beautiful time in October when the world's highest-altitude cultural museum, Shambhala Cultural Museum, opens to visitors.

At the foot of snow-capped mountains and among Tibetan villages stands the Shambhala Cultural Museum in the shape of Conch, one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism. It faces the three holy snow-clad peaks of Chenrezig, Jampayang, and Chenadorje.

As an important part of the conservation and restoration project of Yading Village in Daocheng County and the creation of a new world-class cultural tourism landmark, this museum situated at an altitude of 3,900 meters fills the gap in the cultural aspect of tourism development in Yading Village.

Take people on a journey of cultural discovery

The Museum integrates dominant artistic features of Tibetan dwellings with modern exhibition design, to carve out an amazing space for Tibetan culture. It incorporates the preface "Pure Land Shambhala" and three units "Shambhala: Long History", "Shambhala: Not Far Away", and "Forever Shambhala", taking people on a journey of cultural discovery.

The three most worth-noting works in the preface are Shambhala Painting Scroll, a newly-created Thangka, a replica of Peach and Plum Blossom Garden by Qiu Ying in the Ming Dynasty, and Garden of Eden, an oil painting. They mirror the common yearning for an ideal homeland of people from different cultural backgrounds.

"Starting from the Peach and Plum Blossom Garden, Garden of Eden, and Pure Land Shambhala pursued by people in the East and West, the Museum presents people's aspires for a beautiful ideal world and inspires visitors to think about and explore a community with a shared future for mankind," said Zhang Changhong, head of the Exhibition Outline Compilation Group and deputy director of Center for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University.

Why is the Museum designed like this? According to the curatorial team, Daocheng Yading was born with the feature of "a center embedded with the common yearning for an ideal homeland in the East and West".

In the 1920s, Austrian-American explorer Joseph Rock visited Yading twice, gasping in admiration, "Where else in the world is there such a view waiting for photographers and explorers." What wowed Rock was also the cultural significance of Yading: it is known as "a pure land on the blue planet" and also a paradise for the soul. After Rock's experience was published in National Geographic, this small village became known to the Westerners and set off a wave in the world to search for "Shangri-La".

Chinese celebrated writer Alai believes that whether it is the Peach and Plum Blossom Land, Garden of Eden, or Shambhala, they have something in common, namely beautiful scenery and harmony between man and nature. He hoped that people from different cultural backgrounds would visit Daocheng Yading to experience and think about nature, culture, and how human beings live poetically on the earth.

Bear the rich culture of Daocheng Yading

Daocheng Yading is renowned for the three snow-capped mountains, Chenrezig, Jampayang, and Chenadorje. Yet, its rich culture is scattered. When advancing the conservation and restoration of Yading Village, a museum was built to showcase Shambhala culture, Shangri-La dream-seeking culture, and Tibetan farming folk culture, making the diverse cultures in Yading accessible.

According to the staff of the Museum, in Unit 1 "Shambhala: Long History", woodblock prints such as Shambhala Guide, exquisite Thangkas, books, and photos are used to demonstrate the rich connotation of Shambhala culture. In addition, cultural relics from the Piluo Paleolithic Site in Daocheng are displayed. In 2021, the Piluo Site was discovered and nearly 10,000 stone artifacts were unearthed. The cultural relics exhibited in the museum prove that humans inhabited the Tibetan Plateau at least 130,000 years ago.

The second unit "Shambhala: Not Far Away" shows the global craze in traveling to "Shangri-La" in recent years. For example, Austrian-American explorer Joseph Rock's visits to Yading opened the "door to the world." The novel Lost Horizon by British writer James Hilton triggered a global craze for "Shangri-La journey of dream". Through protective development in recent years, Yading Nature Reserve has attracted tourists from all over the world.

The third unit "Forever Shambhala" shows how locals have protected their beloved homeland from generation to generation. Recent artistic creations about Yading are also displayed here. Among them, the giant traditional Chinese painting "Three Sacred Mountains of Yading" by Li Bing, Director of the China Artists Association, vividly depicts the majesty of three cloud-kissing and snow-capped mountains in Yading. In this unit, Axi pottery and other characteristic folk custom exhibits restore the scenes of farming life on the Yading Plateau. Axi pottery is national intangible cultural heritage originating from Axi Village, Chitu Township, Daocheng County. With its simple shape and special production techniques, it has become one of the representative cultural and creative products of Daocheng Yading Scenic Area.

Provide unique cultural and tourism experience

The museum is dominated by Daocheng's unique "black Tibetan-style houses", with a three-story main building. In addition to the main exhibition hall, the museum also includes different experience areas such as a cultural and creative area, a multi-functional area, and the "Yading Balcony" viewing platform. According to Liu Yi, chief designer of the museum and chief architect of China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute, the "Yading Balcony" connects the museum to Yading Village in the form of a bridge. On the "Yading Balcony", visitors can overlook three snow-capped mountains and enjoy the vastness of the world and the magnificence of nature.

In the cultural and creative area, a number of Daocheng Yading-themed books are available at Xinhua Shambhala Bookstore.  For example, the new book "Return to Shangri-La — Daocheng Yading" contains four chapters: "Return to Shangri-La", "Song of the Nomad", "Echoes of the Snow Mountain" and "Travel Guide to Daocheng Yading". From the perspective of a cultural and tourism expert, the book shows the beauty of Shangri-La as a passage between the real world and the dreamy homeland.

In the multi-functional area, the primitive music digital album "Sunny Land · Yading" is played. In the well-protected scenery of Yading, the melodious singing of singers Suolangdaji and Yongjincuo intertwines with the sounds of birds and insects and the gurgling of streams, leading the listener's thoughts to the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

In the protection and restoration of Yading Village, Yading Museum has launched a series of cultural and tourism integration projects, together with the Rock's Shelter, Yading Gallery, Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Center (Thangka drawing, Tibetan paper-making, cowhide and sheepskin hand-making, and other intangible cultural heritage experiences), and Music Bar (Yading rap, folk songs, and other music and cultural experiences). These projects dig into the history, culture and art of Yading, demonstrate its long history, international connections and ethnic characteristics, inherit local cultures, and provide unique cultural and tourism experiences to further meet people's intellectual and cultural needs.