Sam Chau

The Bell of Shangri-La Sam Chau

Since 1933 James Hilton has left a riddle for dreamers to pursue. Is Shangri-La in Zhongdian or Sichuan? Is Shambhala really Shangri-La? Is it the lost kingdom of Shang Shung, somewhere in the western end of the Himalayas?

The author, residing in Scotland for many years, four times travelled to Tibet to search the myth of Shangri-la. He met in the Jokhang Temple a Tibetan girl, who brought him to an unknown valley. To his surprise, he discovered that the valley people were descendants from the Valley of the Blue Moon. The high lama of the lamasery there told him the story of the Capuchins missionaries to Tibet which led to the secrets of Shangri-La.

This story combines travel, history and myth, telling the author's adventure to the Lost Horizon, searching for the Capuchins' bell with a Latin inscription: Te Deum Laudamus.

The author has provided first-hand information to support his findings, and he also tracks down many of the sources that James Hilton drew upon in writing his paradise myth.