The first meeting with Chang
This meeting is depicted in many vivid details and many of them are so vivid and uncommon that it becomes even a kind of surprise for the reader that it may be so. Taking into account that the four people occurred in the completely wild territory, they seem to meet no less wild people there. But Chang and his accompanying are polite and decorous, Chang fluently speaks aristocratic English, he follows all Europeans traditions of conversation and behavior. All this makes the reader understand that the land, where Chang lives, is not less civilized that he himself.
The valley of Shangri-La
The nature of this land is being described very often during the story. When Conway first saw it “It was, indeed, a strange and half-incredible sight. A group of colored pavilions clung to the mountainside with none of the grim deliberation of a Rhineland castle, but rather with the chance delicacy of flower petals impaled upon a crag. It was superb and exquisite…” Most vividly the author depicts Karakal, “the blue moon” mountain, “…dazzling pyramid with the soared snow slopes. Even air had “a dream-like texture” there. All these descriptions and opposing nature to the people’s lives makes the picture of the events brighter and helps the reader to perceive them more deeply.
Conway’s meeting with The High Lama
This meeting is described so artistically that the reader seems to occur in that atmosphere of magic and mystique, which embraced Conway when he came to the High Lama: “…Conway was curious about his own intense perception of all this, and wondered if it were dependable or merely his reaction to the rich, crepuscular warmth; he felt dizzy under the gaze of those ancient eyes, took a few forward paces, and then halted. The occupant of the chair grew now less vague in outline, but scarcely more corporeal…” Thus the author shows the unreality of everything that surrounds the heroes, some kind of fabulousness.
Tea ceremony
Hilton describes the ceremony of tea drinking, tea itself in very small details: “Conway lifted the bowl to his lips and tasted. The savor was slender, elusive, and recondite, a ghostly bouquet that haunted rather than lived on the tongue. He said: "It is very delightful, and also quite new to me."
"Yes, like a great many of our valley herbs, it is both unique and precious. It should be tasted, of course, very slowly - not only in reverence and affection, but to extract the fullest degree of pleasure.” These descriptions show how important this tradition is for these people. Tea is actually their symbol, which is so valuable for them, that they learn to feel each tiny flavor of its taste, each tradition connected with it, whole its history and peculiarity.
