夢幻香格里拉

浙江杭州西湖邊有一座著名的“香格里拉飯店”，環(huán)球也有不少以香格里拉命名的旅館，據(jù)說這都是緣起對香格里拉的傾心向往。香格里拉在人們的心目中就是世外桃源、人間仙境的同名詞，因此香格里拉對于我真有一種若真若隱、虛無縹緲的夢幻之感。

然而，真正的香格里拉究竟在哪里?人們一直說不準(zhǔn)，直到20世紀(jì)30年代，美國人詹姆斯·希爾頓著的《消失的地平線》一書出版，人們才知道地球上的這塊“凈土”，夢中的香格里拉竟在中國的滇藏邊境。

這就引起我的強烈興趣，我很想去香格里拉一游。這次我終于如愿以償了，終于有機會去尋找夢中的香格里拉!

我從杭州直奔云南，并從云南的麗江古城乘5個多小時的長途汽車去香格里拉。一路上崇山峻嶺，崗巒起伏，峽谷縱橫，這些峽谷全很陡峭，落差往往有幾百米甚至上千米，車行其間確有幾分觸目驚心的感覺，但唯其道路的曲折、坎坷，更顯出香格里拉的神秘和不同尋常，使旅游者產(chǎn)生一種朝圣之感。

出麗江城不遠在車窗外就可以看到白雪皚皚、巍峨矗立的玉龍雪山。橫亙在金沙江畔的玉龍雪山是麗江古納西王國的象征，傳說美麗的納西少女開美久命金為深愛的情人殉情而死，死后她化為“風(fēng)”神在玉龍雪山頂上營造了一個情人天堂：那里沒有苦難、沒有蒼老，是無比美好的玉龍第三國，而香格里拉就在這玉龍雪山和梅里雪山之間，屬迪慶藏族自治州，州府所在地叫中甸。當(dāng)?shù)厝私械乃^“甸”就是壩子，即所謂山上的平地。其實這些甸海拔都很高，大多在2000多米以上，對我們這些來自東海邊的人來說，多多少少有些高原反應(yīng)，感到頭暈、腿軟和呼吸困難，要大口大口呼吸氧氣才行。

我跨越了金沙江大回環(huán)，經(jīng)過了世界上最深的峽谷之一的“虎跳峽”，沿著茶馬古道終于來到香格里拉。這條千年古道如蜿蜒的河流曲曲彎彎，它從西藏高原一直延伸到云南之南，連結(jié)著緬甸、泰國等東南亞國家。當(dāng)年那些山間鈴響的馬幫、騾隊，馱著茶、馱著鹽、馱著日用品曾在這崎嶇的山間小路上艱難跋涉，成為滇藏少數(shù)民族的生命線。

這里是典型的藏民居住區(qū)。放眼望去，藏民住房櫛比鱗次，還有充滿藏族宗教風(fēng)俗的瑪尼堆、經(jīng)幢塔和田野上曬著莊稼菜蔬的高高木架。中甸附近有一座松贊林喇嘛寺，寺廟建筑恢宏，收藏著不少精美的喇嘛教文物，還有各種鎏金佛像，如達賴五世饋贈的五彩唐卡16軸，各種外地難以見到的藏文經(jīng)籍，這使我們大開眼界。

是夜，我們應(yīng)邀到一戶普通的藏民人家做客，共度一個美好夜晚。藏民住的房舍高大、寬敞，底層用來關(guān)牲畜和堆放柴草、雜物，上層才是住家。這些瓦房木樓，雕梁畫棟，裝飾著富有鮮明藏族風(fēng)格的圖案、紋飾，色彩都很艷麗。見有客人光臨，主人就獻上雪白的哈達和青稞酒，把你請到“鍋莊”(火爐)邊殷勤招待。這時，爐火熊熊，香氣四溢，正在燒烤著牛羊肉，你可以在“鍋莊”旁一邊大碗喝酒、大塊吃肉；一邊欣賞藏胞為客人表演的歌舞。

不知是民族的血緣和傳統(tǒng)天性使然，還是后天在空曠的草甸和山谷里練成的高亢嗓子，藏民個個能歌善舞，一唱起歌來響遏行云，仿佛人人都是才旦卓瑪。在這種歡樂的氣氛中，豐富多彩的民族服飾、如詩如畫的民族風(fēng)情，讓每一個游客都會不知不覺受到感染，手拉手地加入到這圈子里，同這些盛妝艷服的藏族少女和小伙子們圍著熊熊大火徹夜歡歌狂舞，并在一片輕歌曼舞中領(lǐng)略天人合一的萬種風(fēng)情。

翌日大清早我們?nèi)ビ斡[中甸附近的屬都湖。這里空氣清冽，沁人心脾，山野靜謐得令人心醉!四周森林茂密，草地上開遍野花，天空湛藍透明，湖水清澈見底，真是如詩如畫，恍如仙境。湖中棲息著大量的野鴨、黃鳥，還是國家一級保護動物珍稀飛禽黑頸鶴的家鄉(xiāng)。來到這里，你會被這碧玉般純凈的湖泊、草甸所震撼；你會忘記一切俗世的凡塵，讓靈魂得到一次洗滌，在藍天、白云、草土之中流連忘返。

香格里拉是目前全球范圍內(nèi)遭受人為破壞最輕、自然生態(tài)保護得最好的地區(qū)之一。啊，美麗的香格里拉!現(xiàn)在我終于明白人們?yōu)槭裁磳δ闳绱讼蛲?那是因為你是地球上幸存的最后幾塊“凈土”。我們的藏族導(dǎo)游扎西告訴我們：他剛接待了一個法國旅游團，由15個女性組成，從青海西寧市翻山越嶺步行到香格里拉，晚上自帶帳篷露宿在曠野。送走我們這批客人，扎西馬上又要去接待一個馬來西亞旅游團。大批海內(nèi)外的旅游者爭先恐后來到香格里拉，就是為了印證詹姆斯·希爾頓的《消失的地平線》是否與現(xiàn)實生活情景相符，體驗大城市鋼鐵水泥森林中無法得到的誘人魅力，享受一種人性返樸歸真的快樂。

My Visit to Shangri-La

By Xue Jiazhu

My journey to Shangri-La started long before I actually stepped on the remote land of Yunnan province. I had read about the dream land. A fancy lakeside hotel in Hangzhou where I live has that legendary name. I dreamed and dreamed of Shangri-La. One day I went there.

I flew directly from Hangzhou to Yunnan. And it took me a good five hours by bus to reach Shangri-La from the ancient Lijiang Town.

The journey was like a pilgrimage.

Soon after the bus left Lijiang， the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain loomed large， which was a landmark of the ancient Naxi kingdom. Local legend has it that a Naxi ethnic young girl died of a romance and turned herself into a goddess. She created a kingdom of lovers where people were ageless and never suffered the pain of life.

Shangri-La is located between the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the Meili Snow Mountain. To reach there， I first traveled past the big bend of the Golden Sand River and the Tiger-Jumping Gorge， one of the world’s deepest gorges. Mountains towered and valleys precipitated. My heart throbbed when I cast a glance at the abysms of several hundred meters or even more than a thousand meters in depth. But the unusual journey turned me into a pilgrim and well prepared my mind for appreciating the mysterious and exotic Shangri-La.

Today’s Shangri-La is where Zhongdian is， the capital of the Diqing Tibetan Prefecture. There are many high flatlands， most of which are more than 2，000 meters above sea level. I had some altitude reaction. My head swam and my feet staggered. I had to help myself to oxygen.

Zhongdian is a typical Tibetan habitat. I saw arrays of Tibetan houses， Mani Stones， pagoda-like Sutra Columns， and tall wood racks in the fields. Crops and vegetables were piled on these racks. Near Zhongdian is the Songzanlin lamasery. The stately sanctuary housed many religious treasures such as gilded Buddha statues， 16 scrolls of Tangkas (large-sized Tibetan paintings of Buddha) from the Fifth Dalai Lama， and Buddhist scriptures in Tibetan. I was deeply impressed.

We were invited to spend a night at a Tibetan house. It was an ordinary Tibetan family. The tall house was spacious. The ground floor was used for keeping domestic animals and storing miscellaneous articles. The family lived on the upper floor. The wooden house had tiles on the roof and the interior decoration typified Tibetan motifs and patterns in bold colors.

We sat around a brazier where mutton and beef were being barbecued. The barley wine was served. I don't know whether Tibetans are born dancers and singers， or whether the open valleys and sky in Shangri-La naturally and magically turn them into singers. But that night， I found the Tibetans present were beautiful singers and dancers.

The next morning I visited a lake not far from Zhongdian. The air was crisp and the silent wilderness was enchanting. The dense woods stretched far and flowers bloomed on the pasture. The sky was blue and transparent. The lake was crystal and the bottom was visible. The lake was home to hordes of birds. I was deeply impressed by the purity of the scenery: it cleanses my soul of worldly worries and gives me a glimpse into a peerless natural beauty.

It is said that Shangri-La is one of the few rare places best preserved in the world. Our Tibetan guide told me about a French tourist group he had received just before our group. The 15 women backpackers had trekked all the way through mountains to Shangri-La from Xining， capital seat of Qinghai Province. And at night they set up tents to sleep. The guide said he would meet another group from Malaysia after seeing our group off. Just like me， foreigners come to see what they cannot find in the cement forests in cities and to return to pure delights available only in Shangri-La.

(Translated by David)