The last two travel notes talked about the itinerary of Lanzhou and Qinghai Lake. This travel note is about the Chaka Salt Lake in the sky. From Qinghai Lake to the Chaka Salt Lake travel guide, there are Dunhuang travel guide and Zhangye Danxia guide later. I want to see it Please wait for the next masterpiece!
Sub-line itinerary: Lanzhou, Qinghai Lake, Chaka Salt Lake, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, Zhangye, Menyuan, Qilian Mountain take a big loop, I will record it in order of time and scenic spots!
First of all, I want to help you sort out the destination and route of travel. It is not easy for everyone to come to the Northwest. Basically, they have to cross more than half of China. If you have a clear goal in mind, you can skip this paragraph. Each subsequent chapter will also be clearly divided with a dividing line, and the more important information will be specially marked. You can choose the reading that is useful to you.
All the strategies you want are here
According to my many years of travel experience, I must make a strategy before departure. Here are 2 methods: one is Ctrip’s strategy http://you.ctrip.com/place/ to search for the name of the scenic spot. There is a lot of information, and I am slow. Slow stroke
The second is to recommend a WeChat public account "janetu7998" that specializes in travel guides. Most of the attractions I visited this time have detailed guides. Follow them and reply to the keywords of the attractions!
Chaka Salt Lake Tips:
1. Pay attention to sun protection. Ultraviolet rays are relatively strong, and it is easy to get tanned or sunburned; for students who love to take pictures, it is very necessary to wear a few skirts or silk scarves with brighter colors, which will look beautiful in comparison.
2. It is best to prepare wet paper towels before visiting Chaka Salt Lake. After the skin is stained with salt or salt water, wash it with fresh water or wipe it off with a paper towel to avoid certain damage to the skin;
3. The light here is very strong on sunny days, and there is also reflection on the lake surface. You need to prepare for sun protection. It is recommended to prepare sunglasses to protect your eyes;
4. It is not possible to eat in the scenic area, and shopping is not very convenient. It is best to bring your own drinking water and dry food to enter;
5. The Chaka Salt Lake area is about 3,000 meters above sea level, so avoid strenuous exercise to avoid altitude sickness;
6. Because the salt layer is relatively rough, there will be some pain when walking barefoot, and the deep silt in the lake is deep, so it is not recommended to walk too deep;
【About portrait photography】
It’s not just about scenic spots, because not all scenic spots are suitable for taking portraits. For example, Danxia, there are people everywhere on the viewing platform, and the big scene is basically hopeless, and a big face deliberately put together will only look incomparable. "Tourists According to".
So, to sum up, Chaka Salt Lake is the most suitable for taking portraits among several scenic spots, followed by Qinghai Lake.
As for the clothing, of course it is so bright and how to wear it. I can’t wait to find a red skirt for every five people in the scenic area. The red skirt is of course conspicuous, but if you are afraid of the color collision too much, the sapphire blue skirt is just as beautiful. . In the case of Qinghai Lake, if there are rapeseed flowers, you can take the small and fresh route. How come youth comes~~
In other words, it is recommended to wear plain clothes with a green background, or bright yellow, desert red and white. If you are not afraid of heat, please choose black. If you have to take pictures in Danxia Geopark, please wear a white skirt! The kind that can float!
In summer, the temperature near Qinghai Lake is not too low. If you squat to take pictures of the starry sky, you need to bring a jacket. Clothes, you can abandon the jacket and bring a slightly thicker jacket. After all, the northwest wind is strong and the weather on the plateau is changeable. It is always right to be prepared.
Note: The above suggestions are suitable for girls who have a lot of clothes and are unwilling to wear jackets. Boys, please bring your own jackets!
【About sun protection】
The sunscreen needs to be done well. I heard from the locals that the sunscreen on Qinghai Lake can’t bear it at all, even 50 times. It’s more practical to cover your face with a long-sleeved long skirt and silk scarf. Anyway, everyone just needs to be beautiful when taking pictures, right?
【About high anti】
The highest altitude of this itinerary is Dadongshu Mountain Pass on the way from Qilian to Gangcha, with an altitude of 4120 meters. In addition, the road of Provincial Highway 104 has nine bends and eighteen bends, so both drivers are a little bit high, but the big cold After inhaling one liter of oxygen, I was alive and well the next day~ In short, even if the road is high, it will not be too serious, but try to avoid strenuous exercise at an altitude of 3500+, maybe wait until you finish taking photos of the jump jump After that, it may be reversed.
【About traffic conditions】
Self-driving friends come over~~
Easy! Although there are not many high-speed sections on this road, the national or provincial roads are in good condition. One thing to note is that you must drive carefully when climbing the winding road at the pass of Dadongshu Mountain. The Hare section of Chashi Super Short Road has poor road conditions (there are still many big potholes) and the road surface is extremely narrow, so you need to be cautious when passing cars.
【About documents】
Student ID card, military officer ID card, senior ID card, and postgraduate ID card are available for most scenic spots along the way, so please bring your postgraduate ID card and go.
【For photography lovers】
Please bring a tripod & ND filter!
Please bring models! (Scenery, please ignore)
Start of trip:
At 7:30 in the morning, the sky is pure and flawless. Even though I only slept for less than three hours, the fresh air by the lake energized me.
Last night, I went to the Heima River in the dark and couldn't see the scenery. I saw it on the road this morning. On the left is the vast and boundless lake, and on the right are plains, hills and patches of yurts. There is still traffic jam on the road, but I am surrounded by such beautiful scenery. Can't wait to block for a while. Everyone set off, and only five of us in one car were left to dawdle.
It took more than an hour to cross the rubber mountain and enter the Qaidam Basin, which is another kind of scenery. The vast expanse of whiteness ahead is the Chaka Salt Lake.
The biggest expectation of this trip is the Chaka Salt Lake. Imagine wearing a red dress and standing barefoot in the center of the Chaka Salt Lake, which is known as the "land of the sky". Blockbuster effect!
However, the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is very skinny.
The mirror effect of Chaka Salt Lake requires the combination of multiple factors. First, there must be a clear blue sunny day, preferably the day before it rains, and the water on the lake should not be too deep, and there should be no wind. It is calm, and these factors together will show the effect of the mirror of the sky.
I have been paying attention to the weather of Chaka many days in advance, but it turns out that there is rain every day, and the big expectations have become less and less. By the day before, I have no expectations. I think whether it is sunny or rainy, everything is fine. Let it be.
Fortunately, it didn't rain.
When you come to the Chaka Salt Lake, you have to talk about the business acumen of the Zhejiang people. It is said that this is a salt field with a long history and is not dead or alive. It was developed by the Zhejiang people with reference to the form of the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia. It is free for Zhejiang people to come here, and now it has become the most famous and most visited scenic spot in Qinghai. It is no exaggeration.
[Chaka Salt Lake] is about an hour and a half drive from the Heima River. It is known as "China's Skyland". This is because tourists standing on the lake can see the sky, white clouds, and their own reflections. In addition to these, you can also enjoy lifelike salt sculptures in Chaka Salt Lake. You can take a small train to the center of the salt lake. After the renovation and maintenance of Chaka Salt Lake in 2016, additional facilities such as viewing boats have been added. If you have plenty of time, it is recommended that you follow the rails all the way to the depths of the salt lake, and then go down to take pictures. The photos taken in this way have no interference from passers-by, and can capture the dreamy effect of the real sky.
Tickets: 70 yuan/person for tickets, 50 yuan/person for the small train ride
Tips:
1. To enter the Salt Lake, you need to bring your own slippers or rent rain boots by the lake. The fee is 15 yuan/pair;
2. For beauties who want to take photos of their reflections, it is recommended to wear bright long skirts, and the effect of shooting in red is the best;
3. Pay attention to your feet when taking pictures in Chaka Salt Lake. The black place may be a deep pit to avoid falling or damaging the camera.
After entering the scenic spot, there are several options for walking, taking a battery car (5 yuan one way), taking a small train (50 yuan one way), and a cruise ship (90 yuan one way). According to the route arrangement, both the battery car and the small train cannot be taken. You can see the battery car as soon as you enter the door. Drive to the lake, and then walk into the lake area along the roads on both sides of the railway track. You can go down to the lake after walking about 1.5 kilometers. You don’t need to go to the terminal of the small train, but there are more people there. . To take the small train, you need to walk more than 200 meters to the boarding point to enter the gate of the scenic spot, but when there are many people, you have to wait in line for an hour.
Going down the lake must wear shoe covers according to regulations. There are many people selling shoe covers outside the scenic area, and a pair is five yuan. If you are not particular about it, you can just pick a pair of shoe covers worn by others and throw them away. Some of them are relatively clean inside. Some people also choose a pair of other people's throws after putting on their own shoe covers, and cover them with two layers, which may have a better waterproof effect. If you prepare shoe covers in advance, the quality on the Internet is better, usually more than ten yuan a pair, but you must choose high-tube ones.
I made a strategy in advance and it came in handy. Most of the girls chose to wear red skirts and sandals (slippers), striving to be a touch of coquettish red in the blue sky and white lake o(￣▽￣)d. Of course, sunglasses and scarves are indispensable for perfect concave shape, and more importantly, sun protection. The noon sun was shining on the salt lake, and the exposed meat turned into black charcoal every minute, which is no exaggeration.
Let me share with you how to take pictures of Chaka Salt Lake. Yes, it’s the feeling of being in the mirror in the “land of the sky”
1. Pay attention to the time when you arrive at Chaka Scenic Area.
Morning and evening are the best, when there are fewer people and the light conditions are suitable. By noon, a large number of tourists arrived one after another, and it was difficult to find a background without people, and the strong direct sunlight made it impossible to take a sense of reflection, and the effect at this time was the worst. The best time to shoot is to enter the Chaka Salt Lake around 10 am or 4 pm. Reflections are easy to appear during this time period. In terms of weather, it is better to be sunny or after rain, it will be clean and soft.
2. Be sure to stand still! Don't move your feet!
The most beautiful thing about Chaka is the reflection. When shooting, don’t move around too often. Keep the water surface calm. If you move your feet, the reflection will be blurred, and you won’t have that kind of beauty, and too much walking will make the lake water turbid.
3. Dressing suggestions
On the contrary, the advice on clothing is relatively simple. Girls just wear long skirts, which is in line with the pure and ethereal feeling of Chaka.
In terms of color, solid colors are better. Of course, red is the most eye-catching and classic, but it is already flooded in Chaka Salt Lake. As soon as you enter the scenic spot, you will see all kinds of red skirts. If you don’t want to be too vulgar, you can try some other colors. White, blue, yellow and even low-saturation colors are all good choices. As long as it is a long skirt that can blow up in the wind, you can take super beautiful photos;
4. Prepare some props
Some small props can make the photos more interesting, and at the same time can solve the embarrassment of posing.
For example, silk scarves, choose soft materials, long enough to have an elegant feeling. Whether it is draped on the body or lifted up to fly with the wind, the effect is very good; the shawl is also very practical, sun protection, warmth and at the same time an artifact for posing; the umbrella is also a good prop~
5. Lens and Composition
In the morning and evening when there is less direct light, you can use a wide-angle lens to shoot closer, which can capture reflections. In other time periods, you need to use a medium-telephoto lens. Using the ultra-wide-angle lens, you can capture the feeling that the railroad tracks extend infinitely to the horizon;
For vertical composition, you can use the water surface as the dividing line, 1:1 composition;
For horizontal composition, you can use the ratio of 3:7 to reflect the etherealness of the big scene;
Composition elements such as trees and stones can be used in a timely manner to create a sense of space in the front, middle, and background, or to increase the richness of the picture, such as ships, which are also very important parts of shooting.
6. Location and pose
The head and tail of the scenic area are the places with the most people (2-3km in the whole journey). Most people either do not take the small train and are just a few steps into the scenic spot, or they take the train directly to the deepest part. At this time, if you walk and walk a little further in, you can find a section with fewer people~
In addition, choose a place where there is water but the water is very shallow, preferably just below the instep ~ it is the most suitable depth for shooting reflections.
7. It is recommended to bring a light reducing filter or a polarizing filter
Due to the refraction of light, it is recommended to carry a light reduction filter or a polarizer (due to the high reflectivity of the water surface, it is recommended to use a polarizer to control the reflection when shooting, so as to emphasize the color of the lake or the blue sky) to avoid overexposure of photos;
The blue color of Chaka Salt Lake in front of you is thorough and charming, and the azure blue is like a dream. Clouds and shadows in the clear sky, salt white as snow, smooth as a mirror, the sky and the reflection are connected together, time seems to stand still in this perishable fairyland, pure and strange, suffocating, so quiet, and so shining...
The moment the horizon disappears, you are as quiet as the prelude to a storm...
Like a train traveling through the clouds...
The whole heart is immersed in the true and pure mirror of the sky in front of me...
The train to "The End of the Horizon"...
Walking in the reflection of the sky, I have never been so close to the imaginary paradise, more dreamlike than a dream, more realistic than a dream...
Probably because it hasn’t rained for a long time, the lake is not much water, and the mirror effect cannot be formed, but there are many people, so it is hard to find a place without people as the background. Follow the track of the small train into the depths of the lake. I heard that when there is plenty of rain, the lake will cover the track, just like the small train on the sea in Hayao Miyazaki's movie "Spirited Away". At night, it will look like "Galaxy Railway" night"! I plan to stay at night to see the reflected Milky Way should be more beautiful. The world where the two dimensions and the three dimensions overlap is magical and beautiful.
It's also very interesting to take a photo of the back at will.
Tired of playing and shooting enough, I sat by the lake in a daze for a while and then quickly retreated. I wrapped myself in a scarf and shirt and still felt that my skin was burning. The ultraviolet rays are really not covered. At lunch time after two o'clock, I ate Northwest ramen in the small town of Chaka.
In the afternoon, continue to go deep into the Qaidam Basin to find out the legendary alien ruins. The mountains along the road are especially similar to the landforms of the movie "The Martian", and the alien planet has a sense of sight. Since entering Qinghai Lake, the inaccessible place feels like being on an alien planet.
The road turning from the highway into the scenic spot is being repaired, and few convoys come in. A group of foodies came up with the idea of pure natural and pollution-free small wild fruits on the roadside, but the guardians of these fruits were an army of mosquitoes that had not eaten for a long time. The collision was fierce and terrifying. In the end, Xiao Jin single-handedly acted swiftly and lived up to expectations and won many fruits of victory. Like when I was young, I went to the mountains to play and saw small wild fruits, and I picked them and ate them. I didn’t wash them, and I didn’t doubt whether they could be eaten. I was innocent and young.
This road is full of Gobi Desert and small Yadan landforms. The road has not been repaired yet, and it is full of sand. Speeding up the car, the dust raised behind the car is exciting enough, like shooting a road movie. At this time, we made the soundtrack "Let us be companions in the world of mortals, live a chic and unrestrained life..."
We came from the vast Gobi Desert and headed for the blue lake. Keluke Lake and Tuosu Lake are not far apart, one big and one small, one salty and one light, one light and one dark. The wind-blown water contrasts sharply with the dry Gobi Desert, a view that has only been seen in magazines like National Geographic before. In addition to feeling miraculous and mysterious, it is strange that there is an inexplicable sense of loneliness in my heart.
Keluke Lake-Tuosu Lake-Alien Ruins three scenic spots are sold together, 20 yuan per person, and cars can also drive in.
I drove around the lake, and the lake was sparkling under the scorching sun. I wouldn’t be surprised if a huge monster ran out of the lake or the mountains at this time. It seems that such a beautiful place always has lake monsters or aliens. Biological talent is even more mysterious. Although some are forced to imagine, such as the Zheluo salmon in Kanas, Xinjiang, and the otters in Tianchi, Changbai Mountain? While thinking about whether there will be a monster rushing out, what if our car can't run if it really rushes out?
Compared with Qinghai Lake, I prefer this lake of two lovers in the desert. They seem to be in love with each other, and they look at each other from a distance, and they will never be able to blend together.
On the way back from racing all the way, Xiao Jin let us experience the thrill of being a melon-eating crowd in the Gobi Desert. Refreshing, sweet and juicy watermelon drives away the heat and dryness. Somehow, even the trivial matter of eating melons in the vast Northwest seems extremely heroic. After eating watermelon, you can continue to take funny pictures to commemorate this unique experience of eating melon.
I forgot the time and work and rest along the way. I eat lunch at two or three o’clock, and it’s night in my hometown at sunset. It’s late at night when it gets dark, and dinner is basically a midnight snack. It's the same in Dachaidan Town tonight. After dinner, it's time to go to bed again.
Dachaidan is located at the northern edge of the Qaidam Basin, rich in mineral resources, with an altitude of 3173 meters. There are many choices of hotels in the town. There are basically restaurants and hotels on one street, and the prices are generally moderate. When you wander around at night, you find that many streets are relatively empty and street lights are scarce. It is best to go with a company when you go out.
Because there is no fixed accommodation, I can only stay in a family hotel. As the name suggests, the suite I live in is rented out to tourists as a hotel. The room is small, with a water heater, but no hair dryer, and the price is not cheap. It is recommended that those who can book a hotel in advance should stay in a normal hotel.
There are so many lights in the town, I can't see the stars, I'm not happy. Go back to the hotel and sleep, and wait for tomorrow's itinerary~~
