Before ‘Shangri-La’: A 1995 Baseline of Zhongdian’s Pre-Tourism Economy and Strategic Vulnerabilities
A 1995 travel account of Zhongdian (renamed Shangri-La in 2001) provides a baseline view of a semi-isolated Tibetan plateau market town before airport/expressway-driven tourism expansion. The text highlights how branding and connectivity can accelerate growth while increasing exposure to heritage fire risk, environmental pressure, and tourism dependence.