This is the morning of the sixth day. We set off from Yardang Geopark and drove to Dongtai Jiner. As soon as we entered the scenic spot, we were really amazed. The wide, snow-like salt flats rushed towards us, and the lake surface in the distance was like a river. The light blue gauze, the salt flats and lake water are like inlaid between heaven and earth. We entered with excitement and couldn't help posing wantonly on the salt flats.
What is even more exciting is that the local fellow built a transparent boat by the lake for tourists to take pictures. One end of the boat was holding a rope, and the villagers pushed the boat to the center of the lake, and then everyone had 3 minutes to take pictures, and then pulled the boat back to the shore with the rope. In this way, there was a long line on the shore waiting to board the boat to take pictures, and most of the lines were women.
It costs 30 yuan per person for 3 minutes. This fellow is very business-minded. He receives about 200 people every day, and his daily income is still considerable. But the fellow said, they only do business in the summer for three months a year.
Because it only takes 3 minutes, every beauty on the boat has made full preparations on the shore, first of all, costumes and props, and secondly, the accompanying partners must help take pictures on the shore, there are high-level and low-level, Everyone prepares their cameras and mobile phones to face the transparent boat. And the beauties on board, you just have to perform to your heart's content. The shutter clicked continuously, and the boat was pushed towards the center of the lake, and then slowly pulled back to the shore. No matter how reluctant I was, I wanted to give up the boat to the next Meimei.
Leaving Jinel Lake in Dongtai, we set out for Dachaidan Emerald Lake along National Highway 315. There is a U-shaped road on this section of National Highway 315, which is the place where all tourists must get off and take pictures. No matter which direction you come from, you will drive the car to the other end of the U-shaped road. Looking back, the extremely steep road feels like it is pouring from the clouds. Tourists are in the low-lying part of the U-shaped road, and when there are no cars passing by, they will run to the middle of the road and gesture wantonly. After returning home from Qinghai, I saw the Qinghai traffic police announcement in the news, prohibiting tourists from taking pictures in the middle of the road to ensure the safety of tourists and the smooth passage of cars.
Leave the U-shaped highway and continue the journey to the Emerald Lake in Dachaidan.
When we came to the Emerald Lake of Dachaidan, we couldn't breathe. The beauty there is not something that can be described by my bald pen. Although the sun was in the sky, we completely ignored it. We only hated our lack of shots, our poor photography skills, and our unbeautiful posture.
The turquoise blue of the lake is refreshing, and the cleanliness of the lake makes people have the urge to join in it
Tonight we will live in Dachaidan.
After packing up our luggage, we went to the urban area of Dachaidan to find a place for dinner. When we came to a lively place in the urban area, we saw a small shop crowded with people, and it was very lively. When we got closer, it was a halal restaurant. It was as lively as other shops next to it. In stark contrast, this is very eye-catching during the epidemic. We quickly found a seat and sat down before we seriously asked what is this for? How to eat diet. After finding out, we decided to give it a try.
It turns out that here is a local specialty meal where mutton, vegetables and noodle cakes are eaten in an iron pan. The taste is very good, but we who go to Sichuan don't like to eat so much meat at night. We ordered a little food, but still had to work hard to eat.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel. One was to digest food, and the other was to see the night view of Dachaidan. There are very few pedestrians on the street, which is completely different from Chengdu, where the nightlife has just begun at this point in time.
Today is the seventh day.
We came to Xiaochaidan Lake early in the morning. This lake is completely original, and there is not even a decent road leading to the lake. The car was parked far away, and we walked there under the scorching sun. Looking closer, it can be seen that this is a freshwater lake, because there are many aquatic plants and reed-like plants. Maybe it’s because there are too many lakes to see along the way, maybe it’s aesthetic fatigue, this lake didn’t make us more excited, we took a few photos on the shore and left.
The second stop we came to Chaerhan Salt Lake.
There is a huge Chaerhan Salt Chemical Plant here. There is a visitor center outside the factory. All vehicles must be parked in the designated parking lot and transferred to the factory's special tourist bus to enter. The lady who explained in the car gave a brief introduction to Chaerhan Salt Lake.
Here is the largest salt lake in my country, the second largest in the world, and the world's largest salt content. It is the largest soluble potassium and magnesium salt deposit in China. The reserves of sodium, magnesium, potassium and lithium rank first in China. Salt chemical industry + tourism has become the most characteristic and potential industry in the economic cycle pilot zone of Qaidam.
The tour bus arrived at the designated location of the factory. We got off the bus and visited freely. After having fun, we returned to the place where we got off and boarded the special tourist bus to return to the parking lot. Here I strongly recommend the milk popsicles in the factory, which are rich in milk.
The sign to enter the Chaerhan Scenic Area, a huge salt crystal stone
The salt chemical workshop in the distance
When we came to the edge of the salt lake, the sky was not in the sky. Although the temperature was very high, the sun did not come out, and it was gray with no blue sky and white clouds.
Salt mining boats are busy in the lake
Salt flats are white and delicate
The Chaerhan Salt Lake covers an area of 5,856 square kilometers. In order to facilitate salt mining and drying, workers used salt crystals to build salt fields in the lake, also known as Wanzhang Salt Bridge. If there are potholes on the bridge deck, you only need to pour a few scoops of salt water on the potholes, and under the hot sun, after the water evaporates, crystallized salt will be left, and the road surface will be smooth.
The endless salt bridge divides the salt lake into pieces of salt fields
Coming out of Chaerhan Salt Lake, we came to Golmud City and stayed here tonight.
After tidying up, I started to go out to find food again. The local folks said that there is a pedestrian street, where there are places to eat, drink and have fun, so we took a taxi directly to it. At first glance, it looks like a night market in the mainland, except for selling some popular clothes and cheap accessories, there is no special feature. However, the food open-air plaza attracted us. There are food from south to north, and the management is very standardized. Every table and every table is numbered. The masters will bring processed food to your table. We mainly ate the food in the north. Generally speaking, the taste is good and it is completely acceptable.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and prepared for our trip to Hoh Xil tomorrow.
On the eighth day, we set off at 9 o'clock in the morning and headed for Hoh Xil along National Highway 109.
National Highway 109 is what we usually call the Qinghai-Tibet Line. There are many carts along the way, most of which are transporting supplies to Tibet. The mountains on both sides of the road are sharp, there is no green, the wind is hard and wild, we have already put on down jackets.
This is the gate to enter the Qinghai-Tibet line, we stopped to take pictures.
Walking through the barren mountains, I finally saw the road sign ahead of the Kunlun Mountain Pass, which is 4768 meters above sea level.
This is so exciting, we have no sign of high anti-reverse at all, which proves that we are in good health after seven days of long-distance travel, get out of the car, and take pictures to commemorate.
Kunlun Mountain Pass is the starting point of Hoh Xil, and it is considered to be in Hoh Xil from here ----- it is the hometown of Tibetan antelope.
It is also the source of the Yangtze River, Yellow River and Lancang River. Three clear streams on the plateau run happily all the way to the east, converging into three mighty rivers. The magic and mystery of nature endow human beings with endless resources for recuperation.
Hoh Xil Snow Mountain Observation Deck
Along the Qinghai-Tibet Line, except that scenic spots can stop to take pictures, because it is a Tibetan antelope ecological protection area, vehicles are not allowed to park at will along the line. While driving, we carefully searched for traces of Tibetan antelopes on the vast grasslands. When we finally saw the Tibetan antelope, we would slow down, open the car windows, and zoom in the lens, getting close to these plateau elves from a distance.
In this way, we drove on the plateau for nearly 4 hours and came to Sonam Dajie Nature Reserve.
Sonam Dajie is a hero. He used to be the deputy secretary of the Zhiduo County Party Committee in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. He died heroically in January 1994 while fighting poachers. In May 1996, China's State Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Forestry awarded him the title of "Environmental Protection Guard". In December 2018, the Party Central Committee and the State Council awarded him the title of Reform Pioneer and the "Reform Pioneer Medal".
Sonam Dajie Protection Station was the first natural ecological protection station in China. Now it is a large post station with accommodation, which is convenient for people passing the Qinghai-Tibet line to rest. At present, an ecological exhibition hall has been built to display some animal specimens and pictures. After a serious visit here, we set off to return to Golmud. Because if we go any further, we will enter Tibet, which is not our plan for this trip.
On the Qinghai-Tibet Line, we can see this plateau elf from afar----Tibetan antelope
The only Tibetan donkey I saw
It was already 9 o'clock in the evening when we returned to Golmud. After a day of hunger, we only found a mutton shop and it was still open. We ordered lamb chops and finger meat. We were shocked when they came to the table. How could we eat so much meat at night?
We have completed all our trips.
Today is the ninth day, and we will fly back to Chengdu from Golmud.
For this trip, we flew 3493 kilometers by air and 2523 kilometers by car. It took 9 days to walk a similar S-shaped route in Qinghai Province and Gansu Province.
The Qaidam Basin is a geographical vocabulary in middle school textbooks in my memory. It is a remote and unknown barren area in China. I never thought that I would go deep into its hinterland, get close to it, appreciate it, and love it so closely; It was also during this trip that I really figured out the relationship between Qaidam, Dachaidan, and Xiaochaidan. These are all confused in the past knowledge; I never thought that I would come to Hoh Xil and see Tibetan antelopes. A little cognition of natural understanding can strongly feel one's own poverty. I think I will come to Qinghai again, and Qaidam Basin from another direction. I think I will also plan to actually enter Tibet, that is, enter from the Sichuan-Tibet line and exit from the Qinghai-Tibet line.
Really, to read thousands of books, you must travel thousands of miles. Goodbye, Qaidam, goodbye, Qinghai! !
During this trip, eating and drinking was rarely mentioned. Traveling is what everyone calls shopping and eating. And this line should pay attention to the following problems:
1. After entering Qaidam, you will be in the Gobi almost all day, so you must bring enough dry food and water by yourself;
2. The hotel at the first stop should be booked in advance, and only after arriving in the city at night can you go to the restaurant for dinner;
3. The temperature difference between morning and evening is very large, so you should bring some clothes for almost four seasons;
4. There are almost no gas stations in the Gobi. Every night when you come to the city, you have to refuel. It is not fun to turn off the engine in the Gobi;
5. The portions of meals in Northwest China are quite large, so order less and add more if there is not enough to avoid waste;
6. If you are going to the Mars camp, please be sure to book a space room, the tent is very unsuitable for older people.
The above suggestions are for reference only.
