Tibetan Chorten in the Middle of Dukezong Ancient Town 独克宗古城
My first order of business here at Shangrila would be to find a place to stay. I knew there was an ancient town somewhere in this area but I couldn’t get my bearings yet. So I hailed a cab to bring me to the ancient town. The driver asked me where I would like to go but I had no idea, as long as he brings me to the ancient town I will be find with that. There is a modest city built in this area and I might say that it is quite quiet here. Is it worthy of its name? I reserve judgement on that. Dukezong is a small Tibetan village in Shangrila or Zhongdian and it is one of the oldest and best preserved Tibetan towns in the Tibetan world. It apparently has a long history as it was part of a major trade route. The entire ancient town oozes character and it is not hard to be enamoured by it.
Old Folk Under a Tree at Dukezong Ancient Town 独克宗古城
As I entered the ancient town. I noticed how the streets were made of stone and that the houses here contained Tibetan elements. I strongly suspect that this place has already undergone a huge makeover in the name of tourism. However, as a first time tourist here, the place is still quite charming since it lacks the mass tourism found in major ancient cities like Lijiang, Pingyao or Fenghuang. The difficulty to getting here probably helps reduce the number of people here. Most of the buildings here all look very much alike as if they already have a winning design, I guess it works. Tibetan pray flags adorn the town and on one side of the ancient town was Tibetan chorten or stupa. I think I will be staying in this town a couple of days, I wasn’t really rushing back to work so this time I can really kick back and relax.
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