Shangri-LA — Eleanor Cooney

In the remote unexplored highlands of Tibet there is a secret place called Shangri-La. Shadowed by mountain peaks and untouched by time, Shangri-La is a hidden utopia, open only to the most worthy of humankind. The curious and the bold all come searching for paradise, but only a few find it.
Shangri-La is the chilling story of one such seeker. It is spring, 1966, and the atrocities of the Chinese Cultural Revolution have reached Tibet. General Zhang, of the invading People's Liberation Army, is a fortune hunter with plunder on his mind. Nothing is safe from him, especially Tibet's sacred treasures. His path of destruction and desecration leads him ever closer to the very heart of Tibet: Shangri-La.
Only one person can stop General Zhang: Hugh Conway, guardian of Shangri-La. As Zhang slowly decodes the riddles that shroud this earthly paradise, Conway must find a way to halt the general's determined progress, even if it means leaving his protected valley and sacrificing himself. Conway's unlikely ally is Zhang's daughter, a young officer in the Chinese army, who must choose between loyalty and love.