Deqen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

Three counties Zhongdian, Deqen, and Weixi ¨Care under the jurisdiction of the Deqen Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, located in a delta where northwest Yunnan borders on sichuan and Tibet. The Prefecture is in the centre of a famous scenic area where three mighty rivers converge. Aginest the majestic backdrop of a blue smudge of snowy mountains, rivers winds their way through meadows, forests extends as wide as an ocean, and there is an abundance of flora and fauna. Poets always liken the prefecture to a paradise under heaven. The mysterious and bewitching Zhongdian County, where the prefecture is headquartered, is the setting for the ¡° Shangri-la ¡°, a hidden paradise is James Hilton¡¯s 1933 novel Lost Horizon. A highway links Zhongdian to Kunming over a distance of 700 kilometers, and by 1999 an airline has been commissioned between the two places.