1

The one I stayed at was interesting but under reconstruction. It was early October and if they did not rent out nice, small space heaters, I would have frozen for certain. I will advise this - I had one GH place in Dali who recommended I patronise their good friend's GH while there. It happens that the GH's are mainly located in the old town where the crazy Chinese have laid those whopping, rough paving stones/blocks (like Lijiang only much rougher and worse) all through the OT. If you are pulling a suitcase or two kids, it can be a long haul. On that trip, the taxi driver left me about a 15 minute walk slogging over those insane rocks (only the Chinese...) only to find the GH was windowless like a cave, ugly and uncomfortable. That left me back on the rocks looking for alt. accom. I have lots of money and wish I had the sense to just book a hotel. If you get a recommendation here, try to find the location in ref. to a street with taxis so your journey is short.
I must tell you an odd thing to look for. You know that part of Yunnan is 85% Tibet and that is because is WAS Tibet until a series of hard fought battles won it for the Han. If you look off in the near distance in the main Square behind a statue, there is a cemetery which holds some of the huge number of Han soldier bodies the Chinese sacrificed to capture this land. Why did it happen? The Tibet forces had Enfield rifles which were far better than the ones used by the Han, and as usual, young men paid the price. You will see nothing in travel journals about the cemetery, but it does show up real nice on Google maps.

2

Having been both before and after the reconstruction of the old town, its just a disappointment now. Even the monastery out of town has become a Chinese tourist attraction. The public bus to the monastery wont take you any further than a custom built visitors center aimed at Chinese and they charge something like 80Y to go up in shuttle buses. We were going to walk up but as we walked past a guard on the roadside and he waved his gun at us we got the message. Only my son (who had been before) and his 2 uncles went up. I guess if you havent been before then you wouldnt really know that things had been very different before the Chinese stepped in. They're never one to give up a money making opportunity.

3

Songtsam hotel by Songzan Lin Temple, Nanka and Shengdi Renjia hotel in Shangri-La Old town, the Olive Branch Inn(old name is Nuoya Kafei guesthouse).hope this helpful for you

4

If you want to stay in a Tibetan village near Shangri-la, welcome to The Old Farmhouse in Hara village.

5

#1 Zhongdian is less than 50 % Tibetan and Weixi, for example, is majotity Lisu area. Kham was never really under Lhasa controll. Warlord country.

6

Hello,
I was in Zhongdian in 2009. I stayed at a hostel called the Barley Guest House in Old Town for a week.
I found it a great experience just being in Zhongdian. I loved the Tibetans, and they are used to westerners.
There are interesting people there. Ask at the Barley House and they will send you to a studio where you can here some great Tibetan music. I took the trip by bus through the mountains from Zhongdian to Chengdu, stopping at Yitang nature reserve to see the 4 sacred mountains. It was difficult, but wonderful.
Chengdu is an interesting city, one of my favourites, and has LeShan and EmeiShan nearby.
God Bless you and your family on your great adventure.