foreword
I have seen the starry sky and sea of ​​clouds in Nalati
I have seen the bleakness and loneliness of late autumn
I have also seen the emerald green and warmth of midsummer
But it was the first time I saw the Huoshaoyun in early autumn
Pink-purple-yellow clouds cover half the sky
This place with the sun can always list some beautiful and amazing time to travel years

The third time I visited Nalati, but I did not skip the two seasons of summer and autumn. The first time we saw each other at the end of June in midsummer, the car drove to the border of Nalati at two o'clock in the morning, and the freshly remembered Milky Way was still hanging clearly in the cold and windy night! The emerald green of the eyes and the echo of the snow-capped mountains and clouds are also my initial impression of the Nalati scenic spot.

The second time was in the late autumn of last year. The midsummer was over, and the gorgeous autumn festival only hit a small tail. The grand sea of ​​clouds became the biggest harvest of the itinerary. The heavy snow that fell the night before we left almost trapped us in Xinjiang... These beautiful and interesting memories can always prompt me to start the next trip, so that I can feel the different scenery...

And this time I seem to have gotten to know Nalati again. The folk cultural experience activities such as baking naan, making cheese, and riding a horse to grass on the hillside also let me get to know this colorful and richer grassland a step closer.

It is said that when Genghis Khan marched westward, a Mongolian army marched from the depths of the Tianshan Mountains to Ili. It was spring, but the mountains were full of snow and hunger. The army was exhausted by hunger and cold. The vast grassland, densely covered with springs and gurgling water, seems to have entered another world. When the soldiers were in a state of relaxation and joy, the clouds opened and the sun rose, and the sun was shining brightly. People couldn't help shouting: "Narat, Narat... ", Mongolian translated as "the place where the sun was first seen", and later transliterated as "Nalati", a visual place name was born in this way, and has been handed down to this day.

The Nalati Grassland is located in the Ili River Valley in the hinterland of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. It is one of the most famous grasslands in Xinjiang. In October 2005, it was rated as one of the six most beautiful grasslands in the country by China National Geography magazine. It is surrounded by rolling mountains on three sides. The area is inclined, with dense mountain springs and criss-cross streams. This is a fertile and rich land and a vast grassland. Nature has endowed it with unique original natural features. River valleys, mountain peaks, deep gorges, and forests complement each other. It is an excellent holy place for grassland sightseeing and photography.

The Nalati Grassland has a profound historical and cultural accumulation, and its culture can be traced back to more than 3,000 years ago. It has successively experienced the cultural periods of the Cypriots, Wusuns, Huns, Turks and Mongolians. In this "place to see the sun first" (Nalati in Mongolian) named by Chagatai, the second prince of Genghis Khan, during his expedition to the west, there lived the sons and daughters of the Tianshan Mountains who are famous for their hospitality, singing and dancing -- -The Kazakh nationality still retains strong and simple folk customs and rich grassland culture.

The planned total area of ​​Nalati Scenic Area is 960 square kilometers, with an average altitude of 1,800 meters, a summer rainfall of about 880 millimeters, and an average summer temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius. The scenery of the frontier fortress shows the world a landscape corridor like a three-dimensional picture scroll in the depths of the Tianshan Mountains.

Scenery
air prairie
Speaking of Nalati, the grassland in the sky, I was deeply impressed. The first time I knew this land was their peak season. The aquatic plants grow just right in June and July, and the season with the most tourists is also the season with the most green grass. The holy snow-capped mountain has planted seeds in my heart that will definitely come again, and I will definitely arrive.

This place, known as the "air grassland", has an inseparable relationship with its altitude. The average altitude of the Nalati Grassland is 2200 meters, the highest in the Ili Valley, so it is a well-deserved aerial grassland.

The days in Nalati are very slow, the morning comes early, the night is attached to the flowers and plants in the mountains, and it is reluctant to leave. Many times it seems to be still here, but the light and shadow move and the scenery is constantly changing every day.

The shuttle bus went from the mountain road to the grassland and then to the reception point of the nomads, and then continued to go to Tianchengtai and Snow Lotus Valley, which can only be reached by sightseeing cars, and went all the way to the foot of Tianshan Mountain! The wind in early autumn carries the coolness, and the snowy spruces in the mountains become dense. The spruces echo each other and become another kind of magnificence today. Compared with nature, people are always small.

The car was driving in the middle of the vast grassland. The cattle and sheep on the side of the road were slowly nibbling on the grass that was about to turn yellow. Changing light, scattered livestock, shepherds on horses, swaying unknown wild flowers, this is the grassland in my heart, and also the Nalati in front of me...


River Valley Grassland

The river valley grassland route is also an important route to visit Nalati. This route can not only experience the beautiful prairie but also experience the folk culture. The grass is green in summer and colorful in autumn. Outside the window is the winding Kunes River. The lush bushes on both sides of the river are called secondary forests, with seabuckthorn as the majority and low bushes of wild black currant. From the perspective of aerial photography, the trees and the river echo each other into an oil painting scroll in autumn.

Those poplars with vigorous trunks are close relatives of Populus euphratica in southern Xinjiang, and belong to the family Salicaceae. In the early autumn, the leaves gradually turn yellow, and when autumn completely enters, they will become golden and translucent, dazzling and dazzling, becoming the most dazzling color in autumn.

The difference between Populus dense leaf and Populus euphratica lies in the difference in growth environment. Populus euphratica mainly lives in southern Xinjiang, where there is very little precipitation and the climate is dry. The long and narrow leaves are also called Populus euphratica. Populus euphratica mainly lives in northern Xinjiang, with abundant rainfall and a superior growth environment. Compared with Populus euphratica in southern Xinjiang, its tree body and leaves are larger.

Tausani
One mountain and four sceneries are different. Tawusani means "beautiful valley" in Kazakh. Here you can have a panoramic view of the four main elements of the Ili River Valley. Snow-capped peaks, dense forests, green hills and flat meadows are perfectly integrated. Different, meadows and jungles complement each other.

Tawusani belongs to a typical alpine valley grassland, where the scenery is prominent, with both the vast grassland and the gentle beauty of the Gongnais River; it has both the momentum of the pine forest and the beauty of the traditional yurt. When I walked here again, I realized that the Nalati scenic spot is also constantly improving. There are concerts on the grassland. The interweaving and fusion of wonderful music and nature has a refreshing feeling.

The local clothing experience and the internet celebrity photoshoot area are all newly added items this year. In fact, there are places to take pictures everywhere in this world. I heard that in July every year, there are hundreds of acres of rapeseed flowers around the tourists. The alpine meadow in the distance is a perfect scene in the imagination...

Later, I discovered such a large area during aerial photography. I have never been clear about what left such beautiful lines. Maybe it was the harvested rapeseed, or maybe it was the traces left after weeding, or maybe... who knows, Who cares, beauty is always there and hidden behind the next thought!


Wusun Monuments

The Nalati Grassland is the throat fortress of the famous Northern Silk Road-Tianshan Road. For thousands of years, countless tragic and mournful historical stories have been staged in this vast land. Rouran, Xiongnu, Turkic, Uyghur, Mongolian, Wusun and other ethnic groups compete, fight, fight, gallop, migrate, settle, and trade with each other, and they have jointly interpreted the legend of Xinjiang for thousands of years. According to historical research, the Wusun clan lived the longest on the Nalati Grassland, and they lived in the Ili River Valley for 500 years.

After more than 2,000 years of historical changes, all we can see now are the Wusun monuments left by them. The third time I came to Wusun historic site, except for the stones engraved with big characters on the side of the road, the scenery is different every time. This time, I simply added a photography base. Many plots of one of my favorite tricky works "Jiang Ye" are in the The scene was shot here! The trunks of poplar trees lined up seem to add a lot of vigorous charm to autumn.

In the distance, a small hill protruding from the flat ground stands in front of the hillside. Behind the stele is a representative ancient tomb in Wusun historical sites. This ancient tomb is 46 meters in diameter and 6.5 meters high. It is a mound-like ancient tomb. The size of the Wusun ancient tomb determines the identity of the tomb owner, that is to say, the larger the tomb, the more noble the tomb owner's identity. The stones lining the ancient tomb represent the military exploits of the owner of the tomb during his lifetime. The more prominent the military exploits, the more stones there will be.

Today, because of the abundant water and grass and the outstanding scenery, it has become a good place for tourists to take photos. The grass that has not been harvested is nearly half the height of a person. Go in and take a few portraits to add some traces to this trip!

The "Yitigensai" folk custom interactive experience area is a new experience item in the river valley route, and it is also one of the feelings of getting to know Nalati again this time. The Nalati Grassland has been awarded by the Shanghai World Guinness Headquarters as "the grassland with the most population in Kazakhs" and "the grassland with the most yurts in Kazakhs". It can be said that the Nalati Grassland is a window and platform to display Kazakh culture. Here you can not only Learn about the folk culture of the Kazakhs, and experience and participate in the traditional Kazakh way of life.

There are 4 traditional Kazakh yurts in the core area of ​​the Yitigensai Folklore Interactive Experience Area, which demonstrates the rich and colorful nomadic life of the Kazakh people and conveys the ancient life wisdom of the unity of man and nature on the grassland. Experience baking naan here has become the most fun thing in the afternoon, from the dough to the bread, in the shape, and finally "pasted" into the naan pit...

The crispy and tender naans are baked in the laughter. Needless to say, the taste is so delicious that I can’t forget it. The ten yuan a baked naan is still very good here!

You can also walk into the dairy workshop and work with hardworking Kazakh girls to make butter, ghee, yogurt, milk lumps, mare's milk and other natural dairy products. The life of the Kazakh people is also closer, and I also understand the exquisiteness of daily life in the yurt, and feel the wisdom of the life of the Kazakh people.

Walk into the handicraft workshop, learn traditional crafts such as leather goods, tapestry or embroidery from skilled craftsmen, and try to DIY a prairie gift for yourself or your relatives and friends. You can also enter the singing and dancing tent, enjoy the Kazakh interactive singing and dancing show for a fee, and taste Kazakh specialties at the same time, and deeply experience the warm hospitality of the Kazakh people. Of course, you can also visit the nomadic market in the old wooden house to learn about a variety of high-quality grassland native products.

Walking out of the Kazakh yurt with strong folk customs, outside is a field of Gesang flowers blooming vigorously, opposite is an open grassland, there is a heart-to-heart lake on the grassland, and I happened to meet the most beautiful Huoshaoyun in the whole journey while waiting for dinner leisurely. A pink-purple sky fills the shot.

Just in the hands of the drone that is about to take off, this perfect moment was photographed. The warm earth and the pink sky merged into the most beautiful sunset in autumn. After a sunset, the roasted whole lamb in the pit was also out of the pan. I took a bite of the tender and crispy leg of lamb before it was served on the table. The meat that I ate at the best time and with the best taste It is the most memorable delicacy.

Go west through Lianxin Lake where the sky, clouds and shadows linger, and you will arrive at the "Wusun Tribe" surrounded by vegetation. There are 10 strangely shaped "yurts" here, which were originally temporary sets left by the crew of the ancient fantasy drama "Jiangye 2". Later, the residents cast a little magic on them. The appearance has not changed, but the inside has become livable. The small wooden house has now become an online celebrity tavern + homestay. You can wear ancient costumes and take pictures here, and enjoy the drama; you can experience the heroism of the rivers and lakes in the tavern, listen to wandering singers playing and singing, and get drunk with your confidantes; you can also choose a wooden house to stay overnight, reading clouds and admiring the moon , in a daze, looking at the stars...

Panlong Ancient Road
Nalati Grassland Scenic Area is a large-scale grassland scenic spot composed of three scenic spots with different characteristics: river valley grassland, alpine grassland and Panlong Valley. Along the Gongnaisi River, meandering through the beautiful river valley and grassland scenery in Pingyuan, you enter Panlong Valley. Panlong Valley Scenic Spot is located in the middle of the Nalati River Valley Grassland and the Sky Grassland, and is located in the core of the Nalati Scenic Area.

For a long time, due to the lack of necessary access roads and corresponding facilities, Panlong Valley has always been isolated from the outside world. In September 2014, after two years of survey, planning and design, the Panlong Valley tour line was officially opened to traffic. The famous Panlong Valley Scenic Spot was launched with a stunning golden autumn visual feast of "Colorful Panlong Valley, Drunk Nalati in Autumn", and has become a boutique hotline for the national 5A-level scenic spot Nalati Grassland Tourism.

Here there are many mountains, valleys and dense forests. The road winds and loops in the Panlong Scenic Area, and passes through the south slope of Nalati in the meantime, connecting with the Volta Jiaota Scenic Road and the forest farm pasture road. On this Panlong ancient road, many essences of Nalati scenic spots and the best sightseeing viewpoints are concentrated. Whether people take a sightseeing bus in the scenic spot, or travel by private car, or even walk through with backpacks and sticks, they can change the scenery step by step, and enjoy the most beautiful mountains, clouds, seas, deep valleys and deep valleys in Nalati; the most beautiful snow Ridge spruce forest and colorful miscellaneous forest; the most beautiful Kazakh winter home and mountain pastoral.

At present, the sightseeing tour of the Panlong Ancient Road takes about an hour. The sights are not only the beautiful Jinshan Embroidery Valley in the scenic spot, but also the famous mountains and rivers in the entire Nalati Grassland. Due to the ups and downs of the road, the car turns around with the scenery, and the nearby mountains and distant mountains also change their angles and orientations from time to time, presenting different postures and faces in the aesthetic vision of tourists.

The beauty of the jungle in Panlong Valley is the most beautiful in Xueling Spruce. Nalati is the most luxuriant area of ​​Xueling spruce, and the sea of ​​snow fir forest is a great spectacle of Nalati scenic spot. Cedar fir likes to grow in shady gully areas, tall and dense cedar forests, because of its deep and rich blue color, it has also won a fairy-tale poetic name: Black Forest.

The snow fir forest ditch surrounded by overlapping mountains on both sides of the Panlong Ancient Road can be called the most shocking picture of the jungle landscape along the way. A tall and vigorous spruce is like a sea god needle, a long sword leaning against the sky with a handle, inserted between the wind and waves, absorbing the spiritual essence of the mountains and rivers, turning into clouds and raining thousands of times Youlong, snuggling, guarding, nourishing, and beautifying the beautiful peaks of Panlong Valley.

The Jiaolong Sea Observation Deck is a mountaintop slope in Panlong Valley, and it is also the highest point reached by the Panlong Huanshan Road. Cheerful feeling. Overlooking from the sky, the mountains and peaks surrounding the Nalati grass in all directions are here to form a dragon formation. The Nalati Mountain covered with fir forests is the green dragon, the snow-covered Tianshan Mountain is the white dragon, and the low mountain beams under the shadow of the sun They are black dragons, and the east and west mountain ranges bathed in the morning light and sunset glow instantly turn into countless golden dragons.

Panlong Valley is like a green canvas with snowy spruce as the eternal background. The ingenuity of nature has painted it with different, incomparable and competitive four-season forest scenery. The Panlong Ancient Road in autumn is a landscape oil painting with strange lights and colorful carvings. The green valleys and flowing clouds, the green mountains are covered with alchemy, the clothes are brocade and embroidered, and the forests are all dyed. Every plant, every tree, every flower and every leaf are full of vitality of natural life. It makes people suspect that the creator accidentally knocked over the paint plate, and poured thousands of colors mixed with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue and purple into the Panlong Valley. .

Wo Niu Gang
The terrain on the post is condescending and has a wide field of vision. Here you can not only overlook the mountains in the distance and the jungles around, but also overlook the valley below the post, and watch the looming Kazakh Dongwozi in the valley jungle and leisurely grazing on the sloping pastures. of cattle and sheep.

The valley under Woniugang is the most classic among the countless valleys in Panlong Scenic Area. It integrates the comprehensive landforms of valleys, slopes, forests and streams, with deep valleys and dense forests, gentle slopes and deep streams, and the scenery in four seasons is amazingly beautiful. At present, it has become a tourist resort under planning and construction. At that time, there will be an ecological wooden plank road from the top of the post to the people in the valley below the post. The wooden plank road passes through Taniguchi Dongwozi, walks downstream along the winding forest stream, and then reaches another house. On the basis of retaining the living pattern and living culture of the aborigines in the valley, the construction of the reservation will comprehensively create a resort that perfectly combines grassland folk customs and modern leisure tourism concepts.

The world is so big, I want to see it, there are so many beauties, and I can never see them all. So travel can only be a multiple-choice question forever. Not long ago, I saw on the Internet that a friend who traveled to Nalati expressed his experience after returning home. He said: "Such a natural scenic area composed of grasslands, forests, river valleys, and mountains, you are in it. In the arms, you can see the spring and ice and snow at a glance, and you can walk into spring, summer, autumn and winter in a day."

No matter which season people choose to come to the Nalati Grassland or Panlong Valley, what they will harvest will be its four seasons—"You can see the spring, ice and snow at a glance, and you can walk into spring, summer, autumn and winter in a day."

sense of experience

riding

In addition to the folk experience added in the river valley and grassland route, I also want to talk about the newly developed "4+2" project of Panlong Ancient Road this year. This is also one of the experiences worth experiencing. "4+2" refers to four wheels plus two Cycling life with wheels, that is, the combination of sightseeing cars and bicycles, the project is located in the west section of Panlong Valley Road with beautiful scenery and gentle roads, which is suitable for cycling.

For the 180 yuan experience project, one car plus 4 mountain bikes, four people take a sightseeing car to the starting point of the ride, then wear helmets and riding gloves, and ride a relatively gentle mountain road for 9 kilometers. This kind of close-to-nature experience may not be possible. Compared with real riders, it is also an indispensable flavoring agent in life, feel the wind blowing on the cheeks, feel the sun kissing the skin, feel the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, and feel the chic and free travel...

Nalati International Racecourse

There is a standardized international track in the Nalati International Racecourse, which is also part of my understanding. There are photos of famous horses, such as bloody BMWs, British thoroughbreds and other rare horse breeds, but these are paid experiences. Of course, you can also watch small horse racing performances, equestrian performances, folk performances, song and dance performances and other programs for free.


Among the existing famous horses in the racecourse, the most legendary one is the bloody BMW. The sweat horse is known as the prince of the desert. This kind of horse has a slender body, heat-resistant fur, slender limbs, and outstanding endurance. It only needs to drink water once a day when trekking in a desert environment with a high temperature of 50 degrees. The one with the most camera sense is the American Pinto. The fur of this kind of horse is very special, and the fur of each pinto horse can present a different sense of color, which is exactly its charming charm. In the short-distance race, the British thoroughbred horse must have the most advantage, and its racing speed has always been the highest in the world; the Shetland pony, which is the world-famous pony breed, is the most popular among children. The shoulder height is only 70-85cm, but the endurance is also outstanding.

The most proud thing for the people of Ili is the Ili horse. It has a solid and compact body, a well-proportioned structure, a handsome appearance, and both strength and speed. It can adapt to the natural environmental conditions of high altitude, severe cold climate, and grazing all year round, and has strong disease resistance. The excellent characteristics of Kazakh horses are retained, and the coat colors are mainly black, chestnut, black and green. Yili horses are excellent in riding and pulling. In participating in various national horse races, Yili horses have won championships many times with their extraordinary speed and endurance, and enjoy a high reputation at home and abroad.

Horses are closely related to the life of the Kazakh people, especially during festive festivals, the Kazakh people will definitely carry out some interesting horse activities. Exciting equestrian performances are a must-see for everyone. Many wonderful performances, such as hiding in the stirrups, hanging on one leg, standing on horseback, picking up silver in the grassland, and multiple horses, will definitely make you cheer for the racers .

horse riding
It is often said that if you don’t go to Xinjiang, you don’t know how big China is, and if you don’t go to Yili, you don’t know the beauty of Xinjiang. In the Nalati Grassland, we can not only appreciate the grassland scenery, but also see the dense forest. Nalati National Forest Park has a total area of ​​100,000 mu. The tree species in the park are mainly the national super-protected plant, Picea spp., which grows slowly and can only grow one to two centimeters per year. The snowy spruce forests we see now are all between 300 and 400 years old.

At present, Forest Park is the tourist area with the highest content of negative oxygen ions in the Nalati Scenic Area, and it is a functional area in the Nalati Scenic Area focusing on ecological health preservation and forest bathing health preservation. It not only provides various services such as ticket purchase, inquiry, travel shopping, leasing, rafting, leisure, and light meals for tourists and friends, but you can also hike to Tianying Terrace for forest bathing and lung washing exercises.

The horse riding project is also experienced here, 80 yuan an hour is considered cheap, and the feeling is different from other places. Most of the time we go uphill or downhill, and sometimes we cross creeks and rivers. Of course, there are also some Feel the thrill of galloping on a few flat roads. There is usually a staff member who rides a horse here. It may be a long journey for safety reasons. I am with a shy little brother. He picked sea buckthorn fruit for me halfway through the horse ride and gave me a taste. Talk about their own life stories...

drifting

Of course, if you like water sports, you can also go to the rafting area to experience the thrills and excitement in the water in the Kunes River Basin, and experience these wonderful times from the perspective of the water surface, because it is rafting. The silly child in pajamas who ran out of the house did not bring a camera and simply used his mobile phone to leave such a smiling face. In fact, the beautiful scenery in the travel is more of a feeling, a breathing that blends into nature...


Campfire
Whenever night falls, King Wusun will bring his prince, Princess Jieyou and ministers of Wusun Kingdom to attend the grand bonfire party. The building on which the Tianguo is supported by three large stone pillars is the Swan Spring, also known as the "Fountain of Life". The three stone pillars represent the three major tribes of the Kazakhs, the Big Yuzi, the Middle Yuzi and the Little Yuzi. In front, there are also buildings that symbolize Wusun culture, such as the sacrificial platform and the law platform.

In the circular Sun Square, you can see two majestic grassland stone men. On the left is a man with a thick beard, holding a wine glass in one hand and a saber in the other, symbolizing the bravery and boldness of Kazakh men. On the right is a lady holding a spinning cone, which symbolizes the diligence and kindness of Kazakh women. On special days, a grand wedding ceremony for Princess Jieyou will be held here. Dancing to the rhythm of the performance, being silent, feeling the passion and boldness under the night sky...

Riding on the mountain and grazing is the project we experienced on the last day. We followed the horse team and set off in a mighty and melodious manner. The difference from the previous day’s horse riding is that today’s journey is closer to life. Sometimes the steep hillside road will worry you from the horse What is the best way to roll down the mountain... So the camera was lying quietly in the backpack throughout the whole process. I just felt the ups and downs along the way and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the hillside.

The sun shone hotly on the brim of the hat and penetrated into the skin. It took 40 to 50 minutes to pass through the destination on the local hillside. It seemed simple to watch them waving their arms. Not only physical work but also technical work. The places that the machine can't reach are all cleaned by them with a scythe, and even the leftover grass stubble is so neat that we admire it.

From today on, feed horses, chop firewood, travel around the world... Maybe this romantic and beautiful poem can only be realized in photos...

It turns out that the beauty of Nalati is not only the scenery, but also the humanities of the Kazakh people here. The beautiful scenery again and again has also been sublimated in this experience close to life. The meaning of travel is far more than just travel!