My journey begins in Qinghai and ends in Qinghai. A Qinghai travel note many years ago made many people know me, as well as the story between me and Uncle Su in Qinghai. I have traveled with him several times over the years to Qinghai Lake, Chaka Salt Lake, and Qilian Mountains. Qinghai is almost half my hometown for me. This summer, the Qaidam Basin in Qinghai suddenly became popular, and half of the photographers in the circle of friends went there. How could I miss it as a "first sister in the Northwest"? Haha, I contacted my old friend Uncle Su in Qinghai again and called him Girlfriend, let’s take a trip to the Qaidam Basin as soon as we say it.
The reason why this route became popular is that there are several dreamy salt lakes, the magical Yadan landform Oboliang, and there are large places everywhere. Basically, this route has not been developed much, and they basically live in small towns. Although the environment is poor, it is very suitable for going out at night to shoot the summer Milky Way. At the same time, the comet neowise passed near the earth, so you must not miss the night when the comet comes.
Qinghai is really hot this summer, and July is the golden tourist season again. Emerald Lake Dongtai Jinel Lake looks like a popular scenic spot, which makes it impossible for the small towns and towns along the road to receive them. The accommodation environment can only be said to be good. Average. But in fact, the scenery and landforms along the way are not seasonal, unlike the green grass and yellow leaves, you have to make time, so you can avoid the peak season, and it’s okay to go in September and October .
The Qaidam Basin is one of the four major basins in China and the highest basin. Qaidam is not only a world of salt (there are many salt lakes and swamps in the southeast), but also rich in oil, coal, and various metal deposits, such as oil in Lenghu, coal in Yuka, lead-zinc mine in Xiteshan, etc. All are famous. Therefore, the Qaidam Basin has the reputation of "cornucopia".
Then come with me~
Aerial photo of the Qinghai team, this is my Uncle Su, a super veteran travel driver in Qinghai, with first-class driving skills, can tell jokes and stories all the way, and knows all kinds of unknown shooting spots.
Dachaidan Emerald Lake, which is very hot this year, the deep and light colors are like a fairyland
Russian Boliang Yadan landform, let the Buddha walk into the surface of Mars
Yadan under the Milky Way looks up at the stars like a child
Neowise across the sky, the next time we meet is 7000 years later
Mangya Emerald Lake, the broken beauty is the best match with the red dress
Yardang on the water, the beauty of fantasy landforms
Red Cliff No Man's Land, the free experience of galloping on the river bed
Dongtai Lake Jinel, Tiffany's blueprint~
This is our itinerary this time. The whole itinerary is still very long, and we spend a lot of time in the car. Overall, it is quite fortunate.
D0 Xining Gather for one night Xining
D1 Xining One Rubber Mountain One Chaka Salt Lake One Night Chaka
D2 Tea Card—Dachaidan, Emerald Lake, Dachaidan
D3 Dachaidan, a cold lake, a Russian Boliang Yadan Devil City, a starry sky shooting, a night, a cold lake
D4 Cold Lake One Mangya Emerald Lake One Night Mangya
D5 Mangya, one West Taijinel Lake—East Taiwan, one night at Jinel Lake, Haixi
D6 Wusu Te Water Yardang-U-shaped Internet celebrity highway-Hongya landform no-man's land-Golmud
D7 Golmud-Xining
Photographic equipment:
Canon 5D4 16-35 50 1.4 70-200 Dajiang royal pro2
Skirt: Ideal Thirteen Travel Dress
I'm photographer Wei Yishan CC, if you like it, remember to follow me!
From Qinghai Lake to Qaidam
From Xining to the Qaidam Basin, you can choose to drive all the way to Dachaidan, or you can choose to spend the night in Chaka Salt Lake or Delingha halfway.
Starting from Xining, it didn’t take long to approach Qinghai Lake. Qinghai Lake has been here many times, so I didn’t stay too much, but the weather in Qinghai Lake changes, and it’s always new.
We wanted to go straight to Dachaidan, but we broke down near Qinghai Lake. The delay in the trailer made us unable to reach Dachaidan today, so we should live in Chaka Salt Lake first, and go to Dachaidan early tomorrow morning.
Late July is the most beautiful time in Qinghai Lake, and the rape blossoms are in full bloom. This year, there are more poppies and lavender. The weather on this day is particularly good. Qinghai Lake is also in the most beautiful state in the blue sky and white clouds. It is also very beautiful to sit in the car and watch it all the way.
Qinghai Lake is the only flower and green grass we saw on the road. After entering the Qaidam Basin, there are Gobi and salt lakes, which are completely different.
Due to the delay of a few hours due to a broken car, the last small train at Chaka Salt Lake entered the scenic spot. In the evening, the Chaka Salt Lake was windy, and the effect of the mirror was not obvious. After several years of development, Chaka Salt Lake It still makes people feel over-developed, and the next few salt lakes feel more beautiful than this most famous salt lake.
Starting from the Chaka Salt Lake, even entering the Qaidam Basin. In front of you is the desolate Gobi, and the road runs straight through the desert, which feels like a road leading to another planet.
Dachaidan Emerald Lake, beautiful to suffocate
The first stop of the trip to Qaidam was the Emerald Lake of Dachaidan. This place was strongly recommended by my uncle a few years ago, and I finally saw the true face this year.
Dachaidan Emerald Lake is composed of many lakes of different sizes, looking from the sky, it looks like pieces of emerald. Due to the different minerals contained in the salt pool, the lakes here are blue, green, and yellow, like gems falling into the world.
At present, Emerald Lake is still under development, and entry is free. Cars can drive along Yandui Road to the salt lake, which is relatively labor-saving, but if you want to take pictures of scenes with few people, you still need to go deep and find out. Better views.
Because the salt lake is white + blue-green, it is recommended that you wear clothes with conflicting colors. Red and yellow are good choices. White and blue will be very harmonious with the scene, but they are also easier to be swallowed.
If you want to take good-looking pictures of Emerald Lake, it is best to combine land shooting + aerial photography. It will look better standing beside a lake with a special shape. You can fly the drone into the sky first, find a suitable angle and position, and then walk over to take pictures.
The color of each small lake in Emerald Lake is different. Its color is related to the concentration of minerals contained in the lake. The colors displayed by different concentrations are different. In addition, in different time periods The color of Emerald Lake will vary, and it will also show its unique charm according to the changes of the sky and weather. This changing charm is really something special.
The exposed places of the salt lake will naturally form nearly hexagonal lines, which is very magical.
I saw a lot of heart-shaped small lakes in the natural itinerary when I was doing the guide before, but unfortunately they have been trampled, but I saw this heart-shaped lake piled up. Although it is a bit of a buyer's show, let's take a picture, after all There are snow mountains, it feels good.
Some precautions for playing in Salt Lake:
The reflectivity of the salt lake is very high, even on cloudy days, it will feel very dazzling, so sunglasses are a must.
Some salt ground near the water is very soft, so be careful not to sink into it when walking
The salt lake water is very corrosive, and the salt ground is also very rough. It is recommended not to walk barefoot. It is best to bring a pair of water shoes or flip-flops, which will make it easier
At present, the scenic spot is immature, so there are no trash cans yet, please remember not to litter.
Emerald Lake is very close to Dachaidan Town, so you can take pictures of the sunset and starry sky here and then go back. It's a pity that it was a cloudy day this time, so it's a pity that we didn't take pictures.
Galloping on Mars, the wild journey of Erboliang
Leaving Dachaidan, we drove to Lenghu, the goal is the most anticipated Erboliang in this trip.
Erboliang is a giant Yardang landform, where the strong wind blows out a strange wind-eroded soil forest landform in the vast Gobi. In the endless desert, there are castles with strange rocks, and being in them seems to have landed on Mars. It satisfies all my imagination of the wild Yadan landform, a place more like Mars than Jordan.
Erboliang has not yet been developed into a scenic spot (but it is under development). After leaving the highway, it takes more than an hour to drive on a dirt road. The so-called dirt road is actually just a road that was pushed out by a car, so it is very easy to get lost here. After arriving at Erboliang, there are also many steep dirt roads. It is best to go with a four-wheel drive. Only a familiar driver + four-wheel drive can drive freely here, so that you can truly feel the joy of "going wild". If you want to leave Erboliang, try to leave before dark.
We had lunch in Lenghu Town. After dinner, we headed towards Mangya. There is a big billboard of Erboliang on the S305 provincial road. Drive in from here and drive along the dirt road from Cheya for about an hour. This section The road is a washboard road, but I think that I will reach Erboliang in front of me, so bear with it for a while~
From a distance, Erboliang slowly appeared in front of our eyes, really like an ancient city, waiting for us for thousands of years.
When you come to Erboliang, you don’t need to wear brightly colored skirts. Black skirts look good!
As can be seen from this photo, the "main city" of Erboliang is a sharp mountain, surrounded by Yadan with gentle slopes, and the layers are very distinct in the sun.
Rush up the Erboliang and enter the strange world of strange rocks.
Standing on the beam of Erbo Liang, looking down is the Yardang community we just passed, spreading into the distance like waves.
Erbo Liang is really super photogenic, you can take good-looking photos on any small slope, and the weather on the day we came was very good, and the Erbo Liang in the sun showed the charm of light and shadow. As for the disadvantages, the scenic spot is very large and you can play for a whole day, but there are no facilities for eating or the like, so you must bring enough dry food and water!
The sunset in summer is really too late. In order to wait for the sunset, we first parked the car in the shade and started eating hot pot! For everyone who comes to Erboliang, at least one meal of self-heating hot pot must be eaten here, it is really a great invention hahaha. Of course, everyone must remember to take the trash away after eating~
After eating and drinking enough, continue to set off to see the Erbo Liang in the sunset. In the sunset, the shadows of the Yadans are elongated, and there are vast undulating landforms in the distance. It is very interesting to see these Yadans when flying the drone. Regularly slanting from one direction, as if growing along the wind, I really have to marvel at the uncanny craftsmanship of nature.
Enter portrait time below!
I changed into a denim + boots outfit, which matches this magnificent Yadan landform better than a skirt. In the backlight, the light and shadow are strong, which can better reflect the rough beauty of Erbo Liang.
You can go up to many Yadan slopes to take pictures. As long as you are brave enough, you can take different pictures. Of course, you still have to pay attention to safety.
In the evening, the light is better, but it is still very strong. You can shoot with the light or against the light, but you should be careful not to squint when taking pictures with the light.
It was finally approaching the sunset, and the entire Erboliang was dyed gold and orange, just like an ancient dynasty was illuminated.
I found a seat suitable for watching the sunset, just watch the sun slowly set here.
In fact, Erboliang is still a very suitable place for taking pictures of the starry sky. There is almost no light pollution, and the prospects are very rich. You can take pictures of the huge Erboliang. However, camping is necessary for taking pictures of the starry sky. We didn’t have any equipment or plan to go camping, so we hurriedly left Eboliang after sunset, after all, we would get lost after Tianhou.
At present, Erboliang has not really been developed into a scenic spot, but some scenic spot signs have been repaired. It is possible that next year or the next year it will be fenced off as a scenic spot, so everyone must go early.
At present, there is only one Mars camp in Erboliang that can live in people, but the price is very expensive.
Milky way and comet fly together
After leaving Erboliang, it didn’t take long for the sky to slowly darken. Today we played and lived in Lenghu Town. On the way back to Lenghu, there are also a few pieces of Yadan. There is no light pollution around, so we can just take pictures of the starry sky here.
I came to Qinghai in late July this time. I calculated that the perfect Milky Way can be photographed at the end of the lunar month. At this time, the comet neowise passed near the earth, and I could photograph two kinds of beautiful night skies at the same time. The most anticipated scene in the itinerary!
The Milky Way generally rises in the south and moves slowly depending on the season and time. Comet neowise is in the north, and we were just below the Big Dipper when we took the picture, so we took pictures of the side with less clouds first.
Sitting under the starry sky, with the long Milky Way on one side and the comet with its tail on the other, the next time humans will see it will be 7000 years later, I really lament the vastness and mystery of the universe.
About comet neowise
The full name Comet Xinzhi (English: NEOWISE; number C/2020 F3), was discovered by NASA on March 27, 2020, and the number is C/2020 F3, indicating that it was the first comet discovered in the second half of March 2020. Three comets. Visible to the naked eye in many places in July 2020, it is the brightest comet ever seen in the northern hemisphere since Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997.
For the northern hemisphere, the comet will remain visible to the human eye throughout July 2020. Before the first ten days of July, it can be observed at low elevation angles in the northeast within 1 to 2 hours before dawn. By mid-July, the comet moved to the northwest direction, and the suitable observation period was changed to within 1 to 2 hours after sunset. Beginning in late July, the brightness of the comet will decrease rapidly, and it will completely retreat to a brightness invisible to human eyes by late August at the latest.
It happened to be the end of July when we arrived, and we barely got stuck on the bright tail of neowise. It is basically invisible in the evening, but it is still very clear in the starry sky without light pollution after nightfall, which is very fascinating.
Take a closer look, you can see the Big Dipper on Neowise!
Below are some other photos of the starry sky~ The weather around 12:00 was fine, the Milky Way and comets were very clear, but clouds slowly drifted over, otherwise I could have taken pictures here all night.
Here are the tips for taking pictures of the Milky Way:
1. Camera
SLR body, preferably a full-frame body with good high-sensitivity performance, such as Canon 5D4; Nikon D800; Sony A72, etc.
2. The lens requires a wide-angle lens with a large aperture
Since we have to find a way to capture both the ground and the starry sky, we generally use the wide-angle end to shoot the starry sky. Fixed-focus lenses such as Canon 14mm 2.8, Zeiss 15mm 2.8, and zoom lenses such as Canon 16-35 2.8 and Nikon 14-24 2.8 are also very good choose.
3. Tripod
Shooting the starry sky requires long exposures, and a stable tripod is necessary.
4. Battery
Long exposures and constant viewing of the real-time viewfinder are very power-hungry, so be sure to prepare more than two batteries.
5. Flashlight and mobile phone
It is best to prepare a strong flashlight that can be dimmed to illuminate the foreground when shooting. If you don’t use a mobile phone flashlight, you can also
camera settings
1. Aperture: Use the maximum aperture of the lens, such as 16-35 2.8, use the aperture of 2.8
2. Shutter (exposure time): The exposure time of the starry sky or the Milky Way is usually set at 20-30 seconds.
3. Sensitivity (ISO): ISO usually needs to be set at ISO2500-3200.
4. M gear: set the camera shooting mode to M gear
5. Focus: Adjust the focus distance of the lens to infinity. The specific method is to switch to MF first, and then align the lens with the infinity symbol ∞ on the lens. Canon lenses have a "∟" symbol before the infinity symbol ∞, just align them.
6. The white balance of the camera: put the white balance in the fluorescent light mode
7. RAW format: Due to post-production needs, it is best to set the RAW format for shooting starry sky.
Other shooting tips
1. Select the foreground
After you find the Milky Way, you need to find a good foreground to shoot with it. The foreground can be a tree, car, tent or person. When shooting, you can use car lights or flashlights to illuminate the foreground, so that the front and back scenes are all in harmony. Rich.
2. Fill light for the characters
If you want to shoot a person, you can use the flashlight of your mobile phone during the exposure process, wrap it in a layer of tissue, and then quickly sweep the light at the person. In the first picture, I am holding an electric candle, which is also a good prop for lighting portraits.
Broken but beautiful Mangya Emerald Lake
On the fourth day of the trip, we went from Erboliang to Mangya, which is close to Xinjiang and is the western edge of the Qaidam Basin.
There are two Emerald Lakes in the Qaidam Basin, one is the Emerald Lake in Dachaidan, and the other is the more remote Mangya Emerald Lake. It is like a broken bronze mirror, reflecting the yellow Yadan on one side and the Kunlun Lake on the other. The snow-capped mountains are like a dream.
Mangya Emerald Lake is currently free, and the car can drive to the dirt road on the salt stem. There is a short section of difficult road, but after experiencing Erboliang, this short section of bad road is nothing at all.
The area of Mangya Emerald Lake is much larger than that of Dachaidan. Compared with the variety of colors of Dachaidan, Mangya Emerald Lake is more like deep and shallow pure green emeralds. Different lakes are of different sizes, and there are many salt fields that you can walk up to. Some places look a bit like the skin of cantaloupe from a distance hahaha.
Like Dachaidan, it is especially suitable for shooting with drones
I still recommend skirts in bright colors here, so I chose a red skirt with streamers, so you can see me at a glance when taking aerial photos!
In Mangya Emerald Lake, you can see the snow-capped mountains from a distance, which is very mysterious and beautiful.
After the sunny day in Erboliang yesterday, today is a cloudy day with strong winds, so I am really a warrior here in a suspender skirt!
Lying down and taking aerial photos of the salt lake is the best!
In addition to the Emerald Lake, there is another great view when you come to Mangya: Devil's Eye. Unfortunately, we were unlucky. Because of the rain on this day, the road to the Devil's Eye was cut off. We can only leave regrets. here again.
Leaving Mangya, we turned back east to see Dongtai Jinel and West Taijinel Lake.
Dongtaijinel Lake in Tiffany Blue
Dongtai Jinel Lake has blown up the circle of friends this summer. The pure Tiffany blue in Qinghai Gobi, the long trailing beach under the blue sea and blue sky are so dreamy, no wonder some people call Dongtai Jinel Lake the Maldives "Qinghai branch husband" ".
Dongtai Jinel Lake is about 1.5 kilometers away from National Highway 315. It is currently in an undeveloped state. It costs a few tens of dollars to drive in, and you can walk closer to the lake. There are also many people who park their cars directly on the side of the road and walk 1.5 kilometers, which is still very tiring.
After entering the scenic area, go straight to the right, and you can see a long white salt stalk, just like a trailing beach. Don’t doubt that you keep going to the right, the more you go, the fewer people will be there. Here you can take pictures of the real few people. Jingmei's Tiffany blue!
It is better to take pictures of the salt lake when the sun is stronger, so I recommend everyone to come at noon and afternoon. When we came, it was cloudy, and the blue color was not so obvious.
The white and blue-green Dongtai Jinel Lake still looks better in bright clothes for taking pictures. Because I wore red, red, yellow and yellow in the previous few salt lakes, this time I changed to a water-green skirt. It is still possible to take pictures on the ground. It feels a bit fairy, but once I fly the drone, I can't find me hahaha.
Highway 315 accompanied all the way
The section back from Mangya is exposed to National Highway 315, which can be regarded as the Internet celebrity highway this summer. National Highway 315 connects Qinghai and Xinjiang, passes through the Qaidam Basin, passes through the Qiangtang no-man's land, crosses Lop Nur and the Taklamakan Desert, and reaches Kashgar, Xinjiang, the most western city in China. This section of our walk is to see the vast Yadan landform and salt lake scenery.
Passing by the Xitaijinel Lake, also known as the "two-color lake", National Highway 315 passes through it. The lakes on both sides are of different colors, one side is blue and the other side is green. not bad.
After Xitai is a small town of Haixi, you can have lunch here. Water Yardang and Dongtai Lake Jinel are nearby, so you can play all at once.
In addition to the two famous scenic spots, the Yardang landforms on both sides of this road are also very beautiful, which is very suitable for shooting road blockbusters or desert blockbusters.
After leaving Jinel Lake in Dongtai, Yadan has a lot of ups and downs along the way. This year, there is a popular U-shaped road on the Internet. It is actually a big uphill and downhill in the Gobi. It looks like it is driving to the sky in the telephoto lens. However, after this section of the road was on fire, too many people stopped to take pictures, which seriously affected the traffic. Now there is traffic police control to prevent them from stopping to take pictures.
Unique Water Yardang
After entering the Qaidam Basin, the style of Yadan is everywhere. But Yadan on the water is a unique and peculiar landform in the world. The blue-green lake water and the golden Yadan desert set off each other, which makes people marvel at the uncanny craftsmanship of nature.
Water Yardang is the only scenic spot on our entire route that has complete facilities and charges tickets, but for the sake of the scenery, it is worth it.
It is 4 kilometers from the gate of the scenic spot to the end of the scenic spot, and there are quite a lot of stops in the middle, but we didn't get off until the end, because this is the tortuous intersection of water and Yadan, and there are more Yadans to climb up to take pictures.
When taking pictures, it is best to take pictures of the green water + Yadan behind, and aerial photography is also a good choice.
The scenic spot is very large, you can slowly explore and go to more places with strange landforms, there are also camels and desert motorcycles to play, in short, it is a place where you can play for a whole day.
Going to the depths of Yadan to explore, we saw that Yadan went deep into the water, forming a tortuous and complicated coastline. The nature is really amazing.
There are basically no places to sell things in the core scenic area of Yadan on the water, so you need to bring some dry food and water by yourself. There is a toilet after getting off the scenic spot car, remember to use the toilet before starting.
There is a caravan camp hotel and ordinary hotels in the scenic area, which are the hotels with the best environment in the vicinity, but the price is very expensive.
Wusute Water Yardang Geopark
?Ticket 50, shuttle bus 60
Go deep into the red cliff landform in no man's land
In addition to various well-known Internet celebrity attractions, this time Uncle Su also took us to his private collection of beautiful scenery: the red cliff landform in no man's land.
Leaving the national road, galloping on the red riverbed for an hour, the scenery beside it is varied, bringing us to a weathered saline-alkali red landform, where there is a big stone hanging on the top of the red rock, like a tooth, The locals call it Hongya, which actually means "red tooth".
Although it is not as tall and rugged as Yadan in Erboliang, the red rocks and layers of mountains also give people a strong visual impact. And here is the real no man's land, no signal, no tourists, just sit on the off-road vehicle, there is only beautiful scenery and freedom between the world and the earth.
Fly a drone to see it, and the photos of National Geographic magazine are right in front of you! The magnificent Northwest land is spread out like a scroll, and the layers of mountains form textures, which is amazing.
Drive forward and find a gentle slope to climb up the ridge. When you climb to a high place, you can see layers of red land with your eyes. It's so shocking!
Leaving Hongya, we will go to Golmud and return to Xining. This trip to Qaidam, Qinghai, is no longer a conventional route. There is almost no green vegetation cover in the whole trip. Salt Lake and Gobi let you experience nature of magical beauty.
Of course, this summer vacation route is really popular. Many hotels that usually cost more than 100 yuan have become sky-high prices of 800 or 900 yuan. As a result, the travel experience is not particularly good, but it is also very worthwhile for the beautiful scenery along the way!
I will take a photography tour group to take this route in mid-September, ladies and sisters who like to take pictures can go with me
