Shangri-La City, formerly known as Zhongdian County, Tibetan called "Jiantang", and it is said that the land of the three sons of Batang and Litang is the seal of the Tibetan king. "Dian", like slang, means "bazi" and "flat ground". When the Naxi language of Zhongdian is spoken, it means "land", meaning "chief residence" or "place to raise yak." Shangri-La, is the Tibetan language of Diqing, meaning "the sun and moon in the heart". In 1933, James Hilton first described a place of eternal peace and tranquility far from the mountains of the East in his novel "Lost Horizon".