shangri-la

A place or land of complete bliss, delight, and peace, especially one seen as an escape from ordinary life; a paradise.

He spoke a kind of Chinese that I don't understand very well, but I think he said something about a lamasery near here—along the valley, I gathered—where we could get food and shelter. Shangri-La, he called it. La is Tibetan for mountain-pass. He was most emphatic that we should go there.

The length of the journey gives a measure of the anachronism, which as [César] Vallejo said in one of his stories made the hill town a Shangri-La, forgotten by the rest of Peru.

An opulent building or resort that provides entertainment or luxurious living.

Well-known architects of the day, like Willis Polk, Albert Farr and Julia Morgan, designed some of the early mansions. Gordon Blanding, millionaire patron of the arts, bought the island's southern tip and built a Shangri La for his San Francisco friends.

Former name of Camp David.

Alternative letter-case form of Shangri-La.

He couldn't believe it when he'd discovered there actually was a town called Bedford Falls. It seemed like fans of the film had all collected there to live out their lives in a self-created 1940s American Shangri-la.

Tiki Style was forged in the business of bars and restaurants and celebrated in backyard luaus and at theme parks like Disneyland and roadside attractions such as Tiki Gardens. As these ersatz Shangri-las competed to outdo each other with the latest tropical-inspired styles, the popularity of the neighborhood Tiki lounge soared.