An ancient and famed Tibetan town located on the edge of the Tibetan plateau in China’s southwestern Yunnan province was early on Saturday ravaged by a fire that left more than 240 houses damaged, forced 2,600 residents to evacuate, and destroyed innumerable works of Tibetan art.
The fire swept through the Dukezong old town, which is located in Gyalthang (known as Zhongdian in Chinese, and subsequently renamed "Shangri-la" under a tourism makeover), for nine hours, tearing through the mostly wooden homes that line the cobbled alleyways of the picturesque mountain town.
The more than thousand year old town was believed to be an important stop on the Tea Horse route along the southern Silk Road, which connected southwestern Yunnan with Tibet and India.
The fire damaged houses and shops, and also destroyed cultural relics and Tibetan art, the official Xinhua news agency reported. No casualties had been reported so far, Xinhua said, adding that the economic loss was being calculated.
The town has in recent years emerged as a thriving centre for both art and tourism. Gyalthang is one of China’s biggest centres of Thangka Tibetan art, and houses a sprawling Thangka academy that trains young Tibetans from surrounding areas. It remained unclear whether the academy suffered damage; the school could not be reached by telephone on Sunday.
Other residents spoke of the anguish of seeing their businesses and homes reduced to ash. One local family, who have run a hotel in the town for three years, said their entire property had been destroyed.
“There is nothing left,” said one family member, who did not want to be named, in a telephone interview with The Hindu.
“The fire started around 1 am. Luckily I was awake, closing the restaurant, and saw the flames. Our only thought was getting all our guests out safety. There was no time to retrieve our belongings. Everything is made of wood, so it was too dangerous to go back. Now everything is completely destroyed. Looking at the ruins, I don’t know how we can ever rebuild our home".