Ventu/Lucker
The popularity and reputation of Yizhao Highway is generally said to be second only to the famous Duku Highway, and it is said to be the most beautiful highway in China in midsummer. There are still many beautiful words about Yizhao Highway on the Internet, so I won’t list them one by one, but just briefly express my experience after driving by myself:
1/ As far as the thrill of the road itself is concerned, for an old driver who has been driving the Sichuan-Tibet Line 318 for a long time, the Yizhao Highway is the little brother of the Sichuan-Tibet Line 318.
2/ As far as the scenic lore along the road is concerned, if the Sichuan-Tibet Line 318 is a sword to seal the throat, then the Yizhao Highway needs two swords, one of which is a magic remedy.
3/ If you are unfamiliar with Sichuan-Tibet Line 318 but familiar with the scenery of Yili on Duku Highway, let’s put it this way——
As far as the "road" itself and the landscape of the few kilometers around the road are concerned, I personally think that Yizhao is slightly better than Duku. In terms of the abundance and pleasingness of the scenery, the Yizhao Highway is only 100+ kilometers long, and it almost condenses 70% to 80% of the essence of famous scenery such as Nalati, Kalajun, Kurdening, and Baili Gallery in Yili Prefecture.
Therefore, to paraphrase a saying on the Internet: Yizhao Highway is not for walking, but for viewing. Especially in July in midsummer, Yizhao Highway is the most popular highway in China! If you are keen on self-driving, then just go, don't hesitate.
As someone who has just returned from self-driving on the Yizhao Highway, I would like to give the newcomers a little guide on self-driving on the Yizhao Highway, hoping to help——
The Yizhao Highway (S237), which exists like a god, is shorter than the famous Duku Highway because it is only open to traffic for about 3 months a year, and the restrictions on the vehicles allowed to pass are stricter (vehicles with more than 7 seats/7 seats are prohibited The following operating vehicles and various trucks pass), so it has become a dream haunting route for self-driving Xinjiang drivers across the country.
As early as May this year, I repeatedly asked my friends from the Xinjiang media circles about the opening time of the Yizhao Highway in 2019, but there was no official exact time. It was not until mid-June that "opening to traffic on June 20" became a basically unanimous statement. No official documentation has been seen. When our group of 13 people rented a car in Urumqi on June 17, considering the number of seats and luggage, we planned to rent two GL8s and one 5-seater SUV, but considering the vague prohibition on "7-seater cars" on Yizhao Highway, I didn’t dare to take the risk of renting GL8, so I rented 4 SUVs, and spent half a month renting a car, gas, and toll fees for an extra car, which was several thousand yuan, just for the sourness of self-driving Yizhao Highway!
For most of the day on June 20, we wandered around the Kazanqi Folklore Tourist Area in Yining. The Yizhao Highway is connected, only 115+ kilometers away, and it will not be too late to arrive in Zhaosu with all the fun, not to mention that Xinjiang is still bright at 10 o'clock in the evening; At worst, go back to Yining and wait!
Maybe it’s really an outburst of character—I once asked the traffic police at the intersection in the Kazanqi Folklore Tourist Area, “Is the Yizhao Highway open?” With the face of being asked “Is the Yizhao Highway open?”, we bite the bullet in the afternoon Depart from Yining after 3 o'clock. At this time, no matter what navigation software, Yining-Zhaosu, they are instructed to go to Zhaosu via G218 of Gongliu/Tex, but they have no choice but to directly navigate to Chabucharxian. When I arrived in Cha County, I asked the patrolling traffic police at the entrance of the S237 Provincial Highway. The Uighur policeman said very responsibly, "The notice is that it will open to traffic today, but last night there was a section of landslide in Angelet Daban. It is said that it has been initially cleared, but I don't know if it has been released. .Let me help you ask the brothers at the scene..."
"The road is cleared, but Daban is very foggy, so we won't be able to pass through it for the time being. Do you want to leave tomorrow?" The Uighur policeman said to us.
"We've come here, let's go and have a look." Following the guidance of the traffic police, we walked up to S237. When we arrived at an ordinary public security checkpoint, the police said that the road was blocked, but we went to a village in front of us, turned left and diverted to Gongliu... We continued on, and when we reached the intersection where the police said to turn left, we did not turn left and went straight ahead. When we arrived at the highway checkpoint, the policeman saluted us and said: You are very lucky! The Yizhao Highway has just opened at this time, and you are the fifth vehicle in the first batch ((the first four are official vehicles). It is 16:30 on the 20th.
Yizhao Highway, almost 10 kilometers from Yining urban area to Chaxian County, has been integrated into cities and towns. ——The starting point is a prairie of more than 10 kilometers, and the middle section transitions from a low mountain hilly meadow at an altitude of about 1,000 meters to a high and middle mountain meadow-shaped valley at an altitude of about 3,000 meters (that is, the legendary Zagstai Grand Canyon), until Baishi Peak is 3475 meters above sea level. The core thrilling section starts from Baishi Peak, crosses Anglet Daban at an altitude of 3177 meters, and arrives at the junction of Chabuchar and Zhaosu. The last section is a valley in Zhaosu territory, winding down to Zhaosu Basin.
In fact, if the Yizhao Highway is not counted from the end to the end, the 37 kilometers from the 46-kilometer road monument (Chaxian enters the high school mountain meadow-shaped valley) to the 83-kilometer road monument is Wusun Mountain, which is known as the "Encyclopedia of Geological Disasters". Natural danger, there are 100+ back and forth curves, heavy rain, snow showers, dense fog and other severe weather occur from time to time, which can easily cause natural disasters such as mudslides, landslides, road collapses, etc., and the hidden dangers of road traffic safety are prominent. Therefore, like the Duku Highway every year, the Yizhao Highway "can only be opened to traffic in June and closed in mid-to-late September", which refers to this section. Moreover, even if it is open to traffic, once it is found that there is bad weather, it will be immediately controlled. The 37 kilometers of natural barriers on the Yizhao Highway are all within the territory of Cha County.
The full name of Cha County is Chabuqal Xibo Autonomous County. This ethnic autonomous county is an "alternative" among the counties in Xinjiang - when Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty personally conquered the Junggar rebellion, Chabuchar was still a deserted wilderness. In the twenty-ninth year of Qianlong (AD 1764), Emperor Qianlong dispatched more than 4,000 Xibo soldiers and civilians from Liaoning to move westward to Ili, and stationed in Chabuchar to cultivate and guard the border. These Xibo people traveled nearly 10,000 kilometers through Outer Mongolia, Burqin, Bortala, Huiyuan and other places, and it took one year and five months to arrive at the garrison.
Founded in 1954, Chaxian County is the only autonomous county in China where the Xibe people are the main body and where many ethnic groups live together. It is located at the northern foot of Wusun Mountain, a branch of Tianshan Mountain, across the Ili River from Yining City, the capital of Ili Prefecture, and borders Kazakhstan to the west.
The 37-kilometer natural barrier of Yizhao Highway, except for the free Baishifeng Scenic Spot and Qiongbola Forest Park, is not a scenic spot along the way, but it is a scenic spot every step of the way, and as long as you park your car and rotate 360 degrees on the spot, every degree is It is a scenic spot, and the most terrible thing is that as time goes by, the light is constantly changing, and what you see every minute is a different wonderful light and shadow! Because of this, the Yizhao Highway is probably the only special road among all the roads in Xinjiang that has traffic police patrolling on motorcycles. Although the scenery along the way is beautiful, the Shangao Road has steep turns and sharp turns. In some sections, you have to beware of rolling stones and stop at will to watch Taking pictures, if a photographer with a fever stands on the side of the road and waits for the light, is that okay? Therefore, if you stop randomly on this section of the road, you will be bored for 3 points and 200 if you catch it!
On the way (Yining-Zhaosu direction) over the Angelet Daban at an altitude of 3177 meters, you must not stop. The stunning beauty of La Forest Park, as the vehicle changes shape and position, it is like a picture scroll, one after another, it is overwhelming.
Chumbola Forest Park, called "Landscape Gallery, Summer Resort", is known as "Mountain Garden". However, the current level of development is very low, and the reception capacity is still weak.
Self-driving Yizhao Highway, the most sour and refreshing part is the 37-kilometer natural danger section. During the self-driving, you will know why Chapchar is also called "the sunken pass" - self-driving over the natural danger of Wusun Mountain, I don't think there is anything particularly scary on the way, but when I look back at the turn of the road, I am really shocked in a cold sweat ! Look at the cliffs of this section of the road, look at the broken geological conditions of the mountain walls, if you encounter heavy rain, lightning or ice and snow, it will definitely be shocking every step of the way!
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why the local traffic control department should strictly guard against death-the announcement of the Traffic Police Brigade of the Chaxian County Public Security Bureau on June 20 clearly prohibits: Provincial Highway 237 (Yizhao Highway) 46KM-83KM is the section of the Baishifeng mountainous area. The road conditions of the road section are complex, with water and cliffs, and most of the curves. Heavy rain, snow showers, dense fog and other severe weather occur from time to time, which can easily cause natural disasters such as mudslides, landslides, and road collapses. The hidden dangers of road traffic safety are prominent. Therefore, the following vehicles are prohibited from passing on this road section: passenger vehicles with more than 7 seats (excluding 7 seats); commercial vehicles with more than 5 seats (including 5 seats); large trucks, semi-trailer tractors, full trailers, hazardous chemical transport vehicles and large Medium-sized construction machinery, agricultural tractors, etc. All vehicles are prohibited from 22:00 at night to 9:00 the next day.
Special reminder: From the announcement of the Chaxian Public Security Traffic Police Detachment, it can be seen that in 2019, GL8 and other similar 7-seater private cars are allowed to pass!
The thrill of the Yizhao Highway is at the junction of Chaxian County and Zhaosu, like an agitated melody that suddenly stops abruptly in the climax, leaving a series of melodious notes, echoing in the empty valley. The beams of light poured down by the sun tearing through the clouds are like super spotlights, hitting the undulating alpine meadows around, and shooting into clusters of snowy spruces. The Su camera is still an ordinary smart phone, as long as it can take pictures, each piece will be a big picture - nature has set up the lighting and landscape with affection, color matching, light and dark arrangement, contrast, space transparency and even color saturation, all have been set To the best, as long as you can press the shutter, it has nothing to do with photographic equipment, everyone is a master!
The 14 kilometers from the junction of the two counties to the Wusun Forest Park Visitor Center in Zhaosu County, all the way down the mountain to the Zhaosu Basin, probably because of the previous aesthetic fatigue, no one screamed on the walkie-talkie during this section, and everyone Full of doubts: The beauty of Zhaosu seems to be boasted too much on the Internet?
On the next day, the 70+km S237 Provincial Highway in Zhaosu County—Xiata continued, and the doubts in everyone's hearts were replaced by exclamations: Zhaosu, do you want to be so beautiful and unscrupulous!
This is a later story.
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Tips for those who drive on the Yizhao Highway:
1. The Wusun Mountain of Yizhao Highway has natural dangers and the climate is changeable. If there is heavy rain, this section is prone to geological disasters such as landslides, landslides and mudslides. Please observe carefully and be careful when driving, and do not park in suspicious areas! If the road section ahead suddenly collapses, you should stop immediately and back up to avoid it. If gravel falls on or beside the car, do not stop to check it. When the landslide is serious and cannot be eliminated in a short time, turn around in time, find a safe place to stop and wait, and do not pass by force.
2. When meeting cars on the Wusun Mountain natural danger section of Yizhao Highway, the right side is the mountain and you can go close to the right to give the other party a safer space. When the right side is a cliff, don’t go close to the right. Leave enough safe space on the right side of the vehicle. If the width of the road does not allow two vehicles to pass at the same time, and the other party is rude, you would rather stop and wait for the other party to go first.
3. When driving by yourself on the Wusunshan natural danger section of Yizhao Highway, pay special attention to the road surface on the side of the mountain, try to choose the middle of the road or the side of the mountain to pass carefully, and do not visit the deep stream under the cliff to avoid distraction and fear.
