Shooting colorful images in Shangri-La

Two years in a row, I went to Shangri-la, Yunnan, to catch the beauty of autumn. I carried P1410 and G1 respectively as my back-up cameras in the end of October, 2011 and 2012. Luckily, I had good weather and shot a lot of colorful pictures (校稿中).


Pudacuo National Park. BenQ P1410.

Pudacuo National Park
In Shangri-La, Pudacuo National Park (普達措國家公園) and Song Zan Lin Monastery (松贊林寺) are major tourist spots. The park is about 22 km away from Shangri-La (香格里拉／中甸), the capital city of the area. Each year in late October and early November, the forests, lakes and pastures of the park are dotted with golden aspen and waterweeds. Especially in the early morning, the fog rising from the surface of the lakes, combined with yellow forests and blue skies, creates a mysterious and colorful view.

Pudacuo National Park. Morning fog rising from the lake. BenQ G1.
When I visited Pudacuo National Park, the sun shone all day long. it’s easy to shoot beautiful views with BenQ P1410 or G1. Most of time, I used P mode and let the cameras do the rest of the work.


Pudacuo National Park. BenQ G1.
Pudacuo National Park. BenQ P1410.
However, to shoot good pictures, you’ve got to get into the park very early in the morning. Besides waiting for the fog rising from the lakes, you can also take the advantage of soft morning lighting which turns the aspen into golden color. Moreover, the silent lake, like a mirror, reflects the golden aspen and blue skies, making picturesque views here and there.

Pudacuo National Park. BenQ P1410.
 Pudacuo National Park. BenQ P1410.
Pudacuo National Park. BenQ P1410.
The national park is so huge and has two big lakes: Shudu Lake (属都湖) and Bita Hai Lake (碧塔海). Visitors have to take bus to the entrance of each lake, walk along the wooden walkways by the lake and take bus again to the exit. It took us all day long, fooling around the park and taking pictures. Because of walking on high altitude area for 7 hours, we were almost exhausted when getting out of the park.

Pudacuo National Park. BenQ P1410.

Song Zan Lin Monastery

Founded in 1681, Song Zan Lin Monastery (松贊林寺) is another must-visit place in Shangri-La (or Zhongdian). It’s about 4 km from city center and situated in the middle of a high ground surrounded by hills and a lake.

Song Zan Lin Monastery. BenQ G1.

The monastery is built on a hill of 3,300 meters. Thus, visitors have to climb 143 stairs slowly to the top, like a turtle, so as to prevent from acute mountain sickness. The monastery consists of 3 huge buildings. They are colorful and beautiful under the sun and with blue skies on the background. Besides, standing upon the monastery, you are rewarded with fantastic views of surrounding areas.

Song Zan Lin Monastery. BenQ G1.
Song Zan Lin Monastery. BenQ P1410.
However, we did not stay up there very long. Instead, we took a lot of time walking along the wooden walkways circling around the lake in front of the monastery. Finally, we stood on a viewpoint in the center of the lake. From that spot, I took the most beautiful view of the day. The colorful monastery, the hills and blue skies are reflected on the lake that festooned with golden waterweeds. Finally, about 30 minutes before sunset, we climbed upon a hill by the lake, sat there and watched the monastery bathing under the setting sun.

Song Zan Lin Monastery. BenQ G1.

Song Zan Lin Monastery. BenQ P1410.
Song Zan Lin Monastery. BenQ G1.

Detour to countryside
In addition to visit the national park and the monastery, we detoured to countryside near Shangri-La and took a lot of special autumn views, including pigs fooling around on the ground and huge wooden shelves for drying farm produce. I like the consequent picture most: the winding dusty roads dotted with golden aspen, leading to a village.

All in all, BenQ P1410 and G1 are compact and easy to operate. As my back-up cameras, they help me preserve unforgettable memories in Shangri-La.

Countryside of Shangri-La. BenQ P1410.


Countryside of Shangri-La. BenQ P1410.

Countryside of  Shangri-La. BenQ P1410.


P.S. 版主擁有國際(旅遊)領隊執照，今秋將率團舊地重遊，
行程和簡介：http://www.wretch.cc/blog/WCHUAN99/1817932


＊延伸閱讀 (行程相關景點介紹)
1. 〈麗江自由行：重拾旅遊的樂趣〉2. 〈世界遺產：麗江古城風情〉
3. 〈雲南香格里拉金秋 (上)：葛丹松贊林寺〉
4. 〈雲南香格里拉金秋 (下)：普達措國家公園)〉

wchuan99 你好，我的本名叫王傳 喜歡文學、旅行和攝影，平時以教授攝影和撰寫攝影工具書為生，三不五時帶領攝影團出國拍照，經常在無名部落格分享國內外遊記、攝影技巧以及攝影器材試用心得。