Shangri-La County is a primarily Tibetan county in northwestern Yunnan Province in southwest China and the capital of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
The county was formerly called Zhongdian County but was renamed after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the James Hilton novel Lost Horizon in 2001 in an effort to promote tourism in the area. The local Tibetan population refers to it by the name Gyalthang. “Shangri-La” or “Zhongdian” may also refer to Jiantang Town, the capital of the county.
Few parts of North-eastern side of Pakistan, which include Skardu valley and surrounding areas are also called to be Shangri-La.
