After the eight-day southern Xinjiang itinerary, the five-day northern Xinjiang itinerary began immediately. It is still the itinerary selected on Ctrip. "Xinjiang Urumqi + Tianshan Tianchi + Kanas + Turpan 6 days and 5 nights with the group tour", and Southern Xinjiang The travel agency for the 8-day tour is also the same. I lived in Urumqi for the first two days, and visited Turpan and Tianchi every morning as a group of individual tourists. In the evening of the third day, I took the train to visit Kanas in Beitun the next morning, stayed in Kanas for one night, and then returned to Urumqi by train on the fifth night to end the trip. The whole process of the tour is now recorded as follows.
June 14th, Thursday, Urumqi was sunny, the first day of the itinerary, and the last day of the southern Xinjiang itinerary. In the morning, I went to visit the scenic spots in the city by myself, and went to the Barkol Mosque, the International Grand Bazaar, the Memorial Hall of the Eighth Route Army Office in Urumqi, and the Museum of the Autonomous Region (see my book "Southern Xinjiang Eight-Day Travel Notes" for details). At 4:00 p.m., I moved from Grand Mercure Hualing Urumqi to Xinjiang Haotian Guotai Hotel. Although the distance is not far, the grades of the hotels are quite different.
On Friday, June 15th, Urumqi was sunny, the second day of the itinerary. Today is a trip to Turpan. Before 7:00 in the morning, we will take a bus to the meeting point Zhungeer Hotel. Although the distance from Haotian Guotai Hotel to Zhungeer Hotel is less than 1 km, the travel agency still sends a car to pick you up, which is more considerate However, the driver of the Didi special car is not familiar with the road, and the time spent by car is longer than walking. Zhungeer Hotel is a gathering place for individual tourists. There are many tourist buses parked on the side of Beijing South Road, including large buses and minibuses. I got through the tour guide's phone number informed by the travel agency last night, and found the tour guide by looking for the ringtone. It was a young woman surnamed Wang, and the vehicle was a light bus V80 from SAIC MAXUS. Although it was an individual group, there were only 15 people in the group, and there were 6 of them. The seat is to take the train to Turpan and then get on the train. The seats for 9 people and 15 people are relatively loose. Depart on time at 7:30 in the morning, about 190 kilometers from Urumqi to Turpan, the whole journey is high-speed, and the driving time is about 2 hours. The vehicle drove southeast along the G30 Lianhuo Expressway, and soon passed the Salt Lake Scenic Area after driving out of the urban area of Urumqi. The tour guide introduced that the Xinjiang Salt Lake is called "China's Dead Sea". The salt content of the lake is seven times that of sea water. People will not fall into the water It is heavy, and you can easily lie on the water to rest, read a book, or even drink. The area of the lake is only 4 square kilometers. From the car, the lake is blue from a distance, and there are tall white salt mountains around the lake. Going forward to Zhaban City, there are densely packed wind turbines erected on both sides of the expressway. From a distance, they look like toy windmills, and they don’t seem so tall. Only when you look closely can you find that each windmill has more than ten floors. high. Stop at the Xiaocaohu service area for a rest, which belongs to the 30-mile wind zone, the wind is particularly strong after getting off the car, the door is automatically closed by the wind, and almost hits the person getting off the car. In 2014, there was a catastrophic accident in which 11 train carriages derailed and 3 people were killed due to a 13-level strong wind. For this reason, a concrete windshield was built on the north side of the railway. In 2016, hundreds of car windows were broken. An accident where stones rolled up by 12 strong winds smashed into pieces.
9:30 Arrive at the Jiaoheyi Tourist Center in Turpan, the tour guide went to handle the tickets, and we got off the car to take pictures. Jiaohe Station is one of several large post stations in ancient Xinjiang. Whether it was the original site has not been verified. The current building is newly built, made into a castle shape, painted in earthy yellow, and there are many flags with the word "post" on the wall. Faded by the sun, it drooped listlessly. The visitor center is also a scenic spot, but it is not yet open to the public, and tourists can only take pictures around.
After completing the formalities, go to Karez Paradise first. This attraction is not on our itinerary, but there are other tourists, so we bought tickets to visit it by ourselves. Karez, called Kanerzi in Uighur, originally meant an underground waterway. Karez well is one of the three ancient cultural projects comparable to the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. It is known as the three ancient Chinese water conservancy projects alongside Dujiangyan in Sichuan and Lingqu in Guangxi. It is the crystallization of the labor wisdom of the ancient Turpan people. It consists of four parts: vertical wells, culverts, open channels, and dams (reservoirs). Several vertical wells are dug from high to low at the edge of the basin, and then the vertical wells are dug from the ground and connected in series, and the water is drawn from the ground to the surface. The Karez wells in Xinjiang are mainly located in the Turpan Basin, Hami and Mulei areas, especially in the Turpan area, where there are more than 1,000 Karez wells. If they are connected, they can be more than 5,000 kilometers long, so some people call them underground canals. At present, there are only 614 karez wells with water in Xinjiang, of which 404 are located in Turpan, with an annual output of 231 million cubic meters. They are still the main source of water for irrigation, drinking water and ecological maintenance in some villages. There are three Karez wells in Karez Paradise. The main Karez underground channel to be visited is in the downstream part of the most typical Miyimu Aji Karez well with a history of 800 years. Visitors can appreciate the original appearance of the Karez underground channel and shaft at a depth of more than ten meters.
The ticket office of Karez Paradise is decorated in the shape of an old tree. Tickets are 40 yuan per person. After purchasing the ticket, you enter the park. After entering the park through a long shopping passage, the first thing you visit is the grape drying room, which is a rectangular building with a flat roof. , the walls are made of adobe, with many square flower holes, which are convenient for ventilation and avoid direct sunlight. There is a "hanging rack" on the cedar in the drying room to hang the grapes.
Then go forward and enter a slope leading to the underground. The first thing you arrive at is the circular central hall. After passing through the central hall, you enter the Karez sightseeing area. The passage is about 100 meters long and 2 meters wide. There are many forks. We walked into a fork in which there was a horizontal Karez culvert, covered with glass, and there were steps down to the side of the canal. When we stretched our hands into the water, we felt a bone-chilling cold. The water was melted snow from the ice peaks of the Tianshan Mountains. There is a shaft leading to the ground in another fork, which is the working shaft. The height of the culvert is only about 1.5 meters, and the width is only 0.7 meters. Normal people cannot straighten their waists. They must squat when digging. It can be seen that the excavation How difficult is it to dig out more than 5,000 kilometers of Karez, and how much financial, material and manpower the people of Xinjiang have spent! I remember the historical materials I saw at the Lin Zexu Memorial Hall in Fuzhou last year: After Wen Zhonggong was demoted and dispatched to Xinjiang, he found that the Karez water diversion irrigation method was a good way to solve the drought problem in Xinjiang, so he strongly encouraged local residents to build Karez. From 1845 to 1877, driven by Lin Zexu, more than 300 Karez wells were newly dug in Turpan, Shanshan and Toksun. Then, so far, Kanjing has benefited endlessly. There are more than 60 Karez wells in Qiketai Township, Shanshan. According to textual research, most of them were newly excavated after Lin Zexu came to Turpan. Karez Paradise covers an area of about 7 mu, with gurgling water, towering trees, long grape corridors and flat lawns. Playing in the water, even a group of aunts posed for photos in front of the stone carvings of Karez regardless of the scorching sun.
The second scenic spot is visiting Uyghur families, also known as "home visits". This is a gift from travel agencies and a must-go item for tourists stipulated by the Turpan Municipal Government, so as to promote harmony and unity among ethnic groups. The family we went to should be a well-to-do family with a sense of business. There are more than ten acres of vineyards in the house, with grape arbors and wooden beds covered with blankets for tourists to sit cross-legged. The host’s Chinese is very authentic and proficient. He called the male tourist “Master Bai” and asked to take the seat, while the female tourist was Bai’s wife, who sat in the lower seat to serve Master Bai, and then served food such as watermelon and naan. The daughter in Uyghur costume danced for us to the music.
After the dance performance, the hostess changed to the stage. She was more talkative and funny. She said that the government pays for the home visits they run, and everyone should be happy. Otherwise, the monitor will deduct the wages of tourists who are unhappy. She also said that now her Children go to school without spending money and the government also provides subsidies, which is a subsidy for bilingual education. Then we got to the topic and introduced the raisins in Turpan. She asked everyone to gather in front of the booth and introduced the varieties and production methods of raisins. raisins dried in the drying room, and raisins dried naturally on the vine, and then humorously said that the sulfur-smoked chicken would not be eaten, and the desiccant ones should be eaten by people who are not good for you. Eat it for friends, and eat it for yourself if it is dried naturally. She also said that these raisins were planted and made by the farmers in the village themselves. She also helped the villagers get rid of poverty and become rich, and hoped that everyone's purchase would also help the poor. The price is not too expensive. Naturally dried raisins cost 150 yuan/kg, and 3 kilograms only cost 400 yuan. So everyone tasted and bought a lot of raisins.
The third scenic spot is Kumtag Desert Park, located in Shanshan County, the "desert city" east of Turpan, with a distance of about 90 kilometers and a driving time of about 2 hours.
Kumtag, which means "Sand Mountain" in Uighur, is located at the junction of western Gansu and southeastern Xinjiang, with an area of about 22,000 square kilometers, 53% of which is distributed in Xinjiang, and its eastern end is Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang . The Kumtag Desert has typical wind-eroded landforms such as Yardang, wind edge stones, and wind-eroded pits, and dune types such as lattice dunes, barchan dunes, honeycomb dunes, pyramid-shaped dunes, star-shaped dunes, and linear dunes. It is also the only desert in the world that is connected to the city. It is known as the "desert in the city". Shanshan County has been adjacent to it for hundreds of years. Immovable" world miracle.
Kumtag Desert Park is a national 4A-level scenic spot. The gate of the scenic spot is built in the shape of a camel. When we arrived at noon, the scorching sun made people have nowhere to hide. Everyone either used umbrellas to shade the sun or wrapped them tightly in sun protection clothing. There is still nearly 3 kilometers away from the gate of the scenic spot to the desert. Fortunately, there are vehicles in the scenic spot to pick up and drop off. Although the fee is 30 yuan per person, everyone got on the car obediently.
The sand in the Kumtag Desert is golden yellow, which is different from the white sand in Taklamakan, which is more attractive.
But here is hotter than the Taklamakan, and the heat waves are coming, and there is nowhere to escape, as if there are burning flames everywhere. When you get here, you will feel the unbearable heat. You will be sweating profusely and the heat will surround your body in an instant, giving people the feeling of being in a sauna room. In the desert park, there are rides on surf cars, camel rides, etc. You can also walk up to the sand peaks, but you need to rent sand-proof shoe covers, otherwise the soles may be scalded. I wanted to climb the sand mountain on foot, but as soon as I reached the foot of the mountain, sand was poured into the shoes. Looking at the small figure of the climber on the high sand dune, with the scorching white light above his head, I suddenly felt retreat and returned sadly. , Sitting in the awning to rest, drink water and eat dry food. A couple of couples boarded the sand peak. When they returned, the girl's fair face was tanned like a ripe apple, and she might have been burned by the sun.
According to the tour guide, there is a clear and clean small river on the northern edge of the desert park, with gurgling water, winding west along the sandy mountains. Willows and poplars can be seen everywhere on both sides of the small river, with intertwined roots, like a dragon. If you are in this lush greenery, listening to the gurgling water and letting the cool wind blow, the temperature can drop by more than ten degrees to make you feel cool, which is also a rare spectacle.
The fourth scenic spot is the Flame Mountain National Geological Park, which is about 60 kilometers away from Shanshan County, and the driving time is about 1.5 hours.
Huoyan Mountain, called "Kiziltag" in Uighur, means "Red Mountain", the mountain is more than 100 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide at its widest point, with an average altitude of about 500 meters and the main peak at an altitude of 831.7 meters. The Huoyan Mountain is barren and barren, where no grass grows and birds are hard to come by. In midsummer, under the scorching sun, the reddish-brown mountain body seems to be glowing with sand and stones, and the fiery air flow is tumbling and rising, just like raging flames, with tongues of flame touching the sky, hence the name Flame Mountain. This is the hottest place in China. The summer temperature is as high as 47.8 degrees Celsius, and the surface temperature is as high as 70 degrees Celsius. Every year, there are more than 100 days with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, and there are as many as 38 days of extremely hot weather with temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius. It is a veritable "China Hot Pole". The Flame Mountain National Geopark is a comprehensive geological park characterized by the natural landscape and geological relics of the Flame Mountain, supplemented by diverse ecological landscapes and cultural landscapes. In the scenic area, there are scenic spots and projects such as the Flame Mountain landscape, the dream tunnel sightseeing train, the Geological Museum, the Dragon Palace, the Shenquan, and the sightseeing shuttle bus around the Flame Mountain. Among them, the dream tunnel is 1.22 kilometers long, and the circular road around the Flame Mountain is 18 kilometers long. With the theme of "Fantasy Westward Journey", the scenic spot presents the story about Flame Mountain in "Journey to the West" in the form of "panoramic fashion" and "dream experience", so that tourists can see, touch, feel, play and enjoy. It is a brand-new travel experience mode.
When we arrived, it was around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The sun was hot and the temperature rose to 42 degrees. If a person stayed outside for five minutes, he would definitely suffer from heat stroke. We walked along the fantasy tunnel from the underground visitor center. The tunnel is very long and dark, but from time to time there are flashing colored lights, which is like a dream. Especially the photos taken are very fantastic. According to the tour guide, this A 1.22-kilometer tunnel costs hundreds of millions.
When we reached the end of the tunnel, we were on the surface, and a heat wave hit our faces. We should have walked a certain distance to visit the scenic spot of Journey to the West, but everyone shook their heads and refused to go. So the tour guide led us to watch the banana fan-shaped thermometer and the stone-carved nameplate of the Flame Mountain National Geological Park, and then hurried back to the room.
There was a little donkey standing by the roadside under the scorching sun. The owner only covered its small and thin body with a small piece of felt to shield it from the sun. It stood there quietly, chewing non-stop. Signs of heat stroke.
The fifth scenic spot is Grape Valley, which is located in a canyon on the west side of the Flame Mountain. It is not far away, and it takes about 15 minutes to drive.
Grape Valley, Uighur for "Buyiluk", means a lot of good grapes. It is a narrow and gentle valley about 8 kilometers long from north to south, and about 2 kilometers wide from east to west. The west bank of the valley is a steep cliff, like a barrier; the valley is surrounded by streams, and the water quality is pure; there are grape trellises on both sides of the stream, and green vines are layered on top of each other. , lush. The beautiful Grape Valley is well-known both at home and abroad for its high-quality grapes. There are nearly 100 kinds of grapes planted, such as Seedless White, Maruzi, Baijiagan, Red Rose, Soso, etc., making it a natural grape museum.
Driving into the newly-built grape corridor in Grape Valley, it caught our attention, and we saw that the corridor was several kilometers long and could not be seen at a glance, which was very spectacular. The wooden frame of the promenade is covered with vines with green leaves, and green grape bunches are hanging, which is full of greenery. It's a pity that we came in the wrong season, the grapes had just set fruit, and the small green grape clusters hung on the vines like jasper, crystal clear.
We crossed the channel with gurgling water, walked through the shaded grape corridor, and walked under the tall and straight poplar trees. Red flowers and green grass were dotted among the trees.
We walked into a courtyard at random, which was the home of Avanti. There were cartoon statues of Avanti and a donkey in the courtyard. There was an old man in national costume sitting in the courtyard waiting to take photos with tourists. There was a fee.
Then go to Yingzui Cliff and take pictures beside the stele engraved with three bright red characters of Grape Valley, ending the tour of Grape Valley.
Board the train from Grape Valley to Turpan North Station, and the travel agency arranges to take the bullet train back to Urumqi, which can save nearly 2 hours. After arriving at the train station to pick up the tickets, I found that the booked tickets were all from Shanshan Station to Urumqi, and I needed to refund the ticket to buy a new ticket. So everyone lined up at the ticket office under the guidance of the tour guide. Turpan is a small station, and only one ticket was opened. At the window, we were lucky. We bought the D55 train ticket departing at 19:56. There are still many group members who can only buy later tickets, and the travel agency has to bear the loss of the refund fee. This is actually related to the arrangement of the tour guide. The itinerary is the last time to go to the Kumtag Desert. The travel agency booked the tickets according to the itinerary, but the tour guide arranged to go to the desert first and did not communicate with the travel agency. This also shows that individual tourists Disadvantages of tourism system. It was about 9:00 p.m. when the bullet train arrived at Urumqi South Railway Station. It was quite difficult to take a taxi. After waiting for almost half an hour, the car was willing to take us to Haotian Guotai Hotel. (to be continued)
