Shangri-La - We found it!
According to the dictionary, Shangri-La is 'an imaginary remote paradise on earth; utopia. A distant and secluded hideaway, usually of great beauty and peacefulness'. We were curious to go, although this remote place at more than 3000 meters altitude, formerly known as Zhongdian, was actually rebranded to Shangri-La to attract more visitors.
Our drive took us past many Buddhist stupas covered in prayer flags. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside. Evelyn totally fell in love with those beautiful colors...
As we drove further up the mountains, we were beginning to breathe in the Tibetan world. We passed by many Tibetan style houses, built in square shapes with high walls and flat-roofs. Of course, lots of fresh 'meat' in front of it...
Finally, we arrived in Shangri-La which according to our guide book was a 'one yak' town, too high and remote for visitors. Today it has turned into a prime spot for tourists.
Shangri-La's GuCheng (old town) feels like a small version of Lijiang graced with lots of prayer flags.
In one of the buddhist temples we saw a huge golden prayer wheel. With the help of our guide Haba, Bastian tried hard to spin the giant wheel clockwise to gain incredible purification and unbelievable merit.
The exercise made the boys hungry and at the town square they noticed the smell of barbecued meat. On a small charcoal grill a local lady made fresh yak meat skewers...
Absolutely yummy... Yak meat was Bastian's favorite!
We checked into a nice hotel in Ringha, a high-altitude valley close to the nearby town of Shangri-La. It is above 3,400 meters.
The accommodation was spectacular and we had a huge wooden bathtub. Only the air felt very thin as we did not fully adjust to the altitude yet... 
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