History Main / ShamgriLa

The Himalayas and other FarEast mountain ranges are positively packed to the gills with Buddhist villages full of wise monks who will teach weary Western travelers -- especially the old MightyWhitey -- to cast off ego, become one with the universe and attain true enlightenment. Also, to [[AllMonksKnowKungFu punch through people's heads]].

Despite being stuck up in a bunch of cold mountains, Shangri-La (alternatively [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Shangri La]]) is usually shown as an idyllic and beautiful place, full of rare flora and fauna, and tended to by little bald men in orange robes who beat gongs. Alternatively, it may be shown in a more realistic (though no less idealised) light, being cold and uncomfortable to those who are used to Western decadence.

Surrounding Shangri-La is an endless expanse of beautiful but dangerous mountain peaks, none of which feature ski slopes or extreme sports wankers with broken collarbones. Sometimes getting to the village or monastery requires a special Sherpa with secret knowledge, or for the mountaineer to be near death. Other times, it's just a case of turning a corner. Either way, there are ''definitely no tourists''.

Shangri La is almost universally based on Tibet, with the monkish religion a [[TheThemeParkVersion highly watered-down]] variant of Lamaist Buddhism.

Hiding place for many a {{Utopia}}. Yet finding it and getting in is usually a lot easier than getting out.

Expect the protagonist to encounter/get attacked by/make friends with a [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Yeti]].

Not to be confused with the light novel/anime series ''LightNovel/ShangriLa'', or the old 70s all-girl band of the same name.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': This is where Zeppeli learned Ripple, a SupernaturalMartialArts [[ReviveKillsZombie highly effective against the undead]]. In a major subversion of [[HiddenElfVillage how this trope usually goes]], characters from the ShamgriLa later appears and have important role in the story. [[spoiler:Including a major villain during Part 2.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* In Franchise/TheDCU, fighters travel to the city of Nanda Parbat in Tibet, where they learn alongside wise monks.
** Also there is no death there. Which makes it really suck when a guy dies on the doorstep.
* Likewise, in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, Tibet is the one-stop-shopping place for all your power needs. (Drs. Doom, Druid and Strange, to name three).
** Marvel also had [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]] develop both his [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower martial arts skill]] (via TrainingFromHell) but also his mystical [[KiAttacks iron-fist technique]] (via absorbing a dragon's heart) in K'un L'un. Said city is loosely based on the mythical land mentioned in Lost Horizon (see below) but is Marvelized as an [[FantasyKitchenSink extradimensional city whose gateway leads to Earth, which was founded by the crew of a crashed spaceship]]. With apostrophes.
*** Also note, K'un-Lun is not a happy place full of pacifists.
* Marvel again: Atillan, home city of the Inhumans, is located in the Himalayan mountains. While it isn't entirely this tropes, some of the Inhumans (especially Karnak) use MagicalMartialArts.
* ''{{Tintin}} in Tibet'' has one of these villages. Bonus points: Includes an airplane crash and [[spoiler:[[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti a yeti]]]].
** Actually it is a bit of a subversion because the monastery is in a realistic portrayal of Tibet, it is just that ''one'' monk has visions (which is not that special, as the story begins with Tintin having one himself). [[spoiler: Hergé apparently believed that yetis really exist and did quite a bit of research, e.g. talking to the French mountaineer Maurice Herzog, who claimed to have seen yeti tracks himself.]]
* In a story from the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' comics, Lara Croft finds Shangri-La. However, she discovers that [[spoiler: nobody can leave, and those who try are turned into yeti-like monsters that guard its walls. Lara brings an old caretaker from her childhood to Shangri-La, in exchange for her own release.]]
* The CarlBarks Uncle Scrooge comic "Tralla La" is a satirical take on the idea of a moneyless utopia; the story also incidentally bears some similarity to ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy'' (totally coincidental, given that the comic was published 27 years before that movie came out). It was later adapted into a ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' episode.
** DonRosa did a sequel to the comic, in which it is revealed that Tralla La is in fact [[spoiler: Xanadu, the place described in Creator/SamuelTaylorColeridge's poem ''Kubla Khan''.]] Also, the Ducks unintentionally bring big trouble into peaceful Tralla La. ''Again''.
* ''Comicbook/{{BPRD}}''
** A yeti-guarded monastery plays an important part in the plot, being the place where Liz Sherman learns to control her powers. And the first ''BPRD'' story, ''Hollow Earth'' kicks off when this monastery gets invaded by subterranean monsters.
** A similar monastery serves as [[YellowPeril Memnan Saa's]] base of operations. In fact, it was central to his rise to power, as that was the place where he first learned to harness the powers of the ancient Hyperborean civilization.
* In Howard Chaykin's comic based on Radio/TheShadow, sympathetic soldier-for-hire takes up both the Shadow alias and the Lamont Cranston identity when the real Cranston threatens to violently exploit Shambala.
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[[folder:Film]]
* ''[[Film/TheMummyTrilogy The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor]]'' features the idealistic version. Also yetis.
* ''Film/BatmanBegins'' sends Bruce Wayne to the mountain commune of Nanda Parbat learn combat and stealth. Then after his training, he finds out they're all [[TheKnightsTemplar Knights Templar]].
* The heroes of ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' (2004) go to Shangri-La in 1939, probably inspired by the novel ''Lost Horizon'', described below. Given a tragic edge in that the Shangri-La monks take care of a man made sick from radiation poisoning.
* The first film in the ''[[TheLibrarian Librarian]]'' series uses this trope: it has the heroes (and villain) search for and visit Shangri-La in the Himalayas during their quest to find the other two missing parts of [[PublicDomainArtifact the Spear of Destiny]]. It is, given the movie in question, probably not entirely surprising that it is an improbably warm, sunny and idyllic place filled with Buddhist monks and luscious green landscaping, despite literally being surrounded by deadly-cold ice and snow.
** [[CrazyAwesome The monks also have a giant mechanical Budda statue that attacks the bad guy.]]
* The titular hero from ''Film/BulletProofMonk'' hails from a Shamgri La-style Tibet, and uses his ancient wisdom to school a cocky American pickpocket.
* The EddieMurphy vehicle ''Film/TheGoldenChild''.
* ''Film/TheShadow'' opens with Lamont Cranston as a vicious opium lord in (apparently) Tibet; he is reformed and taught the mystic arts of projective telepathy by a lama.
* In''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'' the titular character spends time studying with remote monks in a fantastical Shamgri-La, where he presumably learns his mystical powers.
** At the start of the story, he is the ''abbot'' of the monks. He is tempted by [[{{Satan}} Mr. Nick]], and sets out to the world to prove that creativity and good will can overcome people's base urges.
* In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', the last refuge of the mutants in 2023 is an abandoned temple or monastery atop some windswept mountains in China.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* OlderThanTelevision: The trope takes its name from the 1933 novel ''Literature/LostHorizon'', which featured the fictional village of Shangri-La in the Kun-Lun Mountains and inspired numerous takeoffs.
** ''Literature/LostHorizon'' itself is based on a real-life legend of the lost valley of ''Shamballa'', which really is supposed to be like this trope. The legend is used by such western mystics as Madame Blavatsky and T. Lobsang Rampa, who claim secret knowledge from old Tibet.
** The myth of Shamballa goes back centuries, since a bunch of Jesuit Priests visited the Buddhist kingdom thought to be Shamballa back in the 1600s and described it as a paradisiacal, serene place where no living things were harmed. The king was especially tolerant of the Jesuits and allowed them to build a church there. Unfortunately, a rival [[RealityIsUnrealistic Buddhist kingdom sacked Shamballa]] when they found out the king was letting in Jesuits.
* Creator/TerryPratchett frequently satirises this trope:
** The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has "Enlightenment Country" in the Hubland mountains, which is packed to the gills with different sects of monks, including the History Monks, the Monks of Cool, the Yen Buddhists, and the Listening Monks. What's more, sometimes young monks will leave their monasteries to seek enlightenment in the big city, because according to Pratchett "Wisdom is the one thing that looks bigger the farther away it is."
** ''Literature/{{Truckers}}'' has the Klothians, a mystical society of Store nomes who live on the top floor of the Store, and get their food from the staffroom rather than the delicatessen (meaning they live on tea and yoghurt).
* Creator/ArthurCClarke's short story "The Nine Billion Names of God", which is about Tibetan monks purchasing a computer to help them calculate the aforementioned names so that the universe may achieve its purpose and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt be destroyed by God]].
* In ChristopherMoore's ''Literature/LambTheGospelAccordingToBiff'', a teenage Jesus travels to one of these with his best friend Biff. Yes, ''that'' [[MessianicArchetype Jesus]].
* In ''Radio/TheShadow'' pulp novels, the Shadow learned the power to cloud men's minds in Shamballa.
* ''Grandmaster'' by Warren Murphy and Molly Cochran had Rashimpur, a quintessential example of this trope complete with requisite MightyWhitey.
* Shambhala in ''Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain'' by A. Lee Martinez.
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[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''NoReservations'' actually went to one of the Tibetan villages that renamed themselves Shangri-la (see Real Life below), and mentions the portrayal in ''Literature/LostHorizon''. Even if it wasn't really Shangri-La, it's got monks, yaks, snow, mountains and friendly natives, and is quite beautiful in its way.
* The protagonists of ''Series/TheChampions'' have their plane shot down over a Shamgri-La, and the wise and powerful locals heal them and incidentally give them super powers.
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[[folder:Music]]
* Music/TheRutles wrote a song about Shangri-La, a place where all day long the sky is blue and no one has a lot to do.
* ''Shambala'' by Three Dog Night, unsurprisingly appearing in ''Series/{{Lost}}'', listened to by one of Dharma Initiative worker in his van.
--> Everyone is helpful, everyone is kind on the road to Shambala...
* Music/InsaneClownPosse use Shangri-La as an allegory for Heaven; it features heavily in several of their lyrics, was the subtitle for their album Thy Wraith, and they even put out a Quest for Shangri-La board game.
* Japanese rock artist Acid Black Cherry wrote a song called ''Shangri-La'', in which he not only sings about a utopia of life and light but also about overcoming tragedy. Many clues in the lyrics and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAabwJ3Vt5I music video]] point to him silently dedicating the song to everyone affected by the 2011 Tohoku disaster.
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[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''Collegium Magikos'' in the Himalayas in ''Comicstrip/MandrakeTheMagician.''
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[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''{{Exalted}}'': Qaf, the Heaven-Violating Spear is a [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils demon-prince]]-slash-[[GeniusLoci genius-loci]] ShamgriLa. If you climb it/him, you'll eventually find the wisdom you're looking for. Since he's a demon, things are far from peaceful on his slope. It's also implied that he's infinitely tall.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''Franchise/TombRaider II'' has the level Barkhang Monastery towards the end of the game. It is one of the biggest and most impressive levels in the game, complete with a giant statue and monks who help you fight the enemies.
* The plot of ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} 2'' centers on the search for Shamballa, where the game's climax occurs.
* In ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic IV: Clouds of Xeen'', Shangri-La is an underground town. Notable because unless you know the [[PortalNetwork shortcut]], you have to fight your way through demon-filled caverns to get there.
* This is one of the major areas in ''VideoGame/TheJourneymanProject 3''. Built into the side of a steep mountain pass, the monastery had advanced mechanisms to protect itself and its secrets from trespassers as well as geothermal tunnels which utilized steam to heat a green house containing several now-extinct plant species. A battle between two alien races caused an avalanche, destroying the monastery.
** Interestingly, when you first enter, you encounter a rather hostile guard with a black eye. Later on, you find out who gave him the black eye - GenghisKhan, who came to Shangri-La to gain knowledge that would allow him to defeat his enemies. Disillusioned, he plans to leave... a day before the monastery is destroyed.
* The prologue of ''VideoGame/{{Dreamfall|TheLongestJourney}}'' follows Brian Westhouse, an adventurer from Boston, who is sent to a parallel universe by the helpful monks of an unspecified Tibetan monastery.
* Shangri-La is one of the levels in ''VideoGame/{{Conduit 2}}''.
* Although it's located in a FantasyCounterpartCulture of ''Scandinavia'', the Throat of the World from ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has a bit of this vibe. It's the tallest mountain on the entire continent, people regularly climb it as a form of pilgrimage, and at the very top is a secretive monastery inhabited by an order of monks that have lived on the mountain from a young age and obtained mystical powers from years of meditation. Bonus points for being guarded by a frost troll (basically the closest thing to a yeti in the game).
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' episode "Last Horizons", Baloo seeks out and discovers the mythic "Panda-La" to become famous. Then the "enlightened, peaceful" populace subverts the trope by following him back home and invading. The Chinese stereotyping in this episode was strong enough that some Chinese-Americans complained rather loudly, and the episode was [[MissingEpisode pulled from reruns]].
** "The Gates of Shambala", A ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' comic from ''Magazine/DisneyAdventures'', offers a straighter version of the trope.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "Godfellas", featuring an ashram that doubles as a parabolic radio telescope.
* The Air Temples of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' served as these for the Air Nomads. But, after the Air Nomads were wiped out, they fell into disrepair.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' had Shangrillama, a cut-paste ShamgriLa, only with Llamas.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ChillOutScoobyDoo'', during their ice cold adventure, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy discover ShamgriLa, which contains crystals that the bad guy wanted.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' episode, "Journey to ShamgriLa", both the Holograms and the Misfits search the ShamgriLa to discover a new music.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'', the Platypus brothers discover the lost city of Platy-La in their attic. (It's a ''really big'' attic.) One of them initially mistakes it for Shangri-La, even though the architecture is Greek, and it's not in the mountains, and it's ''in Australia''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' there's a cybersite called Shangri-La run by one Master Pi. Though it actually is generally peaceful and harmonious, the guards are obligated to carry out the orders of the current leader... even if that leader is "The Hacker". And sometimes you have to play Nim with dragons for your freedom or something.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Animalympics}}'', a canine ski-jump champion gets lost while mountain-climbing, and either finds or hallucinates finding "Dogra-La", an all-doggy version of this trope.
* ''Shamballa'' appears in ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'' episode "The Bangalore Falcon." It's a mystical land in the Indian mountains which appears every 500 years, and houses the titular blue falcon, among other exotic flora and fauna, as well as the River of Eternal Life.
* The 90's ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk'' series had Bruce Banner try to subdue his UnstoppableRage SuperPoweredEvilSide persona, but then of course, by the end of the episode [[StatusQuoIsGod has to release it again]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* There are actual cities, towns and regions bearing the name Shangri-La in Tibet, renamed to draw tourists.
* While mind-affecting blue flowers a la ''Film/BatmanBegins'' were (thankfully!) omitted, the real Himalayas do harbor such endangered wildlife as the snow leopard and markhor, making this one of the cooler segments of the ''Planet Earth'' documentary series. The trope's breathtaking landscapes are justified too.
* Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is a hotel chain that manages 66 hotels around the world.
* [[ThoseWackyNazis The Ahnenerbe]] actually visited Tibet, viewing it as the homeland of the Aryan race.
* [[BadassNormal Heinrich Harrer's]] memoir ''SevenYearsInTibet'' (1952) was [[RealityIsUnrealistic far less idealized]] compared to its 1997 Hollywood rendition - while being deeply impressed by the scenery, the nature and the architectural wonder of Potala, the way of living for RealLife Tibetans was less idyllic.
** To the point that during their initial appearance in 1955 the Chinese were actually ''[[BenevolentAlienInvasion welcomed]]'' by the most of populace. For one thing they abolished the traditional practice that bound the majority of Tibetans into an indentured servitude to the monasteries, and genuinely tried to develop the land. Only after the 1959 anti-Chinese rebellion and their retaliatory measures that included the attempts to stomp down the influence of the lamas did it go FromBadToWorse.
* UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt, when asked where the bombers used for the [[AirStrikeImpossible Doolittle Raid]] on Japan were launched from during WorldWarII[[note]] The twin-engined Army bombers had been stripped of any unnecessary weight, loaded up with extra fuel, and launched from an aircraft carrier barely big enough for the task[[/note]], [[BlatantLies claimed that they had been launched from a base in Shangri-La.]] The US Navy actually launched an aircraft carrier named the USS ''Shangri-La'' later in the war as a reference to Roosevelt's quote.
* The alleged mystical and metaphysical qualities of Shangri-La are of great interest to Magazine/ForteanTimes. This magazine treats hoaxes and delusions as interesting phenomena in their own right and worthy of discussion and analysis.
[[/folder]]

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* The yeti-guarded monastery in ''{{BPRD}}'' plays an important part in the plot, being the place where Liz Sherman learns to control her powers and trying to neutralize the plague of frogs.

* Is Heaven in ''Comicbook/{{Horndog}}''.

* FranklinDelanoRoosevelt, when asked where the bombers used for the [[AirStrikeImpossible Doolittle Raid]] on Japan were launched from during WorldWarII[[note]] The twin-engined Army bombers had been stripped of any unnecessary weight, loaded up with extra fuel, and launched from an aircraft carrier barely big enough for the task[[/note]], [[BlatantLies claimed that they had been launched from a base in Shangri-La.]] The US Navy actually launched an aircraft carrier named the USS ''Shangri-La'' later in the war as a reference to Roosevelt's quote.

* The real Himalayas have cool things seldom mentioned. The Gurkhas[[note]]who actually live in Nepal, and never fought for the theocratic state of Tibet[[/note]] are Badass soldiers from a real {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}} and the Sherpas are {{Badass}} mountain climbers..

* The yeti-guarded monastery in {{BPRD}} plays an important part in the plot, being the place where Liz Sherman learns to control her powers and trying to neutralize the plague of frogs.

* The protagonists of Series/TheChampions have their plane shot down over a Shamgri-La, and the wise and powerful locals heal them and incidentally give them super powers.

* The real Himalayas have cool things seldom mentioned. The Gurkhas[[hottip:*:who actually live in Nepal, and never fought for the theocratic state of Tibet]] are Badass soldiers from a real {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}} and the Sherpas are {{Badass}} mountain climbers..

* FranklinDelanoRoosevelt, when asked where the bombers used for the [[AirStrikeImpossible Doolittle Raid]] on Japan were launched from during WorldWarII[[hottip:*: The twin-engined Army bombers had been stripped of any unnecessary weight, loaded up with extra fuel, and launched from an aircraft carrier barely big enough for the task]], [[BlatantLies claimed that they had been launched from a base in Shangri-La.]] The US Navy actually launched an aircraft carrier named the USS ''Shangri-La'' later in the war as a reference to Roosevelt's quote.

* In ''TheShadow'' pulp novels, the Shadow learned the power to cloud men's minds in Shamballa.

** Marvel also had [[ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]] develop both his [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower martial arts skill]] (via TrainingFromHell) but also his mystical [[KiAttacks iron-fist technique]] (via absorbing a dragon's heart) in K'un L'un. Said city is loosely based on the mythical land mentioned in Lost Horizon (see below) but is Marvelized as an [[FantasyKitchenSink extradimensional city whose gateway leads to Earth, which was founded by the crew of a crashed spaceship]]. With apostrophes.