Talk:Shangri-La

Music Reference
Shangrila is in the lyrics to "Cry Little Sister" from the soundtrack to 80's vampire movie "The Lost Boys" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.47.137.179 (talk) 05:40, 26 November 2017 (UTC)

2004 comments
Why create a disambig. message and then leave the other uses of the word here? Quill 03:16, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * Oops. I didn't actually notice the list of other definitions.  Moved now. -- Chuq 03:32, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * Okay, cool now. This illustrates a problem I have with such things being placed at the END of articles; they're easy to miss.  Examples I've run into: Brigadoon (I placed a message at the TOP of the article) and Wedding.  I'm sure there must be many more.  Perhaps, since you're an Administrator, you can mention this where and whenever Administrators get together to talk about Administrator stuff?  ;)  Quill 12:19, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Other Shangri-Las
Anonymous vandal 198.93.113.49 keeps suppressing the following text:
 * There are a number of European legends similar to the legend of Shangri-La. The Odyssey tells of the land of the Lotus-Eaters, and the palace of Alcinous. See also Atlantis, Lyonesse, Brigadoon, and El Dorado.

Is this assertion less than apropos? Is this assertion doubted by anyone? Is this a novel idea? Is this a random joke? --Wetman 20:34, 16 May 2005 (UTC)


 * MY guess is that he doesn't feel its accurate, or some such. What say you, anon? Sam Spade 20:40, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

I removed a paragraph "Once again highlighting the fact that democratic projects such as Wikipedia..." that was directly critical of the preceding paragraph and which seemed to be about Wikipedia rather than Shangri-la. If the editor wished to correct or remove the paragraph about Ojai, CA (which does read oddly) then why not do so. The removed paragraph is colloquially written ("... this corner today? Of course: a mini-mall.") and not NPOV. Rapscallion 18:13, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Zhongdian / Gyeltangteng
The large Yunnanese town of Gyeltangteng (or Zhongdian if you're Chinese) was renamed to Shangri-la by the Chinese government in 2002. There is a blank page link on the disambig. to Shangri-la county in Yunnan province. I feel, as Shangri-la is such a widely known and emotive meme in western society that a comment about this should appear on the main page. I come across many people saying 'I've visited shangri-la', but - it's not really shangri-la! It's just a Chinese advertising trick...

Ideas for Rebuilding Shangrila
WELL THEN. ..

Musion Eyeliner - Mulliner and Mulsanne mispelt/rearranged (s(Z)ion Eye for Muliner, U(r)(l)ine for Mulsane) - Z (China should be wary) and R (can't really say

but doubtless anything mispelt could be linked to this). Jackson's image and thus SOUL will be used to power vehicles by Bentley BUT possibly intent to 'ghetto-ise - any and all users of the vehicle).

I doubt the family of the Jacksons want Michael's 'great stardom' to be frittered away in vehicles for Zionists? Then again Michael Jackson did cause many deaths by proxy during his time while alive, the drug taking alone would be enough to take out Acheh or Yunnan. . . and would the Judaists be saving the world this time? Possibly if Musion Eyeliner closes down after 'energic parity' is reached AND if Jackson was a subvert Islamist, meaning Bentley would be Islamising by proxy AGAIN - Dubai link? As for Sinatra, check with the family if Sinatra would want a quiet retirement after death or keep being 'used' to entertain. What Sinatra was like in life, may not be the same in death.

Z? Dukezong Ancient Town of Shangri-la. . . for a single Duke with the surname of Zong would have countered this. Fire destroys ancient Town of Shangri-la (Xinhua) 13:23, January 11, 2014. MJ you there? Yep, the warning about the Bently certainly get the poor guy 's spirit rynning to paradise. Problem is the spiritual antipodes were chock full of rubbish that China did not see fit to quell. In either case, this allows China to seriously onsider formation of a Duchy at the very same site. All of MJ's power is there for certain. Imperium awaits. Shangrila's preeminent mandarin MUST consult with MJ's family, then the Council of African Monarchs then a prominent Zong Clan family leader who lived around the area. My work here at least is done. If China fails to follow up, other structures will fall. Economic growth if not qualified by cultural and spiritual growth later on, leaves a society little more than a bacteria that no fires may cleanse. MJ certainly had taste, and let China REBUILD an even better Shangrila as envisioned as well as incorporating rebuilt original aspects that were most well known about Shangrila. The town was so dense anyway, so no harm. How about somethuing mystical this time eh? Think Olivia Newton-John's Xanadu or James Hilton's Shangrila. . . but WITHOUT the Angle influence or lamasery of course heh - lets have a Taoist variant par excellence Mortal Kombat haha. . . — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:E68:4000:15:E4A9:26C5:9E2F:9DE2 (talk) 14:45, 11 January 2014 (UTC)

Hinton's Shangri-La is a European outpost
This work of fiction may draw from local legends, but in Hinton's vision, no native Tibetans are found fit to be part of the long-lived community. One Chinese makes the grade, but mostly it is stray Europeans. A thoroughly racist view that was old-fashioned even for its day.

--GwydionM 20:31, 27 January 2006 (UTC) Please don't forget The Austrian Josef Rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ive added bhutan to the list of probable shangri-la due to the increasing acceptance of this view in the world community.

--chandrasekhar ,08 march 2006.

Zhongdian Pic
Shangri-la was written by The Electric Light Orchestra. It's on their "A New World Record" album.

Does anyone know how to upload a different pic of Zhongdian? The one featured in the article doesn't seem to accord much with the description of Shangri-La. I don't want to deface the article, I was just wondering if anyone wanted to add another pic of Zhongdian with a wider view of the valley there, to show its relevance to the article and similarity to Shangri-La.

Does this concern anyone else?

-- ManofRenown87, 8-2-2006


 * I agree, the top corner of a building doesnt seem to represent the area very well. Also, the picture of the Hunza valley seems to be very edited, and therefor not very accurate. Maybe it can be replaced with a picture from the valley's article. --Thebunsk 04:18, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Location of Shangri-La in the Lost Horizon book
In the book, Conway is a diplomat, a Consul at the British Consulate in Baskul, in a foreign country. That rules out British India. Sanders, who was at Baskul, says that the plane was hijacked by "an Afghan or Afridi". That implies that the country was Afghanistan. The plane's destination was Peshawar, which is near the border of Afghanistan, in present-day Pakistan. But the plane doesn't land in Peshawar, instead refueling at an airstrip where it is surrounded by bearded and turbaned tribesmen. That seems to imply that the airstrip is not too far from Peshawar in the northern parts of the FATA or NWFP, possibly in Shangla. Then the plane takes off again and comes down in or around the Kuen-Lun Mountains, now known as the Kun-Lun Shan. For much of the length of the Kun-Lun, especially the more eastern parts, the climate is harsh. Another clue is that Shangri-La has very high mountains nearby. The high mountains of the Kun-Lun tend to be in its western section. The highest mountain of the Kun-Lun is Kongur Tagh, near the western end of the range. Kongur Tagh is near Kara-Kul, a name similar to the Karakal mentioned in the book. On this Google map centered on Kara-Kul, you can see the western end of the Kun-Lun range on the right. As you can see from the map, this is close to the tri-border area where Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China meet. There are green meadows on the Kyrgyzstan side of the border. That's where I think the author most likely places it. This is at a distance of about 200 miles from the NWFP, whereas Tibet is several hundred miles more. This was 1933. Could the plane would go even that far, let alone distant Bhutan, or even more distant Southeastern China? The Kyrgyzstan/China border area is much closer and makes more sense as the location of Shangri-La. Windemerer 15:48, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

To me there are two types of inspiration that Hilton got for his fictional Shangri-La as a place, one is physical and the other is cultural. The physical inspiration was very likely the Hunza valley in northern Pakistan, as described in the Wiki entry. It is an isolated valley deep in the Karakoram Range, with green, irrigated fields surrounded by lofty, snow-capped peaks. And Hilton had visited there. Hilton's cultural inspiration is often erroneously attributed to Joseph Rock and his writings in National Geographic. Even though there is no direct evidence for this, it is so often repeated that it is taken as fact. It is wrong. Michael McRae, in his book The Siege of Shangri-La (Broadway Books, 2002), unearthed the only direct reference that I have seen where Hilton states what the spiritual inspiration is for his Shangri-La. McRae found an obscure New York Times society page interview with Hilton as he was transiting through New York in 1936 on his return to the UK following a stint in Hollywood as consultant to Capra for the movie (B.R. Crisler. 1936. Film gossip of the week. New York Times, section 9, page 3). Hilton states that his inspiration was the writings of the French priests Huc and Gabet, who traveled from Beijing through eastern Tibet (current Sichuan) to Lhasa and back in 1844-46. They wrote a long travelog of their adventure, first published in French in 1850, but was translated into English very early on. Huc and Gabet's book was famous and had gone through many editions over the years, including a popular "condensed translation" that had been published in England in 1928 (Evariste Regis Huc and Joseph Gabet. 1928. Travels in Tartary, Thibet and China, 1844-46. London: Routledge), at the same time Hilton would have been getting inspired for, if not writing, Lost Horizon. Robertmoseley 13:18, 17 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Hilton mentions the two priests that traveled to LHASA. Writers often like to make up a name from a real name, eg when the two parts of the word Shangri-La are switched over you get LA-SHAngri. So this might be what Hilton did. 06 February 2013 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.22.219.208 (talk) 22:52, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

The residence of the Dalai Lama was in Lhasa and in the movie the High Lama resides in Shangri-la, so might the "high" be a pun on the "ai"? 06 February 2013 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.22.219.208 (talk) 23:31, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Changri-La
I'm planning a Nepal trek and noticed that a high pass (5,800 meters) not too far from Everest and just north of the Changri West peak is called, you guessed it, Changri-La. Seems that this would be an interesting addition to the page. If the maintainers agree, then I'd be happy to contribute a short paragraph (one or two sentances would do it) to the page. I have no idea if this is what inspired the Shangri-La name, but is sure seems likely.

--Ronewolf 16:02, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Ojai Valley
I removed the following:

No documentation, including the remaining landscape still shot, reputed to be from an outlook on Highway 150, supports the contention that the Ojai Valley was used as a location in the film.

because there was no documentation to support the contention of no documentation. I replaced it with info from the bonus feature on the "Lost Horizon" dvd. I couldn't find it transcribed anywhere online to post it as a reference, however.

Tuesdae 15:02, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

It is a real place
This tourist website: http://www.virtourist.com/asia/china/shangrila/index.html says that Shangri-la is a real place. The website says, "Zhongdian County was renamed Shangri-La County in 2001 by Chinese authorities after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the novel 'Lost Horizon'. Previously the county was called Zhongdian, among Chinese, and Gyalthang, among Tibetans. The capital of the county is also known as Shangri-La, before 2001 it was named Jiantang Town." I am going to be there in less than a month. Hard to go to a place that does not exist. 209.106.198.2 16:21, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Ted Vaill and Peter Klika cannot have "revealed" that the Muli monastery was the model for James Hilton's Shangri-La. They might have suggested this, which is a rather less definite thing. There is no proof of their theory.JohnC (talk) 05:39, 26 July 2009 (UTC) I completely agree with this. See my comments in an above section. Hilton told the New York Times in 1936 that his cultural inspiration for Shangri-La came from the travel writings of Huc and Gabet, who traversed eastern Tibet about 250 km north of Muli. The writings of Joseph Rock in National Geographic were not mentioned by Hilton. Robertmoseley (talk) 13:37, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Scientist believe they've found the real Shangri-la. Thousands of old pergamens and wall-paintings were found in holes in Nepal. 81.183.245.214 (talk) 14:08, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Popular culture references
I fear that the Popular culture references section got a little bit out of control. The lists are too long and there are far too many references here which seem to be only of minor importance! --Meile 17:00, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. I just blew them up. Happy to see encyclopaedic stuff returned. Springnuts (talk) 16:57, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

Locations linked to Shangri-La - Nepal
Under the section titled Locations linked to Shangri-La, someone has made the following bracketed insertion: "Several locations in the Buddhist Himalaya between northern India and Tibet[ where lies a country, independent, and superior in its own called Nepal and several articles fail to mention that] have claimed to be the basis for Hilton's legend, largely to attract tourism."

This isn't the place to complain about contributors ignoring Nepal in other articles. Could someone fix that sentence? I'm not sure if it should read something like, "... between northern India, Nepal and Tibet... " because there are several other countries which claim to contain 'Shangri-La', and surely they shouldn't all be listed in the opening sentence. Or perhaps they should, I don't know.

Velut Luna (talk) 04:19, 19 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I've removed the commentary. For the rest, be bold and change it as you see fit. Kevin (talk) 05:32, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Lost horizon.jpg
The image Image:Lost horizon.jpg is used in this article under a claim of fair use, but it does not have an adequate explanation for why it meets the requirements for such images when used here. In particular, for each page the image is used on, it must have an explanation linking to that page which explains why it needs to be used on that page. Please check


 * That there is a non-free use rationale on the image's description page for the use in this article.
 * That this article is linked to from the image description page.

This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Media copyright questions. --07:57, 19 September 2008 (UTC) shangri-la a mystical place. i am very sorry to say that people in this article have failed to mention the country nepal which is in between china nad nothern india. if anyone should go to nepal and visit places like manang, lukla, dolpa which is a little isolated but if you go beyond thoes places you will find historical places so beautiful yet to be named and i am not sure people even know about thoes places. anyways i am going there and make a documentry and i think people should take the adventure too. when james hilton was writing the novel lost horizon nepal was ruled by the regime called the "ranas" who did not allow any outside world connection and tourists were not allowed in the country nor the people were allowed to travel and thus nepal was a mystical country unpopular in the whole world. to my knowledge nepal opened it's doors to the world only about 45 years ago. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.239.40.39 (talk) 05:28, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

The story of Shangri-La just begins? Authors should think things over in this article: —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.183.245.214 (talk) 16:39, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

What about Aldous Huxley?
I have the distinct impression that the first ever mention of Shangri-La is in an Aldous Huxley poem that he started composing on a visionary trip with opium. It would be more important to get the origin of the imaginary place right before going on discussing mythical placement. The title of the poem should be "Shangri-La" but I could not find a reference in the author/writer page. Perhaps someone can check this out? Deep Atlantic Blue (talk) 22:45, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, the poet was Samuel Taylor Coleridge and refers to Xanadu. Deep Atlantic Blue (talk) 03:31, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Issue with first use of Shangri-La
Hi, it's popularly thought that use of Shangri-La is traceable back to James Hilton's Lost Horizon. Yet I've just come across the word in the 1911 edition of Roget's Thesaurus: here. Is that right or has someone augmented the 1911 edition as presented on-line? The word is also in the text files of the same edition available at Project Gutenberg.  Esowteric + Talk  08:52, 24 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Ah, looks like the files were supplemented: "Roget's Thesaurus, 1911, version 1.02 (supplemented: July 1991)".  Esowteric + Talk  09:43, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Location
I just watched a PBS documentary titled Secrets of Shangri-La, but it is is not mentioned anywhere in this article. This documentary discusses the location of Shangri-La and explores the supposed city. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.204.83.107 (talk) 22:21, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

The article has minimal sources and clearly claims that this is a fictional/mythical place.
The article has minimal sources and clearly claims that this is a fictional/mythical place.

THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT THESE PLACES THAT IS FICTIONAL.

Pemako is the most important/secretive beyul in the Buddhist religion. Pemako is a holy place in which the Tsango river runs through, creating the worlds deapest gorge (3-4 times the depth of the grand canyon) where pilgrims are able to achieve spiritual feats that they otherwise might not be able to achieve in this lifetime. This is a VERY real place both physically and metaphysically (not mythological or fictional). This is one of many similar lands of which Tibetan Buddhists have known about and visited throughout history.

An extensive article online will not properly educate anyone of the awesome realities and extensive histories behind these sacred places. I was shocked to read the extent to which this article claimed that these places are not real. Whatever you may call them, be it a lost paradise, beyul, secret land, spiritual retreat, or shangri-la, the are very real and often very dangerous.

for an incredible, 100% factual (and incredibly educational) account of one mans journey both spiritually and physically to this sacred land, please read: The Heart of the World by Ian Baker

The earth is an incredible place, beyond imagination. Have you never seen a photograph of nature that you never could have imagined and simply awed you? You were shocked and amazed, right? Researching these places, that amazement never ceases. It is worldly, tangible, and for Buddhists it is a place of spiritual catalyst where their innermost being (yangsang) can be achieved. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.174.234.142 (talk) 13:40, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

Modern Uses
I've found that Shangri-La was also used in the 2009 video game, Call of Duty: Black Ops. Shangri-La is a playable Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies map bought as a DLC named Annihilation. Please add this at a pleasant fashion. Reference: Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation DLC--Healablemarrow4 (talk) 14:12, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

I don't agree with the text in the section called Usage where it states "It is sometimes used as an analogy for a lifelong quest or something elusive that is much sought. For a man who spends his life obsessively looking for a cure to a disease, such a cure could be said to be that man's "Shangri-La." I think the writer is confusing Shangri-La (a place) with the Holy Grail (a thing). A quest for a cure for a disease is a quest for a thing and not a place. Andrew ranfurly (talk) 22:40, 12 July 2016 (UTC)

Nazi expedition to Tibet
In, a request for clarification was added. However, as there is no indication (neither in the edit summary, nor in an invisible edit comment, nor on the talk page) what exactly needs clarification, I've removed the tag. Clarification tags placed without discernible reason (it's stayed in place for over two and a half years, so apparently it's not just me who cannot make sense of the tag) are unhelpful.

I would like to point out that the concept of an "unspoiled ancient master race similar to the Nordic race" in the middle of Asia does have a factual background, even if it sounds completely bonkers. The Nuristani people of Afghanistan and other mountain peoples of Inner Asia partly retain the fair hair, eyes and skin of their Eastern European forebears (early Indo-Iranians – the Aryans in the historical sense – and Indo-Europeans – the Aryans in the wider, obsolete sense), but to emphasise, the Nuristani and others are visibly mixed phenotypically, retaining "Nordic" features only in part, which indicates heavy admixture by local populations ever since the Iron Age.

However, the Nazis thought, along with the majority of serious scholars in the 19th century and early 20th century, that the origins of the Indo-Europeans lay in Northern Europe, taking the Corded Ware culture as an archaeological manifestation of the Proto-Indo-Europeans, while the Corded Ware was probably only an early Indo-European offshoot and the older Yamna culture forms a more plausible correlate: a proto-urban proto-civilisation (though still without any traces of writing; not that true writing is known from anywhere in the world before 3200 BC, except perhaps Egypt), technologically relatively advanced for the Early Bronze Age. (The Sintashta and Poltavka cultures are clearly within Eastern Europe and are important for discussions of Indo-Iranian origins, so it is justified to describe the historical Aryans as an originally Eastern European people.) In view of the Seima-Turbino phenomenon and other technological advances associated with the early Indo-Europeans and Indo-Iranians, such as war chariots, and suspected to originate with them, not to mention the various Indo-European-speaking peoples of written history, the "Aryans" (in either sense) no doubt played an impressive role in ancient history, never mind that the "master race" nonsense myopically focuses on their contributions to history, minimises, denies or re-interprets those of other peoples (imagining Jesus as Aryan, etc.), and distorts various findings of science for ideological reasons, when the reality is, of course, that the success and failure of peoples and civilisations is due to historical circumstances, i. e., the exceptional success and sheer ubiquitous influence of the Indo-Europeans was ultimately due to pure luck. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 19:58, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

Shambhala
The current article's failure to acknowledge any connection to the similar-sounding, similar concept of Shambhala seems an oversight.--21:33, 1 January 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.229.223.248 (talk)

Images
If there are any properly licensed artist's depictions of Shangri-La, it'd be great to include them, whether from the original book, the movie adaption, or in general. Opencooper (talk) 19:55, 12 March 2016 (UTC)

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COMPRESS - Pre-edit TalkPage copy of Popular culture references
This is a convenience copy that, as a courtesy, please don't delete for the next few days. Nearly a decade ago, a comment was made (by Meile at 17:00, on 12 November 2007 (UTC)), saying:
 * I fear that the Popular culture references section got a little bit out of control. The lists are too long and there are far too many references here which seem to be only of minor importance!

To not lose content that is otherwise only available via HISTORY comparisons, here is a TalkPage pre-edit copy, per a Wiki guideline, of what obviously one or more contributors saw and perhaps still see as valuable. Yunmagz (talk) 20:47, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

In astronomy
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union named the equatorial, dark, low-lying area of Saturn's moon Titan Shangri-La.

Gardens and resorts
In 1937, Lutcher Stark, a Texas philanthropist, started building his own Shangri-La in Orange, Texas. His Shangri-La was an azalea garden situated alongside a cypress-tupelo swamp. By 1950, thousands of people were traveling to Orange to visit Shangri-La, and many magazines published photographs of it. In 1958, a major snowstorm struck east Texas, destroying thousands of azaleas and closing the garden for 40 years. The garden has recently been renovated and is now open to the public once again.

The businessman Harold Nixon Porter established a nature reserve called Shangri-La in Betty's Bay in South Africa in 1955. The name was changed to Harold Porter National Botanical Garden when the reserve was bequeathed to the National Botanic Gardens of South Africa in 1959.

In 1983, a tourist resort built on the banks of Kachura Lake in Skardu, northern Pakistan, was based on the idea of Hilton's novel. The resort is named Shangrila Resort. Today, the lake itself is also known as Shangrila Lake.

In film
California's Ojai Valley was the location for the Frank Capra film Lost Horizon (1937). The outdoor scenes of the villagers of Shangri-La and a cavorting Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt were in fact filmed in nearby Sherwood Forest (Westlake Village) and Palm Springs. The exterior of the grand lamasery was built and later dismantled on the Columbia Ranch in Burbank, California. However, according to film historian Kendall Miller in the photodocumentary bonus feature on the Lost Horizon DVD, an aerial shot of Ojai Valley taken from an outlook on Highway 150 was used to represent the Shangri-La valley.

In the Movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow after being knocked unconscious by a large amount of Dynamite, Joe Sullivan (Jude Law), Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Kaji (Omid Djalili) wake up in Shangri-La and are given new clothes by Tibetan-speaking monks as their old ones had to be burned due to Radiation.

In television
Law & Order season 13 episode 2 is entitled "Shangri-La." Jack McCoy quotes at the end of the episode, "how does the story go, when you leave Shangri-La you immediately turn old and gray" in reference to the perpetrator.
 * In Season 7, Episode 20 of Boy Meets World, entitled "As Time Goes By," Topanga accidentally discovers the existence of a time continuum vortex in the back of the apartment closet. She is transported, with no memory of her real identity, to a 1940s-era, black and white universe centered around a café, Rory's Shangri-La, where people go to forget their troubles.
 * In the American situation comedy Frasier, Shangri-La is the name of the apartment complex where Niles moved after his divorce from his wealthy wife Maris. This has a huge impact on the class-conscious Niles.
 * The anime series Noein depicts an alternate time-space to ours, known as Shangri-La, in which there is no suffering.
 * Shangri-La was the name given to a space colony in the television series Mobile Suit Gundam.
 * Shangri-La is the name given to Edward and Al's world in the Full Metal Alchemist movie.
 * In the anime series Outlaw Star, Ronald MacDougal's ship's name is the Shangri-La.
 * Shangri-La is used as its very meaning by Gouda in the show Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex when Motoko Kusanagi breaks into the external memory of Gouda with the help of the tachikomas.
 * In Scrubs, Carla advises Dr. Cox that there is no Shangri-La in the episode "My Karma".
 * In Atomic Betty, there is a race of warrior birds who live on clouds called the Shangri-La-Di-Das.
 * Shangri-La is the name of the Holden's family home in British TV series Blackpool.
 * In the children's show Clifford's Really Big Movie the group of friends makes its way to "Shangri-large" for a talent contest.
 * In the anime Saiyuki, Son Goku, the monkey king, and Genjo Sanzo, a high buddhist priest set out to protect Shangri-La from Demons, with help from Cho Hakkai and Sha Gojyo, two demons themselves.
 * On the TV series Angel, Gunn describes Jasmine's superficially perfect transformation of Los Angeles as "Shangri-la-la-land".
 * Shangri-La was parodied on The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius episode "Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion" as Shangri-Llama.
 * An episode of the children's show Cyberchase is set in Shangri La. The episode is about the mathematical concept of doubling.
 * A 1990 episode of the Disney TV show TaleSpin titled "Last Horizons" parodies the fictional city from the novel. Baloo finds the legendary "Panda-La" (a reference to Shangri-La), a mystical utopia, where he is warmly received. The reception, however, turns out to be a ruse.
 * Though not a paradise by any stretch of the imagination, Shangri-la is an anime series set in a dystopian future filled with environmental crisis of epidemic proportions.
 * Shangri-La appears in The Librarians episode "And The Fatal Separation". It is portrayed as a hidden city ruled by the Monkey King, who controls it through the use of his mystic tail and an enchanted staff.

In literature
Eiichi Ikegami wrote a novel titled Shangri-La (2005); an anime adaptation of the novel was released in 2008.

Michael Buckley covers the topic in Eccentric Explorers and briefly in other books.

In video gaming

 * Shangri-La is featured in the 2014 video game Far Cry 4.
 * Shangri-La is a zombie map in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
 * Shangri-La is a remastered zombie map in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.
 * Shangri-La is a multiplayer map in Unreal Tournament 3.
 * Shangri-La is a time zone in The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time.
 * Shangri-La is a mission featured in Hitman: Absolution.
 * Shangri-La is the name of Dhalsim's Ultra Combo 2 in Street Fighter 4.
 * The vacation destination "Shang Simla" can be visited in The Sims 3: World Adventures.
 * In video game Might & Magic: World of Xeen, Shangrila is name of a city full of treasures.
 * Shangri-La is the name of dragon dual blades in Monster Hunter 4U.
 * Shangri-La is the name of a playable chapter in Corpse Party: Book of Shadows.
 * Shangri- La is an unlockable world in "Seduce Me 2: The Demon War".
 * Steve Jackson's game Illuminati portrays 'Shangri-La' as being a political group/faction of which a player can choose in order to influence his/her stance of play during a game and hence reassign the goal objective for the player.

In music
Songs with "Shangri-La" in the title:
 * ShangriLah is an EcoTechJazz Metal Group from South Africa (est - 2016).
 * The Shangri-Las were a pop group in the 1960s.
 * "Shangri-La", written by Carl Sigman (lyricist), bandleader Matty Malneck and Robert Maxwell in 1946; best known recordings were by The Four Coins (1957), an instrumental by composer Maxwell himself (1964), and The Lettermen (1969)
 * "Shangri-La" by The Kinks, from the album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969)
 * "Shangri-La" by Druid, from the album Toward the Sun (1975)
 * "Shangri-La" by the Electric Light Orchestra, from their album A New World Record (1976); the song refers to "My Shangri-La" as a state of bliss
 * "Shangri-La" by Neil Innes, from his album Taking Off (1977); the song was later reworked as a Beatles pastiche for The Rutles' album Archaeology'' (1996)
 * "Shangri-La" by the Steve Miller Band, from their album Italian X Rays (1984)
 * "Shangri-La" by Kim Wilde, from her album Teases & Dares (1984)
 * "Shangri-La" by Don Henley, from his album The End of the Innocence (1989)
 * "This is Shangrila" by Mother Love Bone, from their self-titled album (1992)
 * "Shangrila" by Billy Idol, from his album Cyberpunk (1993)
 * "Shangri-La" by Believable Picnic, from their self-titled debut album (1996)
 * "Shangri-La" by angela (band), the opening theme to the anime Fafner in the Azure (2004)
 * "Poor Man's Shangri-La" by Ry Cooder, from his album Chávez Ravine (2005)
 * "Shangri-La" by Chatmonchy (2006)
 * "Bourgeois Shangri-La" by Miss Li, from her album Dancing the Whole Way Home (2009)
 * "Shangri-La" by Asami Imai, the opening theme of the video game Corpse Party (2010)
 * "Oh Shangri-La" by Jon Fratelli, from his solo album Psycho Jukebox
 * "Shangri-La" by Acid Black Cherry, from their album [2012] (2012)
 * "Shangri-La" by Die Heuwels Fantasties, from their album Ja. Nee. Lekker (2014)
 * "Sucker's Shangri-La" by the Lower Dens, from their album Escape from Evil (2015)
 * "Shangri-La" by Digitalism, from their album Mirage (2016)
 * "Shangri-La" by VIXX from their EP Shangri-La (2017)
 * "Shangri-La" by M. Ward from his album Hold Time (2009)
 * "Going to Shangri-La" by Atlanta Rhythm Section from their album Quinella (1981)

Songs that mention Shangri-La: Albums with "Shangri-La" in the title:
 * "Lovely Lady of Arcadia" by Demis Roussos (1974)
 * "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin, from their album Physical Graffiti (1975)
 * "Sin City" by AC/DC, from their album Powerage (1978)
 * "Spirits (Having Flown)" by Bee Gees (1979)
 * "Neverland" by The Sisters of Mercy, from their album Floodland (1987)
 * "Come on Home" by Cyndi Lauper (1995)
 * In the song "Great Milenko" by Insane Clown Posse, the eponymous character is said to be from Shangri-La (1997)
 * "The Trail We Blaze" by Elton John, from the soundtrack to The Road to El Dorado (2000)
 * "Idler's Dream" by Oasis, a B-side from "The Hindu Times" single (2002)
 * "Many Moons" by Janelle Monáe, from her extended play EP Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) (2007); the song mentions Shangri-La as a place to go "when the world just treats you wrong"
 * "Ringo Mogire Beam" by Kenji Ohtsuki (2009)
 * "Suck it and See" by Arctic Monkeys, from their album also named Suck it and See (2011)
 * Trouble in Shangri-La by Stevie Nicks (2001)
 * Shangri-La Dee Da by Stone Temple Pilots (2001)
 * The Wraith: Shangri-La by Insane Clown Posse (2002)
 * Shangri-La by The Blackeyed Susans (2003)
 * Shangri-La by Mark Knopfler (2004)
 * Shangri-La by YACHT (2011)
 * Shangri-La by Mucc (2012)
 * Shangri La by Jake Bugg (2013)
 * Shangri-La by VIXX (2017)

In politics

 * Thanks to a remark by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, while replying to a reporter's question following the Doolittle Raid on Japan in April 1942, in which he declared that the Raiders had taken off from a secret U.S. base in Shangri-La, the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La (CV-38) was named after the fictional location.
 * In 1943, the U.S. government camp Hi-Catoctin, located in the hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, was converted into a retreat for the President of the United States and renamed Shangri-La by President Franklin Roosevelt, who modeled the lodge after his family's winter vacation home in Warm Springs, Georgia. After Dwight D. Eisenhower took office in 1953, he renamed it Camp David.

Other
Glastonbury Festival created an after-hours area within the site called Shangri-La in 2009. It has evolved over the past three years each with a slightly different theme: In 2009 the socialist utopia became a dystopian pleasure city run by a corrupt regime. In 2010 the ruling administration was overthrown and the city was opened up to rebels and chancers to carve out their own little piece of paradise. The 2011 storyline was pre-apocalyptic – the population of Shangri-La prepared to flee a viral infection before the end of the world. During the festival's fallow year, 2012, the end of the world took place and in the 2013 theme became the afterlife. Shangri-La was divided between Shangri-Heaven and Shangri-Hell, combined to form the Shafterlife. In 2014, the two areas, Heaven and Hell, were themed-based around the perils of the traditional office workplace. 'Shangri- Hell' comprised a collection of self-contained buildings all based on the departments of a corporations head-office. Some were in fact bars and other were display installations for amusement purposes.

Trimming technique for In popular culture
My first thought was:
 * For those entries that have their own Wiki article, certain detail can be placed there, rather here.
 * For those entries that do not... trim on the grounds that this article is about something, and the tail should not . . . but then I realized that:
 * Some details can be moved to footnotes, so as to reduce the appearance of "In popular culture" taking up considerably more space than the topic of the article itself.
 * After trimming, Where possible, consider a 2-column presentation.

The original texts are retained in the above section. Yunmagz (talk) 02:39, 13 September 2017 (UTC)
 * The article has been on my watchlist for years, but I haven't trimmed it in forever. I'd suggest some fairly serious culling, including everything that's unreferenced and everything that isn't wikilinked to an article that specifically mentions Shangri-La. Rivertorch   FIRE WATER   03:05, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

4 years on. So I just blew them up. Happy to see encyclopaedic stuff returned. Springnuts (talk) 16:58, 19 November 2021 (UTC)

What is "the myth of Shangri-La"?
The article states that academic scholars have debunked the myth of Shangri-La. What is the myth they have debunked? The belief that somewhere, faraway, there is a mystical, harmonious valley, a permanently happy land, isolated from the world? That wouldn’t take much. We do not report elsewhere that scholars have debunked the myth of the Land of Oz. So perhaps something else is meant, but what? --Lambiam 07:08, 9 January 2019 (UTC)