[InKunming--Yunnan] Dukezong, an old town of Shangri-la county, initially built in Tang Dynasty over 1,300 years ago, caught fire in wee hours on January 11 and came to the public's focus once again recently.

Some cultural relics, such as Thangka paintings, Buddhist culture artworks, had been burned in fire.

　　　Shangri-la, a magical land in the northwest of Yunnan province, not only possesses beautiful natural sceneries, but also has kinds of little-known folk arts and crafts, which have been inherited for thousand years by local ethnical minorities.

　Thangka, as a special painting type maintained by Tibetan people in Shangrila, can be said to be as an encyclopedia of Tibetan minority.

　Thangka depicts images of Buddhist deity, tells Buddhism stories, and also describes Tibetan minority's history, politics, culture and social life.

[Photo/ Xinhua]

Black-pottery, highland barley wine, Dongba ancient paper-making skills, Thangka, are just some of wonderful things produced in Shangri-la.