After our 12-day itinerary in northern Xinjiang, the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day are approaching. At this time, the trains entering and leaving Xinjiang are very popular, and it is hard to find a ticket for the train going directly to the mainland. For this reason, we decided to detour back to Ningxia. "Ningxia is a good place." There are also many good places in Ningxia that we haven't been to. On the evening of September 23, we left Urumqi on the Z180 train to Zhongwei, Ningxia, and stayed on the train that night.
Although it was a temporary decision to take Ningxia, and we did not make a detailed itinerary plan, we are no strangers to Ningxia, especially Ningxia Shapotou, Helan Mountain rock paintings, Western Xia Royal Tombs, Yongning Hui Culture Park, etc., and we have admired them in the past. The first stop of this trip is Shapotou, Zhongwei, Ningxia. We are going to watch its sunrise and starry sky in the vast Tengger Desert on the night of the full moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, and see its "desert solitary smoke straight, long river" Sunset round".
[Ningxia Zhongwei Shapotou]
On the afternoon of September 24th, the train left the Hexi Corridor, and there was a sense of primitiveness and vastness in front of us. This is the transition zone between the Qilian Mountains and the Loess Plateau. It has been the boundary between nomadism and farming since ancient times. It is also known as "Beyond the Great Wall" or "Monan" in history. Many epic stories have been performed here. Due to the barrier of geographical conditions, the Yellow River drew a bay here. This painting is not trivial, and it shows "the Yellow River in the world is rich in Ningxia". Ningxia Zhongwei Shapotou is at the very front of this bend, so it is called Shapotou.
Shapotou Scenic Area is 20 kilometers west of Zhongwei City, located in the southeast of the Tengger Desert. National Highway 338 and the Baolan Railway pass through Shapotou. It has been an important route on the Silk Road since ancient times. Shapotou is connected to the beautiful and rich Ningxia Plain in the south, the Tengger Desert in the north, and the Yellow River in the middle. landscape.
Modern transportation has already replaced the hardships of camels and horses. The trains traveled eastward through the vast Gobi and the bare Qilian Mountains. After 18 hours of travel, we came from the former Western Regions to Jiangnan beyond the Great Wall. On the afternoon of September 24th, we arrived at Zhongwei Railway Station in Ningxia. We took the No. 2 bus at the West Changcheng Road bus stop on the west side of the square in front of the station. We boarded the bus for 5 yuan per person. The journey took about 50 minutes and we arrived at Shapotou Scenic Area. East Gate Ticket Office.
From Zhongwei Railway Station or Zhongwei Bus Terminal to Shapotou, it is the most convenient and economical to take the bus. It costs 5 yuan to get on the bus in the urban area, and you can go directly to the ticket office of the scenic spot. Taxi is generally 20 to 25 yuan per person (the highest asking price for bad drivers is 50 yuan per person), and taxis can only go to the parking lot in Shapotou, and tourists have to walk 1400 meters to get off from the parking lot. Arrive at the Shapotou ticket office. If you are dragging your suitcase, this road must be very hard.
It was the Mid-Autumn Festival that day, maybe it is "people miss their loved ones during the festive season". When we arrived in Shapotou, we immediately felt "like home". The scenic spot is free of tickets for tourists over 60 years old, free pick-up and drop-off in the scenic spot, free Rich breakfast is provided, and moon cakes and fruits are presented to guests on the day. Moreover, the staff in the scenic area are friendly in speech, standard in behavior, complete in hotel facilities, and spotless in hygiene. Even in the south of us, it is hard to compare. It is said that Ningxia people are naturally warm and simple, "one side of the soil and water nourishes the other side", or the customs and customs are completely different in different regions!
Passion is beautiful! Rare enthusiasm will make you unforgettable. Right at the ticket gate in front of us, when we told the staff that we had booked a hotel in the scenic area, a lady receptionist Zhuang Shu walked out of the studio (so far I have a deep image), and after she contacted the hotel with a walkie-talkie, she kindly Greeted us to get in the car, and drove us quickly to the hotel. We were greeted by two hostesses in front of the door. They first greeted us with festive greetings, welcomed us into the guest room, presented us with mooncakes and fruits, and then gently said: "I want to have dinner, and I will give you a discount today." At that time, we were really "flattered"!
This is our (Ctrip booking) Shapotou Yellow River Resort, 480 yuan / sand view room. Needless to say, look at its specifications. This price is not high compared to any popular scenic spots, and it is usually hard to find a room. Perhaps it was because of the Mid-Autumn Festival that there were not many residents in the villa. We walked all the way from Xinjiang, and we never took a pleasant hot bath, didn't enjoy a breakfast, and our accommodation was seldom disturbed by others. Probably, human nature is "want to go out at home, want to go home after going out". And our home is still thousands of miles away, perhaps, now is the "far away home"!
The Yellow River can be seen from the restaurant of the villa, and within 200 meters of walking out of the villa, there is the sand skiing field in Shapotou, which can be described as "unique". After staying in the villa for a short rest, we then walked to the Tengger Desert in the North District. We passed the sand-skiing field in front of us. Tonight, we plan to take photos of the desert starry sky here. This is a plan that has been drawn up long ago, but whether the plan can be realized depends on the weather.
Walking west along the road under the sand skiing field, you will find the large escalator connecting the desert area (left in the picture above). The fee for the large escalator is included in the ticket. Take the big escalator up to the Yellow River Observation Deck (also known as Wangwei Observation Deck) at the upper end of the sand slide field.
【Look at the long river from Shapotou】
The desert escalator in Shapotou is said to have a vertical height of 100 meters, which was second to none in China at that time (it was replaced by the mountain-crossing escalator in Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie) and the only desert escalator in the world. You can climb the escalator in less than 5 minutes Climb to the top of the sand slide.
"If a bicycle wants to ask the border, it belongs to the country and passes through Juyan. When it is conquered, it goes out of Hansai, and the geese go into Hutian. The desert is solitary, and the long river falls into the sun. When Xiaoguan is riding, he is protected by Yanran." This is the famous poem "Envoy to the Fortress" by Wang Wei, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The theme of the poem is engraved on the viewing platform of the Yellow River in Shapotou, and the statue in front of you is Wang Wei, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty. A celebrity is a celebrity, with a country and a family in his chest, and an awe-inspiring spirit of righteousness!
In the 25th year of Kaiyuan (737) of the Tang Dynasty, in Juyan, Gansu (now north of Jiuquan), the famous Tang Dynasty general Cui Xiyi led his army to fight bloody battles with the Tubo army. To comfort the generals. "Envoy to the Fortress" is Wang Wei's travel poem. The poem describes the magnificence of the mountains and rivers beyond the Great Wall, and expresses the poet's admiration for the soldiers of the country who are not afraid of dangers; they look forward to an early victory in the war, and praise General Cui Xiyi for going to the battlefield bravely; it truly reflects the hardships of the life of the soldiers and civilians in the frontier fortress , It also shows that poets and soldiers live and die together!
Standing on the viewing platform, in front of you is the "Long River" written by the poet, the mother river of the motherland. She walked all the way from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, overcame all kinds of difficulties and obstacles, and ran to the east and the sea without turning back. She drew a big bay here, evolved a vast and fertile oasis, nurtured generations of Chinese children, and also shaped warm and simple Northwesterners. Some people say that Shapotou is the best combination of encountering the double scene of the desert and the Yellow River. At this moment, you are quietly watching the solitary smoke in the desert, the surging river; Gudu raft paddling, the playful sound of sand boarding, the brave Yellow River flying, history and reality are flowing in front of your eyes!
Shapotou is a place suitable for all ages. There are dozens of recreational and ornamental items here, from sandboarding to Yellow River rafting to Yellow River ziplines; from camel riding to sand surfing and desert off-roading. It also ranges from tens of yuan to several hundred yuan. It takes half a day even to take a look at the flowers. How long it takes to play carefully depends on everyone's interests. Our goal of coming to Shapotou is very clear, first to see the afterglow of the sunset in the desert, second to see the desert camel caravan, third to see the starry sky in the desert, and fourth to see the sunrise of the Yellow River. Still the same sentence, no matter how beautiful the idea is, it depends on the sky.
【Look at the vastness in Shapotou】
"March into the desert", after walking through the viewing platform of the Yellow River, you will come to the sightseeing station to the desert area (also known as Shapotou North District). There are two roads here, one is to go to the desert by car (15 yuan one-way) In the area, watching the desert, riding a camel, playing desert surfing, desert exploration, sand motorcycles and off-road vehicles and other heart-pounding sports, the other is along the ancient Shaguan Road in front of you (pictured below), from the plank road all the way to see the lonely smoke in the desert and The land is vast, and you can also walk to the desert tourist area, and it is free to walk on the plank road.
The setting of this Shaguan ancient road is probably for you to experience the prosperity and gold and iron horses of the ancient road; to have the most intuitive feeling of "the desert is solitary, the long river sets the sun"; to see how the ancestors walked on the long yellow sand , going back and forth on this camel and horse's old road with hardships, and sticking to this majestic pass and long river!
Along the Shaguan Ancient Road in front of us, we walked to the desert area of Shapotou in less than 20 minutes. Most of the Tengger Desert is located in Inner Mongolia, with Gansu on the left and Ningxia on the right. Tengger is one of the four major deserts in my country, covering an area of about 30,000 square kilometers. The altitude is 1200-1400 meters. In Mongolian, Tengger is called "Changshengtian", which means that the vast quicksand is like a boundless sky. Today's Tengger combines the scenery of northern Saipan and the water town of the south of the Yangtze River. It has become a famous desert tourist attraction in Northwest China, and is also known as the "Garden of Eden" in the desert.
"Walking on a camel horse, entering the sand river, the sky is full of yellow sand and yellow sand". Someone said: "If you haven't been to the desert, you can't really understand the value of life; if you haven't been to the hinterland of the desert, you can't really appreciate the primitiveness and vastness of the land. In the past, the desert we only saw on the map , the place we once admired, today, we finally walked into its embrace!
Some people say that if you can come to Tengger once and step on the "creaking" yellow sand, when you are like a lone boat, walking on the desert, looking at the vastness and desolation of the desert, listening to the sound of camel bells on the old road, feeling The thousand-year-old gold and iron horse; if you stand on a high sand dune and look at "the desert is solitary, the long river is full of sun", although you are not far away, the scene must be heartfelt, so you There will be no regrets!
[There is no sunset in the desert tonight]
Unknowingly, we have walked in the desert for several hours. At this moment, there is no trace of the sun in the desert. The sky is vast, the sand is vast, the sky is cloudy, and the desert is very cold. The camel workers are already busy finishing their work, leading their mighty camel team to go home. It seems that today's "Desert Sunset Circle" is a bit overhanging. In any case, since we came, we waited. We walked to the westernmost part of the desert tourist area, set up the camera here, and pointed the lens at the camel caravan heading towards the sunset, just waiting for the moment when the afterglow of the sunset appeared.
"Ask the vast land, who is in charge of the ups and downs", "The mountains and rivers are so beautiful, attracting countless heroes to bow down". At this moment, you are standing on the high place of the sand dunes, staring at the vast land and sky in front of you, you can feel the majesty of a great man like mountains and rivers, and the mountains and rivers of the motherland are so majestic and beautiful! This is Tengger in the Northwest, and this is Shapotou in Ningxia! Although it does not have warm flowers and willows, no emerald green bonus, but it is vigorous and full of agility!
Some people say that travel means going from one place to another. People who like to travel always want to see different scenery and experience different customs. From the flowery willow alleys, small bridges and flowing water in the south of the Yangtze River, to the primitive desolation and lonely smoke in the desert in the northern part of the country; people always want to see the beauty of the world from their own perspective, and always want to experience the colorfulness of the world! This is probably the motivation that people are born with and like to search and search!
There is no sound in Tengger in the evening. Here, you feel as if you have passed away. You feel so small, just like a grain of yellow sand in the desert, looking forward to the warmth of the sun! Today, there is no sunset or afterglow in the Tengger Desert, but we have been here after all and persisted until the end. For this reason, there is no loss!
In the evening, the Tengger Desert was very windy and sandy, and it was very cold. We were shivering from the cold. Stick here until there is no third tourist in the desert, and we did not see the expected "desert sunset circle". We had to take the last sightseeing bus (waiting for tourists to watch the sunset), head back to the hotel, and return to our "home away from home". That night, there was no starry sky in Shapotou, and our plan was to "fall consecutively". Thinking about it, it's not bad to save the night's misfortune, and you can sleep well all night until dawn.
【There is no sunrise on the Yellow River today】
On the morning of September 25th, the weather in Shapotou was still gloomy, and our view of "Long River Morning Sunrise" was ruined again. After enjoying a rich breakfast at the hotel, we came to the Yellow River and prepared to cross the Yellow River on a sheepskin raft. Maybe it’s because I didn’t do my homework. When I arrived at the raft ferry, the fence was locked and I didn’t see a single person. I thought it was too early. I walked back to the hotel and found out that the Yellow River is now in the flood season. All water recreation items (from rafts to yachts) are all suspended. It seems that although our plan is good, we just haven't done our homework well.
Shapotou is usually bustling with sheepskin rafts paddling across the Yellow River, but today's ferry crossing is rarely deserted. There was not even a tourist and a staff member in sight. It's really not the right time for us to come.
"The Yellow River in the world is rich in Ningxia", the opposite is the Yellow River Oasis in Ningxia. I originally planned to cross the Yellow River and go to the oasis to see how rich it is. Now we can only see each other across the river. Today, not only is there no sunrise on the Yellow River, but the sky is still gray. Probably because the plan was frustrated again and again, and I felt that the scenery of Shapotou in front of me was not as eye-catching as yesterday. Nevertheless, we went all the way along the Yellow River to find the sights of this mother river.
We walked along the Yellow River to the 3D Glass Bridge in Shapotou Scenic Area, and found that it had just opened to welcome guests. We didn't know there was a glass bridge across the Yellow River here, which was an unexpected harvest. It is also a good travel experience to be able to watch the torrent and vortex of the Yellow River under your feet, and to cross the Yellow River on foot without any danger. Touring the Yellow River Glass Bridge is 30 yuan per person, and it takes about 30 minutes to walk to the bridgehead on the other side of the Yellow River and return.
We came early today, and the tourist army has not yet arrived. At this moment, there are only tourists one-on-one on the Yellow River Glass Bridge, and it feels good to walk.
Looking at Shapotou from the other side of the Yellow River, there is a special scene in front of you. The slope-shaped house by the Yellow River is the Yellow River Holiday Villa. It is our "home away from home". Last night, we spent a wonderful time listening to the sound of the waves of the Yellow River. Shapotou night!
After walking the glass bridge in Shapotou, because the plans had all failed, we had nothing to do right now, so we went to watch the excitement near the sand skiing field again. At this time, the army of tourists has arrived one after another, and people have played various desert sports here. So, we have a new task, filming the high-altitude zipline crossing the Yellow River and the high-altitude parachute crossing the Yellow River. It seems that in Shapotou there are not only "the desert is solitary, the long river is full of sun", but also challenging, exciting and thrilling modern games.
It is said that the China International Sand Skiing Center is located in Shapotou, where there are thrilling sports such as Yellow River hang gliding, Yellow River zip line, and Yellow River bungee jumping. Among them, the Yellow River Zipline is called "the best cable in the world". It has a total length of 820 meters, a drop of 54 meters, and a sliding speed of more than 8 meters per second. The Yellow River zipline in Shapotou is a round-trip zipline, and it is also the only volley zipline that can freely rotate the body during the sliding process. It really does belong to the brave, and we really do count as bystanders.
The brave men who fly across the Yellow River and the people who watch the brave men fly, they are all a beautiful scenery on Shapotou.
In front of you is the famous "White Horse Rein" statue in the Yellow River. It is said that the word Baimalajiang comes from the first year of Yuanding, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. At that time, the Western Han Dynasty built embankments to divert water and dug the Meili Canal in Shapotou to garrison troops on the border. As a result, the history of the successful water diversion of the Yellow River in Ningxia was created, and there was also a legend about "Bai Ma La Jiang".
Watched the movement of the brave and listened to the story of "Bai Ma La Jiang". We ended our trip to Shapotou, Ningxia. Although the plan for the trip to Shapotou "falls out one after another", there are also joyful harvests. We bid farewell to the Yellow River Resort with good memories, and arrived in Yinchuan by train from Zhongwei that afternoon. We were going to see rock paintings in Helan Mountain, tombs of the Western Xia Dynasty, and visit the Ningxia Museum. In this regard, we have new expectations.
(End of this article/to be continued) Jinling Lesou 2020/9/22
