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Shangri-La Shopping
Shangri-la is situated on the plateau, hardly suffering from any man-made destruction and pollution. It abounds in natural resources, typically the wild medical herbs such as fritillaria bulb, gastrodia rhizome and musk. The renowned Meili Snow Mountain, due to its abundance of wild herbs, is more referred to as “the Mountain of Herbs”。Tibetans comprise a significant part of the Shangri-la inhabitants. Thus visitors often find Tibetan medicine made of rare medical herbs and beautiful Tibetan handicraft like heavenly beads and Tibetan incense quite appealing. Besides, Tibetan food is also a must for travelers to Shangri-la. Delicacies like chang, matsutake and yak beef are available.
Shopping Guide in Shangri-la
Deqin is typical Tibetan county. Therefore visitors prefer coming here to buy Tibetan specialty like some woodwork, national costumes and Tibetan incense. In addition, Deqin is rich with medical herbs. You can buy precious herbs like snow lotus and crocuses at a lower price than many other places.
Diqing also produces this mountain delicacy named Matsutake which is extremely popular over Japan and Southeast Asia. Despite its great flavor, Matsutake only grow between June and August every year, which makes it hard to be carried around.
Shangri-la Special Products
Fritillaria Bulb
Fritillaria bulb is rich in Diqing. It’s purely natural, used in the treatment of lung diseases like pneumonia and bronchitis. It can be eaten raw or ground into powder with steamed honey,
Cordyceps sinensis
Cordyceps sinensis, growing in the high cold region at attitude above 3000m, shares an equal reputation as the ginseng and velvet antler. It has a very peculiar appearance by looking like worm in winter, but turning into herb in summer. Summer is its best collecting time. Apart from its medical use, Cordyceps sinensis is quite beneficial to put into daily meals as well. Because of that, it costs much more than the snow lotus and crocuses.
Yak Beef
Yak beef is claimed to being precious from head to tail: Its meat is edible; its fur can be made into clothing and boots; its head can be processed into craftwork; its tail can be shaped into broom. Diqing yaks live in the region at an attitude above 3500m where they feed on many precious herbs like fritillaria bulb and Cordyceps sinensis. As a result, its meat tastes extraordinarily palatable.
Other Special commodities in Shangri-la Diqing comprise chang, musk, silver knife, etc.
Shopping Tips:
- For visitors who want to buy the Tibetan knife, invoice notifying it’s handicraft better be made when buying the Tibetan knife
-The knife can not be brought onto the plane;
-Whether the knife can be transferred by train or by car depends on the specific situations and it’s most feasible to send the knife by mail.
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