Shangri-la is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon" by James Hilton.
In the book, "Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains.
Described as an earthly paradise and a mythical Himalayan utopia, isolated from the outside world.
In the novel the people who live at Shangri-la are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly aging in appearance.
Several places in the Buddhist Himalaya between northern India and Tibet have claimed to be the location for Hilton's fictional Shangri-La, largely to attract tourism.
Today, various places claim the title, such as parts of southern Kham in southwestern Yunnan province.
The Nazis had an enthusiasm for Shangri-La, where they hoped to find an ancient master race, similar to the Nordic race, unspoiled by Buddhism. They sent one expedition to Tibet, led by Ernst Schäfer in 1938.
Shangri-la is often used in a similar context to which "Garden of Eden" might be used, to represent a paradise hidden from modern man. It can sometimes be used as an analogy for a life-long quest or something elusive that is much sought. For a man who spends his life obsessively looking for a cure to a disease, such a cure could be said to be that man's "Shangri-La". It also might be used to represent perfection that is sought by man in the form of love, happiness, or Utopian ideals. It may be used in this context alongside other mythical and famous examples of somewhat similar metaphors such as The Holy Grail, El Dorado and The Fountain of Youth.
Sum it all up: Shangri-la is a mythical place that James Hilton made up, rumored to be located between Northern India and Tibet.
The people who live in this paradise live for a very long time.
This place is rumored to be the holder of such mythical and famous as the Holy grail and The Fountain of Youth.
A mans Shangri-la is what he searches for and obsesses over.
What could place have to do with the zombies story-line?
Maybe a cure to zombification?
Let me know what you think cause I've got nothin so far.
