Bala Gezong Shangri-la Grand Canyon,Diqing

Travelers to Yunnan's Shangri-la County are often eager to debate the whereabouts of the fabled Shambhala Kingdom, the land of milk and honey James Hilton chronicled in his novel, "The Lost Horizon." Many believe Bala Village is the very heart of Shangri-la. Its scenery, such as that of the Blue Moon Valley, matches Hilton's description almost perfectly.

The second national park in China will soon open at the foot of Bala Village, thanks to the long-term efforts of a man called Sinadingzhu.

Sinadingzhu, a Bala Village native, is the president of the new Balagezong Grand Canyon National Park. For the past decade, Sinadingzhu has devoted himself to the revitalization of his hometown, a 1,300-year-old settlement which, according to legend, resulted from the exodus of a noble tribe from Batang.

"The leader, Sinaduojie, was a great hero, and led his tribe into many victorious conquests. By the time he reached his forties, he was tired of the endless pursuit of power and possessions, and decided to search for a peaceful land to live. He sent many of his brave soldiers to search the Kangba area, and finally chose this spot on which to establish his utopia free of wars."

Bala Village sits on a mesa surrounded by steep mountains. Although Sinaduojie found peace and tranquility, the solitude came at a price: The village is very isolated from the outside world. From the entrance to the Balagezong National Park, visitors must drive across a valley, then climb a near-vertical distance of nearly 1,000 meters via 42 hairpin turns, to reach Bala Village.

Sinadingzhu says the road was just carved out recently, through him and his coworkers' efforts. Before the road was constructed, people had to walk for two days to reach the outside world. And communication was greatly hampered by Bala Village's remote geographical location.

"If you wanted to buy a pair of shoes, there were only two occasions to do so in a whole year. The vendor would travel from the other side of the mountain, transporting such goods on a yak's back, and trade them for furs."

The extreme living conditions didn't just mean a scarcity of goods. Villagers sometimes died of minor ailments from lack of timely medical treatment. People were beginning to pack up and leave the village. The village once boasted dozens of households; now, there are only eight.

When Sinadingzhu was a boy, he made up his mind to reshape his hometown and bring a better life to his fellow villagers. In the 1990s, he finally got his chance. Back then, the whole of Yunnan Province was desperately trying to develop tourism. Sinadingzhu knew the time had come for him to do something.

"In 1998, the provincial government of Yunnan declared that Diqin Prefecture is the true Shangri-la, and renamed Zhongdian "Shangri-la County." I saw a great opportunity in this. Earth has only one Shangri-la, and it is a place that everyone in the world would love to visit. I should seize the chance to develop my hometown into a tourist destination, and put her on the track of development. "

At the time, Sinadingzhu was a successful businessman dealing in herbs. He had a house, a car and a restaurant, but he sold them all.

Constructing a road to connect Bala Village with the outside world was the logical first step, but building a road on the steep mountains was no easy job. Sometimes the entire face of a mountain had to be blasted off, and the road alone cost tens of millions of yuan. Sinadingzhu visited bank managers, and eventually persuaded them to issue a loan for his cause. He took out a loan of 100 million yuan, an astronomical figure for the Bala's native son, from the local agricultural bank.

Since then Sinadingzhu has been seen all over the mountain, busy constructing the paved road carved into mountainside and drawing up the blueprints of his national park. Now every morning when he wakes up, Sinadingzhu still faces a daily loan interest of about 2,300 U.S dollars. But he never regrets what he did for his hometown.

"When we were young, when our peers asked about our hometown, we felt embarrassed to tell them our hometown was the Bala Village deep in the mountains. But things have changed. Kids living in the village now can proudly say that their hometown is Bala Village, the Shangri-la village inside the national park."

Sinadingzhu's dedication to his hometown has won him respect and popularity among his fellow villagers. A frequently told story goes like this. Sinadingzhu once made an appointment with Yadong, a singing prince who enjoys immense popularity among the Tibetans. But Sinadingzhu failed to appear on time because his flight was delayed for two hours. Surprisingly, by the time he arrived, the superstar was still patiently waiting for him in the airport. Yadong told Sinadingzhu how much he respected him. As a singer he had a fortune and a big name, but he had not even built a single mile of road for his hometown. So he would wait any length of time for Sinadingzhu to show his gratitude.

The Balagezong Shangri-la Grand Canyon National Park will be open soon, and Sinadingzhu and the rest of the Bala residents are ready to welcome guests from around the world.