Potatson National Park
national park of the People's Republic of China
Potatso National Park (普达措国家公园) is a provincially-administered natural reserve in Shangri-la, Diqing, Yunnan, China. The park covers 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles). Despite the name, it is a national park trial site and is not part of the national park system of China.
The park was announced on June 25, 2007, and is notable as the first natural reserve park in China to meet International Union for Conservation of Nature standards. It incorporates the Bita Lake Nature Reserve and the Duhu Scenic Area in the Hongshan region. As such they are part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas World Heritage Site.
Fauna and flora
The region of this park contains more than 20 percent of the country's plant species, about one-third of its mammal and bird species and almost 100 endangered species, though it comprises only 0.7 percent of China's land area. It is notably home to vulnerable Black-necked cranes, many rare and beautiful orchids, and Himalayan Yew, a coniferous tree whose extracts are a source of the anticancer drug, paclitaxel.
Visitor information
The park is 22 km away, about a 50-minute drive from Shangri-La City (previously called Zhongdian County). It has two lakes, a visitor center, several interesting minority villages, lush forests and pasture views.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Potatson National Park” as national park of the People's Republic of China. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as national park of the People's Republic of China. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1010677. Authority coordinates are 27.825, 99.995. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2007.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Potatson National Park”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Potatson National Park primary sources, Potatson National Park archive and Potatson research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Potatson National Park”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Potatson National Park” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.