In August 2015, I went to Beijing to attend the class reunion for the 50th anniversary of my graduation. Afterwards, I went to Xinjiang with two "Fa Xiao" companions. On August 17, I took the high-speed train from Xiamen and arrived in Beijing in only 11 hours. Recalling that in the 1960s, when I returned to Beijing from Xiamen to visit relatives, I had to transit in Yingtan and Shanghai. The journey alone took 4 days. In the past fifty years, domestic railways have indeed improved a lot.
On the morning of August 18th, I returned to my alma mater, Peking University, to meet my old classmates. They were in their prime back then, but now they are all very old. Nearly 1/4 of the whole class died, and after deducting those who were unable to return to school due to various reasons, the actual attendance was less than half of the original class. However, since everyone is over 70 years old, it is not easy to have a party of this scale. The classmates joined hands to revisit "Swallow Garden", took photos in front of the school library, and took pictures by the "Unnamed Lake". The library was newly built after we graduated, and the Weiming Lake is the same as the "huguang tower shadow", which has not changed for half a century. These places are the first choice for taking pictures of the alma mater at present, and the students of the alma mater call it "a tower (lake) (picture)". The pagoda in the three sceneries was only known as a tap water tower in the past, but today I know that it has a nice name, "Boya Pagoda". At noon, we had dinner at "Changchun Garden" (outside the west school gate), 100 yuan per person, AA system, carefully arranged by He M.Y., the only student in the class, and it felt quite rich. Wei Z.S., the first Youth League secretary of the class, delivered a passionate speech during the meeting, encouraging everyone to meet again in 5, 10, and 15 years.
The class reunion lasted for four days. From August 18th to 21st, the whole activity was planned and organized by Chen M.Y., the former party group leader of the class, and Ma X.Z., the second party secretary. ", located on the shore of the Bohai Sea, boarded the car immediately after lunch. Old schoolmates get together, it is still the old rules, the class leader is still the class leader, and the "little brat" is still a "little brat". I used to be a "little boy", so I didn't worry about anything this time, and let the class cadres arrange everything. Arrived at Dongdaihe at 18:00 on the same day, and stayed in the "Napianhai Farmhouse" near Suizhong Power Plant. The room is for two people, and the conditions are not bad. The residence is only 200 meters away from the sea, and there are also scenic spots such as "Jiumenkou Water Great Wall" and "Jieshi Palace" nearby. We also chartered a luxury yacht and sailed into the sea for a tour. "Shanhaiguan" is also close at hand, but he failed to visit as he wished. The chartered driver (Beijing) refused to go there, claiming that it was not easy to park vehicles in other places.
After the party, I returned to Beijing to "break up the group", and I went to Xinjiang with X.D. and Y.C. The three of us once lived in a compound in Beijing, which can be counted as "fa Xiao". Xinjiang has a vast territory, and everyone advocates "going with a group". The two of them contacted a project called [Dream Kanas]: Urumqi, Kanas, Karamay, Devil City, Turpan, Tianchi Shuanglie 10-day tour project, the basic group The fee is 3280 yuan, and the travel agency is responsible for guaranteeing the sleeper berth on the round-trip train between Beijing and Ukraine.
On August 25th, in the morning at Beijing West Railway Station, I found a travel agency drop-off person. I received three Z 69 (Beijing West→Urumqi South) hard sleeper tickets with my ID card, two upper berths and one middle berth. The Z 70 hard sleeper tickets back to Beijing are all lower berths. Then, I waited in the special zone for mothers and babies, the elderly, and the weak with my ID card (over 70 years old), walked through the special ticket gate, and boarded the train in advance. Z 69 times called "Xinjiang Tourism", the Urumqi crew, the new YW25T type hard sleeper cars, all of which are semi-enclosed private rooms, and the toilets can also be used during stops. Depart from Beijing at 10:00, pass Shijiazhuang at 12:40, stop for 25 minutes, arrive at Taiyuan at 15:03, stop at Luliang at 16:32, cross the Yellow River at 17:02, arrive at Dingbian at 19:49, and then enter night driving.
On August 26th, it passed Jiayuguan at 6:51 in the morning, Liuyuan at 9:51 (Dunhuang transfer here), Hami at 13:02, Turpan at 16:44, and Urumqi South Railway Station at 18:19. The ground guide will greet you at the exit with a small flag of "Dream Journey". After counting the number of people, he will lead you to board the car and drive to the "Western Region International Hotel" in Tianshan District, Urumqi City. The tour guide introduced on the bus that his surname is Zhang and the driver of the bus is surnamed Li. They will serve us from now on.
Each person will receive a small Uighur hat, arrive at the hotel and take a photo in front of the door, and then arrange the room. We have a three-bed standard room. According to the contract signed in advance, the tour group is not responsible for our lunch and dinner in Urumqi, only breakfast is provided by the hotel. Therefore, our dinner that day was at our own expense. We chose to eat "big plate chicken". The whole chicken plate costs 90 yuan, and an extra noodle dish costs 10 yuan. The restaurant is just opposite the hotel, and the owner is a Muslim from Tianshui, Gansu. "Xiyu International Hotel" is located in the old city of Urumqi, and the nearby residents are mainly Uighurs. After dinner, strolling around, the streets are full of faces of "European race", bustling with people everywhere, creating a peaceful atmosphere.
On August 27th, I got up at 6:00, had breakfast at 6:30, and set off at 7:00. The sky was still dark. Because I am the oldest, I was respected as "the old man" by the group members, and the tour guide specially arranged for me to sit in the first row on the right, which is the best viewing seat in the whole car. The car goes out of the city and goes west along the G30 Lianhuo Expressway. At 8:36, it stops at the Wugongtai service area in Hutubi County, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture. The flower beds here are very beautiful.
Shortly after getting on the road again, turn into the provincial highway S201, head west and then north, heading towards Karamay. The tour guide began to give a speech, emphasizing that the winter in Xinjiang is long, the tour guide can only work for a few months a year, and it is very difficult to earn money. He is nearly 30 years old and has not married because he has no money. He admits that tour guides will benefit from tourists' consumption, but it is by no means as lucrative as some journalists claim. The next step is to recommend self-funded tourism projects, most of which are the same as what we were told when we joined the group in Beijing, but the scenic spots in Kanas were greatly compressed, and we did not go to "Hemu" and "Black Lake". The saved time was diverted to visit the "China-Kazakhstan border post", "White Sand Lake" and "Singing Sand Mountain". These places are all under the jurisdiction of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The local travel agency is a subordinate of the Corps, and the tour guide himself is also a child of the Corps. "Fat and water will not flow to outsiders" should be his purpose. A total of 1,330 yuan has to be paid for the full set of self-funded items, and a form is issued on the spot, requiring everyone to sign and express their opinions. I signed and paid the fee immediately, and most of the whole group also paid in full, only a few people were unwilling to participate in some of the projects, and the tour guide accepted it as soon as it was good, without saying anything.
At noon, turn right at the large turntable at the entrance of Karamay, continue northward along the national highway G217, and stop for lunch at "Niu Street" in Baijiantan District, Keshi. According to the contract, there are 10 people per table for lunch and dinner, eight dishes and one soup, and the meal standard is 20 yuan per person. However, "eight dishes and one soup" is true, but they are all vegetarian, and if the same vegetable is cooked slightly, it becomes another dish. The tour guide also greeted everyone in advance. The meals of the tour group cannot guarantee that everyone eats well, but can only eat enough.
After dinner, continue to take the national highway G217, crossing the Zhungeer Gobi to the north, passing the Karamay Oil Field on the way, and the eyes are full of "kowtow pumps" one after another. About an hour later, get off the national highway, turn left, and drive to a self-funded scenic spot called "Huyang Tribe". The main attractions here are "Huyang Forest" and "Gem Beach". Populus euphratica is sparsely scattered, not to mention a "forest". "Gem Beach" is the vast Gobi, with pebbles of various colors scattered on the ground, known as "Gobi Jade". The owner of the scenic spot is a Uighur. The hostess has been studying in a Han school since she was a child. She can speak Mandarin very well. She told us that the Populus euphratica tree here grows for a thousand years without dying.
After looking at Populus euphratica, we went to search for "gems". Among the three of us, X.D. has a lot of research on "jade". According to him, the "gems" here are called "golden silk jade", and yellow and red are the best. So, I picked yellow and red pebbles that can transmit light, and picked up a large bag. It is said that there is another kind of "black gemstone" that is more precious. I also picked up a shiny black stone with many round pits on the surface. I suspect it is a meteorite.
Leave the scenic spot around 16:00, turn back to the G217 National Highway and continue northward, and drive on the G3014 Kuitun-Altay Expressway through the "Uerhe" entrance about 1 hour later. The famous Yadan landform scenic spot "Uerhe Devil City" is on the right side of the road far away. In fact, on the highway, we can see many castle-like mounds on the side of the road, which are called "Yadan" in Uighur. Going further is the vast grassland, where large herds of cattle and sheep are grazing. However, the pastures are very short, the sky is wild and vast, and mice can be found when the wind blows and the grass is low.
At 19:00, get off the "Kui-A Highway" via the "Bayintuohai Overpass", return to the national highway G217, and head north to Burqin. At the end of the grassland on the right side there is a large piece of water. The tour guide said that it is "Ulungu Lake", also known as "Fuhai", with an area of 800 square kilometers. It is the famous "Golden Coast" in Xinjiang and a famous fishing ground. Going forward and encountering a low mountain ridge, the tour guide said that there are three mountain ridges to climb to Kanas, and this is the first one.
Arrive in Burqin around 20:00, get off the national highway and don't enter the city first, but drive along the provincial highway S227 directly to the "Colorful Beach" scenic spot. The Irtysh River flows on the left side of the provincial road, and it is the only major river in my country that flows to the Arctic Ocean. Entering the scenic spot at 20:43, the tour guide said that it is privately developed by the boss in Hong Kong, and I can enter for free with my ID card (over 70 years old). "Colorful Beach" is located on the banks of the Irtysh River. It is also a kind of Yardang landform, colorful and beautiful. It's just that we arrived too late, and it didn't take long for the sky to darken. However, the tour guide said that he chose this time on purpose, because the weather is clear and you can see the sunset and sunset. If it is cloudy, he usually brings the group back the next morning. However, in my opinion, it is a pity that such a beautiful scenery can only be glimpsed in a hurry.
Leaving the scenic area at 21:35, it was already pitch black, and drove into Burqin County, and arranged dinner at the "Sutong Holiday Hotel". As usual, it was "eight dishes and one soup", and as usual, it was all vegetarian. It was 22:30 after the meal, and we arranged accommodation in the "Buerqin County Business Hotel", and we still got a three-bed room. Y.C. and X.D. have the habit of taking a walk after dinner, while I take the time to take a shower and tidy up the house. The two returned in the early morning of the next day, claiming that the nightlife in Burqin was very lively, and they also found a food street with special grilled fish.
On August 28, today’s plan is Burqin → Kanas → Jiadengyu, still get up at 6:00, and have a buffet breakfast at the restaurant attached to the hotel at 6:30. The only meat dish is eggs, and each person is limited to one. After dinner, head north along the provincial road S232, heading for Kanas. At 8:20, climb over the second Altai ridge, behind the mountain is the largest "Chonghuer Township" in Burqin County, and the residents are Kazakhs. The country houses are very beautiful, and the tour guide said that the government funded the construction for the development of "new countryside". We stopped for a while in the tourist development zone of "Chonghuer Township". The buildings are all Russian-style, and there is also a small supermarket nearby. The tour guide suggests that you add some food, because "Kanas" is just ahead, and the prices are super high.
Soon after continuing on the road, beautiful huts with red roofs and yellow walls appeared on the side of the road, all of which were of uniform specifications. They were the wintering bases for herdsmen, commonly known as "Dongwozi", and they were also built with government funding. At present, the herdsmen are all in the mountains, and the mountains are closed by heavy snow in winter, so the herdsmen have to go down the mountains for the winter. The next step is to cross the third Altai mountain ridge. This mountain is relatively tall, and the road is also winding. It is the famous "sixty-six turns" of the provincial road S232. At 9:34 to the top of the slope, I saw a few white yurts on the side of the road, and there were tourist buses stopping. It was probably a scenic spot. Going a little further, you can see "Kanas Airport", with white walls and red spires, also in Russian style. There is also the "Russian Village" nearby. The residents are all descendants of Belarus who escaped from the disaster in the 1920s. Now they have become a member of the 56 ethnic groups in China.
10:05 After passing the Agung Geti Grassland Stone Man Scenic Area, the "Kazakh National Cultural Park" has been built. There are yurts for accommodation, parking lots, boardwalks, shopping stores and necessary sanitation facilities, but the tickets are very expensive, 198 yuan /people. We just parked and rested outside the door, and did not visit inside. After 10 minutes, we continued on the road. The car drove up the high slope, and the vast grassland under the slope was called "Xinjiang Shangri-La" by the tour guide. At 10:42, we drove through the border checkpoint. The tour guide declared that it was a Beijing tour group, and he was released immediately.
Then drive into the forest area of Kanas, the tall "tasong" began to appear on the side of the road. At 11:12, it passed through Jiadengyu, which was originally a small village. The bosses from other places came to invest and built it into a tourist resort. The tour guide Xiao Zhang said that the prosperity here is only a few months every year, and the temperature in winter drops to more than minus 40 degrees, and there are almost no people in the resort. Arrived at Kanas Scenic Area at 11:17, the team bus can only be parked outside the scenic area, and there are other traffic vehicles in the scenic area. I can enter the scenic spot for free with my ID card (over 70 years old), but I still need to buy a traffic ticket.
Enter the scenic spot around 12:00, follow the tour guide to take a traffic car, and drive north along the provincial road S232. The charming scenery flashes past the window from time to time, and Kanas Lake appears and disappears from time to time. The local car guide in the scenic spot introduces the scenery outside the window all the way. We successively drive through Tuojing Bay, Kanas River Bridge, Wolong Bay, Shenxian Bay, finally arrived at the "transfer center". There are transportation vehicles to different scenic spots in the scenic area, but each line has to be purchased separately. Get off the car and have lunch first, still eight dishes and one soup, and still vegan.
According to the tour guide's arrangement, we only have one afternoon tour in Kanas: a boat trip to Kanas Lake; visits to Tuva people's homes; and then scattered free activities. After lunch, there is a "boat tour" first. Follow the guide to take a bus from the transfer center and pass through a Tuva village. After getting off the bus, you will walk through the forest and grassland, and then the cruise ship terminal. The scenery along the way is very beautiful. The famous "Guanyu Pavilion" is on the top of the high mountain in the opposite distance. It is said that it is the best place to watch the "Lake Monster". However, there are only a few people who are really lucky enough to "see" the lake monster so far, not to mention the frequent cruises on Kanas Lake, even if there is a lake monster, it is estimated that they would not dare to show their faces.
Kanas Lake is located deep in the dense forest of Altai. It is the deepest moraine barrier lake in my country and the only lake in the Arctic Ocean system in China. The surface of the lake is long, which can be called a lake or a river. When we came here, the waters of Wolong Bay, Moon Bay, and Shenxian Bay were narrow. In my opinion, they can only be regarded as "Kanas River". The water surface of the boat tour is relatively wide, which is the real "Kanas Lake".
Board the ship at 14:15, drive north for about half an hour and then stop the ship. Arrange tourists to board the top deck to watch the scenery and take pictures, and then turn back to the cruise ship terminal on the same road. The whole journey is about 1 hour. "Kanas" is a famous color-changing lake. The color of the water surface changes with sunshine, rain, spring, summer, autumn and winter. We took the boat all the way, and also noticed that the color of the lake is sometimes slightly blue, sometimes milky white, and sometimes slightly green. This is because the sky above the lake is covered with blue sky and white clouds on the plateau, and the mountains around the lake are emerald. Different colors of light and dark alternately reflect on the lake, and then viewed from different angles, it will produce colorful and changing effects.
Next is the "Tuva home visit", that is, the village we passed by just now. There are only about 2,000 Tuva people in China, and they all live in the vicinity of "Kanas". They belong to a branch of the Mongolian nationality. As for its origin, there are mainly three theories: one is that it migrated from Siberia 500 years ago; the other is that it migrated from Outer Mongolia 400 years ago; They were ordered to stay, and after generations of reproduction, they formed the Tuva people in China today. "Home visit" is a self-funded item, and the price is not cheap. A woman introduces the customs and history of Tuva, and then two young men perform musical instruments and dance, totaling about 1 hour.
Followed by scattered activities, the group members organize themselves, can walk, or take the scenic spot traffic car, go retrograde along the original road of Kanas River, and return to the gate of the scenic spot. The tour guide said that you can get on and off at Shenxian Bay, Moon Bay, Wolong Bay and other scenic spots by bus, but you should keep in mind that the last bus is at 20:00, and the team will also gather at the parking lot of the scenic spot at 20:00.
We took another bus at the transfer center and arrived at Shenxian Bay at 17:18. After getting off the bus, we found that the viewing platform was separated from the Kanas River by a vast pasture, and there was barbed wire blocking it, so we couldn't get close to the water's edge. The three of them couldn't help being disappointed, X.D. was especially excited, advocating to get on the car again immediately and rush to the next scenic spot. However, both Y.C. and I believed that "Kanas" was the top priority when we came to Xinjiang this time. The tour was compressed into half a day, and it was used to sit and listen to "lectures" for an hour. I already felt wronged in my heart. Arriving at the scenic spot at this moment, if you don't take a photo of "visit here", wouldn't it be in vain? So I insisted on staying. Seeing that we didn't listen to the greeting, X.D. felt angry but had nothing to do, so he took the car alone and rushed to the next scenic spot "Moon Bay".
It was still too early to finish taking photos, and Y.C. and I decided to give up the car ride and instead walk along the boardwalk, play and take photos along the way, and then walked to Moon Bay. The wooden plank road winds under the tall and straight Tasong, and the dense forest is very quiet, and only occasionally can you meet a few tourists who are also on foot. However, this section of the plank road always avoids the Kanas River far away, and never walks by the water, which makes us feel lost again. While walking, I received a call from X.D. He had been waiting for us in Moon Bay for a long time, so he decided not to wait any longer. He also walked along the boardwalk to the next scenic spot, Wolong Bay.
After walking for about an hour, we arrived at Moon Bay. We saw the tour guide Xiao Zhang unexpectedly. He saw us walking on the bus and felt uneasy. He got off at Moon Bay and waited for us. Moon Bay is regarded by many people as the best scenic spot in Kanas Lake. The river course is clamped by the mountains on both sides, and the mountain draws a beautiful arc, which looks like a crescent moon in the sky, so the bay is called "Moon Bay". The viewing platform is built on a high place by the lake, and there is still a considerable distance from the water surface. Standing on the platform and looking down, the blue crescent moon seems to be close at hand, so far away, it makes people daydream.
Taking pictures in Moon Bay, and answering the phone call from X.D., he has arrived in "Wolong Bay". However, Y.C. and I never had the chance to experience it again, because none of the other group members hiked, and we have now become the tail of the team, and the tour guide stayed on purpose to prevent us from becoming a drag. Moreover, it is now the last time for traffic vehicles, and the staff of the scenic spot have also started shouting to dissuade tourists from taking the plank road. So, Y.C. and I had to obediently follow the tour guide to take the bus, arrived at Wolong Bay around 19:00, and met X.D. immediately. This time on the boardwalk, Y.C. and I should have miscalculated, but X.D. was "right". "Wolong Bay" got its name because there is a sandbar in the middle of the river, which is said to look like a "Chinese dragon".
Leaving Wolong Bay at 19:10, take the traffic bus back to the gate of the scenic spot, and then board our own tourist bus. After about 10 minutes, we drive to the "Jiadengyu" village and check into the "Green Hotel". There are still three people in one room. In the evening, we dined in the hotel restaurant, still completely vegetarian, only cabbage, celery, green peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes. No matter where we go, the dishes are always the same, and the taste is similar.
On August 29, I got up at 6:30, set off without breakfast, left "Jiadengyu" at 7:10, and drove south along the provincial road S232. The hotel prepared food such as flower rolls, Xinjiang baked naan, fried peanuts, pickles, and boxed milk for us. The tour guide said that we would eat it halfway. It was just dawn, and there was no smoke in the herdsmen's yurts. After 8:00, the sun will rise, and we will drive past the grassland stone man scenic spot, Russian villages, and Kanas Airport.
At 8:50, we arrived at the "Sixty-six Turns" we crossed yesterday. The car stopped in front of several yurts beside the slope top road. The team was going to arrange breakfast here. Here is not only the viewing point of "Sixty-six Turns", but also stalls selling tourist souvenirs, public toilets and other facilities, which can be regarded as a simple roadside service area. I came from Burqin yesterday, and I saw a bus stop here. The owner of the yurt provides tables and chairs for the tour guide to arrange breakfast, and also sells fresh hot milk by the way. Before leaving, I saw the tour guide and the owner of the yurt make a settlement, but I didn't figure out who paid whom.
After breakfast, go down the mountain via "Sixty-six Turns", drive through "Chonghuer Township", and then turn over a mountain ridge, leave the provincial road S232 at about 10 o'clock, turn right and drive onto a fork road leading to Habahe County. Passing by "Yalaman" at 10:30, I saw a large area of newly-built residential buildings on the side of the road, all of which were of uniform specifications with red roofs, yellow walls, and iron fences around the courtyard, just like small villas. The tour guide said that this is also a winter house for Kazakh herdsmen funded by the government. There is no one there because the herdsmen are all in the mountains. Not far forward, you will encounter dilapidated houses built entirely of mud. They are the "Dongwozi" of the herdsmen in the past.
Enter Habahe County at 11:28, the houses in the city are mostly European style. The tour guide went to the border defense brigade to apply for a border pass. The group members got out of the car to stretch their legs and feet, and kebabs were sold on the roadside. The "eight dishes and one soup" made everyone flock to the kebabs. .
Start after 20 minutes, drive out of the county seat, and go west along the Z840 highway. The rural scenery of Habahe County is very beautiful. Flowers, wooden plank roads, exquisite observation decks, and vast wetlands all come into view one after another. 11:56 Crossing the Haba River, I suddenly saw a large birch forest. The tour guide said that this is the birch forest scenic spot in Habahe County. In a fertile oasis, flocks of cattle and sheep can be seen everywhere.
Going forward, you will enter the desert. The road stretches straight into the distance, with barren Gobi on both sides. At 12:37, I saw a large area of water on the left. I thought it was a lake in the desert, but after asking the tour guide, I learned that it was the famous Irtysh River, which originated from the southern foot of the Altai Mountains and flowed westward through Beitun. , Burqin, Haba River and other places later entered Kazakhstan, and then flowed into the Arctic Ocean through Russia. The water in front of me is a bend of the Irtysh River. The river is clear and blue, and there are green sandbars on the other side. The scenery is very beautiful. There was a bus stopping by the water, and the tourists got out of the bus to take pictures. Our group members also asked to stop, but Zhang and Li pretended not to hear them. The car sped forward, and the Irtysh River just missed.
12:44 Enter the oasis and cross the Berezek River (a tributary of the Irtysh River). Along the Berezek River is a narrow strip of oasis. We crossed the middle and entered the desert again after a while. After about 20 minutes, enter another oasis, which is under the jurisdiction of the 185th Regiment of the 10th Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The oasis is also long and stretches along the border between China and Kazakhstan in a north-south direction.
The cars moved forward one after another and arrived at the Sandek militia post at 13:16. The border guards Ma Junwu and his wife were the only members of the post. The outpost is more than 500 meters away from the desert in the east, and less than 20 meters away from the border river (Arakbek River) between China and Kazakhstan in the west. There are no other residential buildings in the surrounding dozens of square kilometers. Ma Junwu "does only one thing in his life, and I will be a guard for the motherland." So far, he has been stationed here for 27 spring and autumn. He is a national labor and moral model, and has been received by President Xi Jinping twice. The border rivers between China and Kazakhstan are currently experiencing dry water. It looks like a canal in the backyard of a farmhouse. I picked up a translucent yellow pebble by the river as a souvenir of stepping on the western border of the country.
We left the outpost at 13:52 and continued northward along the Z840 highway. We arrived at the 185th Regiment Sanlian at 14:03. We had lunch here and enjoyed the "eight dishes and one soup" again. The "company" of the Corps is actually a small village with 10 to 20 households and farmhouses of uniform specifications, but the farmhouses of different companies have different characteristics. The Sanlian resident is close to the Baisha Lake Scenic Area, so it is also a must-see for tourist groups. Every family organizes tourism and every household opens restaurants. After lunch at 14:50, take the traffic car in the scenic spot, drive through the birch forest, and then cross the desert to Baisha Lake for sightseeing. Baisha Lake is located deep in the desert, surrounded by sand dunes. Although there is no fixed channel for water injection, the water quality is clear all year round and the water volume remains unchanged. The source of the lake water is still a mystery. The boardwalk along the lake is about 1 kilometer long, and the viewing platform at the end has a wide view. It is the best place to take pictures. Standing on the stage and watching, the lake is blue against the clear sky, surrounded by green trees, golden sand mountains reflected in the water, together with reeds and water lilies, the scenery is superb. Looking at the mountains in the distance, the white clouds are blooming, but it is already within the territory of Kazakhstan.
Leaving Baisha Lake at 15:40, returning to the Sanlian parking lot, boarding our own tourist bus, continuing to drive north along the border, and arriving at the 185th Regiment 1st Company at 16:08. This is the northernmost point in Northwest my country, known as the "North of Northwest". After getting off the bus, visit the exhibition hall first, and then go to the "North of the Northwest" viewing platform, standing on the platform, you can overlook the exotic scenery of neighboring Kazakhstan. The tour guide organized the whole group to take a group photo on the viewing platform, and the three of us "hair boys" also took a group photo with the national flag held high.
Leave Yilian at 17:10, turn back on the original road and head south, and arrive at "Singing Sand Mountain" after driving for about 50 minutes. The scenic area mainly provides various desert amusement projects, which require additional fees and are not suitable for the elderly. We do not participate and prefer to stay outside the door. The scenic spot is only less than 10 meters away from the boundary river. The towering watchtower and dense barbed wire are the unique landscapes of this area.
Leaving "Mingsha Mountain" at 18:36, heading south along the Z840 road, then heading east, returning to "Habahe" county town, the tour guide must go to the border defense brigade to go through the formalities of canceling the border pass. Before entering the city, I saw roads decorated with flowers, beautiful grasslands, wetlands, and groups of cattle and sheep. After the tour guide finished his work, the car still needs to be refueled. I also took the time to call my family in Xiamen to report safety. It was 20:30 at the moment, and the sun was still high, but it was dark two hours ago in Xiamen.
Drive out of the county and go to Burqin along the provincial road S227. The tour guide reminds everyone to pay attention to the beautiful Kazakh traffic police at the intersection of the city. This is a beautiful local scenery. However, we were unlucky and met a handsome guy on duty. At 20:50, we passed the colorful beach scenic spot in Burqin. There was a wind farm nearby. As the sun set, the ground was reddish brown. 21:12 Entering Burqin County, the moon is already high, and soon it will be completely dark. Stay at "Buerqin County Business Hotel" again, and the dinner is still "Xinjiang special eight dishes and one soup". After the meal, the three of them went out together, and tasted the famous charcoal-grilled fur seal fish and mutton skewers at the local night market, for a total of 75 yuan. I still want to eat pilaf, but others think it is too oily, so I have to give up.
On August 30th, wake up at 6:00, enjoy free breakfast at the hotel at 6:30, and board the bus at 7:10. The tour guide claims that there is no tourist program for the whole day today, and the only arrangement is to return to Urumqi. The car goes south along G217, on the G3014 Kuia Expressway at the Bayintuohai Overpass, and exits at the Baijiantan Exit at 11:42, entering the Baijiantan District of Karamay City. Lunch is still arranged at "Niujie", and it is still "eight dishes and one soup".
There are hawkers selling Gobi jade and stone carving crafts everywhere in Xinjiang, and there are many in "Niujie". Among the three of us, X.D. is an enthusiast of stone appreciation. He was very interested in discussing with the stall owner. There was a booth displaying a beautiful red stone, the size of a fist, identified by X.D. as "Brazilian Agate". This statement was immediately echoed by the stall owner, who repeatedly praised him as a real expert. X.D. proudly asked the price, the stall owner offered 200 yuan, X.D. casually counter-offered 100, did not expect the deal immediately, had no choice but to pay. Afterwards, I analyzed that if such a beautiful agate gem was really produced in Brazil, it would never be sold for only 100 yuan if it was shipped to China and then to Xinjiang. It's cheap, guess it's actually a glass imitation, X.D. doesn't bother to comment on my guess.
After dinner, start again, go south along the national highway G217, turn into the provincial highway S201 at the large turntable at the entrance of Karamay City at 13:02, go south, then east, and then go to the G30 (Lianhuo) expressway via the Wugongtai overpass. Sail to Urumqi. Enter the urban area around 19:00 and go straight to the "Forst Fujite" jewelry and jade store on Zhongshan Road. I have no interest in jade wares. After a while, I joined a few group members, wandering around in the store and talking loudly. The tour guide hurriedly invited us into the side room and asked the waiter to bring tea. He suggested that we sit down and have a rest. Newspapers, don't wander around, talk nonsense, and affect other people's shopping mood. For tour guides, shopping is far more important than visiting scenic spots. Therefore, although we are busy walking in various scenic spots, shopping is the only time we have plenty of time. Wait aside. When we were bored, a few of us walked out of the store to watch the street view. We didn’t expect that there were also Uyghur men selling jade forcibly here, even if we avoided the car, we had to catch up with the car.
Returning to the "Xiyu International Hotel", I insisted on eating pilaf for dinner, but the other two firmly opposed it, so they had to eat separately. There is a chain restaurant "Kaidirui Pilaf" on nearby Fukang Street. Go in and choose the "Olive Oil Pilaf" set meal for 30 yuan, and add two mutton skewers for 12 yuan. The pilaf is delicious, and there are side dishes and yogurt, but the amount is too small and I am not full. But later I learned from the Internet that it turns out that eating pilaf in Xinjiang can be added for free.
On August 31, at 6:00, the main station called "morning", and at 6:30, we had breakfast at the "Galina Restaurant" attached to the hotel. At 7:00, we set off before dawn, and headed for Turpan along the G30 Lianhuo Expressway. After dawn, it was found to be cloudy, with occasional raindrops. Xinjiang has been sunny for many days, but it rained in Turpan, which is known as China's "dry pole". At 9:00, we passed the wind farm, and the tall windmills were densely packed, which was very spectacular. The tour guide said that in the past, wind power equipment was imported and expensive, but after localization, the price has dropped sharply. Now Xinjiang wind power has become a competitive situation, and the better wind farms are divided up by major energy companies. Sitting in the car and seeing the wind power formation for the first time, I just admired the astonishing number of windmills. Later, when I met the convoy transporting the windmill blades, I realized that the hugeness of the windmills was really shocking.
Arrived at Turpan at 9:43 and got off the expressway, and immediately saw the "Turpan Tourist Service Center". The tour guide went to buy tickets, and all the group members got off the bus for activities. The next step is to drive 45 kilometers to the "Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves", arriving at 10:41. "Bezeklik Thousand-Buddha Caves" is a national key cultural relics protection unit. The caves are built on the cliffs of a canyon in the middle of the mountain. There is a small river passing through the canyon. The bottom of the canyon is lush and green. Very distinct.
The caves in the scenic area were first excavated in the 5th century AD and the latest in the 14th century. Among them, the caves in the 10th to 11th centuries were the most prosperous. At that time, the Uighur king of Gaochang Kingdom abandoned Manichaeism and converted to Buddhism, and expanded it into a royal Buddhist temple. However, after the 15th century AD, the local people converted to Islam, and the Buddhist temples were abandoned. At the beginning of the 20th century, European "explorers" came again and smuggled the surviving murals out of the country in hundreds of boxes. Therefore, the current "Bezeklik" has not many cultural relics except the caves. I turned around and felt that there was nothing to see. I was about to evacuate out of frustration, and suddenly saw foreign tourists in costumes interacting with a local Uyghur old man. The father and daughter danced to the accompaniment of the Uyghur old man, and the mother filmed a video. Other tourists "snapped" one after another, and I took the opportunity to take a few photos.
Behind the caves is the famous "Turpan Flame Mountain", which can be climbed on foot or by renting camels. The three of us hiked along the path to the middle of the mountain, and took a picture of the "visit here" as a souvenir. There are also group members who want to climb to the top, but the tour guide tried to dissuade them. He said that fortunately, today is a rare cloudy day. If it is normal, even if we climb to the middle of the mountain like this, we will be scorched by the scorching sun.
Leave Flame Mountain at 12:20, turn back to Turpan City, arrive at "Grape Valley Folk Village" at 12:59, visit Uyghur people's homes for a fee, listen to folk customs introductions, watch dance performances, and enjoy grapes, watermelons, cantaloupe and other fruits at the same time. Is to buy raisins. There are many varieties of raisins, but the price is not cheap. None of the three of us bought them. However, some group members are eager to buy, and it takes up a lot of time to choose. The tour guide patiently waited for the last group member to complete the purchase, and then gathered the team and boarded the car around 14:00. It is the local lunch time at this moment, and the little "Guli" are also returning home from school. Uighur girls are often called "Guli", and boys are often called "Balangzi".
The gate of the village entrance of "Grape Valley" is quite distinctive. The group members asked to take pictures one after another. The tour guide refused to agree at first, claiming that today's lunch was arranged to eat while watching the performance. Parking was delayed by about 5 minutes.
After taking photos and getting on the bus, the tour guide informed us that we were going to the "Turpan Grand Theater" to watch the song and dance performance of "Turpan Grand Theater". The theater was invested and built by mainland bosses, and the actors are from the local Uyghurs. He also specially introduced that the lunch served in the theater is also quite rich, including large plate chicken, lamb chops, pilaf, yogurt, meat skewers, Xinjiang naan bread and various side dishes. Except for the limited amount of meat skewers, others can be added. Afterwards, I also learned from the Internet that "Turpan Grand Ceremony" is actually a supporting project of the "Turpan Day Tour" launched by the Turpan Tourism Bureau. There is a performance every day from 13:30 to 15:00, and the ticket price is 238 yuan. However, we arrived at the theater at 14:20, and the song and dance performance had already started. A piece of food was placed in front of each empty seat in the theater hall (that is, the restaurant), and everyone found a vacant seat to eat. The performance was really wonderful, the music, lighting, and choreography were all great, and the food was also the best meal I had in Xinjiang. But because I was late, I only saw more than half of the singing and dancing. Moreover, because the performance had already started, the theater was dark, and I didn't know where to go to get some more pilaf. The main reason for such consequences is that it takes too much time to buy raisins, and the tour guide did not explain to everyone when the song and dance performances will start. For tour guides, it is far more important to let individual tourists enjoy shopping than to let everyone eat well and play well. This is the contradiction between tour guides and tourists, and the "core interests" are incompatible.
Then visit the Karez Museum, arriving at 15:30. Turpan's annual precipitation is less than 1/160 of the evaporation, but it is also a famous hometown of grapes. The secret lies in the "Kanat" irrigation system. Karez consists of vertical shafts, underground channels, surface channels and "laoba" (small reservoirs). Turpan is adjacent to the Tianshan Mountains. The melting water from the snow peaks forms a huge aquifer under the Gobi Desert. The local people use the altitude difference between the foot of the Tianshan Mountains and the Turpan Basin to create an underground water diversion system called "Karez". farmland. The junction of the underground culvert and the open channel on the ground is called "Longkou", and the picture is taken to "visit here".
After leaving Karez, we visited another "Uygur Ancient Village Museum", and then went to the "Jiaohe Ancient City" located on the west side of Turpan City, arriving at 17:00. The "Gucheng" is built on an island-shaped platform in the shape of a willow leaf. Because there is a water flow that divides into two streams and passes around the island, it is called "Jiaohe". It was the earliest capital of the "Cheshiqian Kingdom" of the "Thirty-Six Kingdoms in the Western Regions" in the Han Dynasty, and it has been more than two thousand years so far. The Tang Dynasty set up the "Anxi Protectorate" here, which was the highest military and political institution governing the Western Regions. "Jiaohe Ancient City" is a national key cultural relic protection unit, and was also included in the "World Cultural Heritage List" because China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan jointly applied for the "Silk Road".
The "Old City" is all built with "raw soil". No bricks, tiles, adobe, or stones are used to build houses. Instead, they are dug from the ground, and streets, houses, and yards are cut out directly on the "raw soil" layer. Therefore, unlike the general ruins, which are dated earlier as they go down, Jiaohe City is dated later as they go down. Thousands of years of trials and vicissitudes, one ethnic group withdraws, another ethnic group enters, and the latecomers continue to dig on the ground of the predecessors. "Jiaohe" is such a city "carved" on the loess platform. However, this process ended in the war in the 14th century AD. At that time, the Mongolian nobles of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate abandoned Buddhism and converted to Islam, and then launched Islamic jihad, forcing Buddhist believers living in Turpan to convert to Islam, after the fierce battle, the "Jiaohe" city was broken and eventually became an abandoned city.
Leaving "Jiaohe Ancient City" at 18:00, driving back to Urumqi, passing the Gobi at 19:00, seeing muddy running water everywhere, it should be heavy rain just now. At 20:24, I saw the "Bogda Snow Peak" in Tianshan Mountain. The top of the mountain is covered with silver, which is particularly enchanting. Dinner is to eat "lentil noodle flag" and kebabs opposite "Xiyu International Hotel". "Flags with Lentil Noodles" is to cut the noodles into small diamonds and put them in beef bone soup, add diced mutton, green onion, lentils and other seasonings, cook them and eat them with soup and water. This is the dinner suggested by our tour guide. .
On September 1st, today’s tour of “Tianshan Tianchi” is located in Fukang City, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, not far from Urumqi. It stands to reason that the time should be quite generous. However, the tour guide still let us go at 6:00 (equivalent to 4:00 in Xiamen) 00) Get up, have breakfast at 6:30, and set off at 7:00. Soon after, I arrived at an auto parts city on Kunlun East Road, Shuimogou District, Urumqi. There was a tourist shopping spot called "Valin Jewelry International Jade City" in it. The huge shopping mall was only entered and exited by a small door. Out is the store. There are still a few people in the group who are crazy, and most people are indifferent and bored. They stay until 8:55 before leaving and continue to sail to "Tianchi". He was driven on the road early by the tour guide, with the intention of shopping, but he also got his wish, excitedly announcing in the car that someone in the group bought more than 10,000 yuan of jade just now, and let him get a rebate of more than 1,000 yuan. In order to thank everyone for their support, we will add vegetables for lunch today , In addition to the traditional "eight dishes and one soup", each person will be presented with a mutton skewer and a piece of milk-flavored naan.
Arriving at the "Tianshan Tianchi" scenic spot at 10:10, the tour guide changed his "Uighur boy" attire for the past few days, and took the initiative to put his own green cap on my head, calling me "Master Bai". Uighur men wearing green hats are a status symbol, completely different from the "green hats" of Han people. This is also new knowledge learned during a home visit in Turpan yesterday. The gate of the scenic spot of "Tianshan Tianchi" is very spectacular, and "Master Bayi" took a picture of "going here for a visit".
The tour guide completed the formalities, led everyone to transfer to the scenic spot traffic car, went up the mountain along the provincial road S111, and soon arrived at a wide parking lot, which is the old tourist center of the scenic spot. In the past, the cars of the tourist group could be driven directly here. Then buy a ticket to enter the mountain. The tour guide arranged lunch here, except for the invariable vegetarian "eight dishes and one soup", it also fulfilled the promise of lamb kebabs and milk-flavored naan.
After the meal, continue to take the scenic spot bus up the mountain, passing through the "West Xiaotianchi" at 11:46, and finally arrive at the Datianchi parking lot, which is also the end of the provincial road S111, and there is still more than 200 meters uphill from the "Tianshan Tianchi". If you don't want to walk, there are also small sightseeing cars, but you have to buy another ticket. We climbed on foot and arrived at Tianchi at 12:08. The lakeside was crowded with people and it was very lively.
"Tianshan Tianchi" is 3400 meters long, 800-1500 meters wide, and the deepest part is about 105 meters. The lake is crystal clear, with green grass beside the lake, snow-capped mountains in the distance, green spruces and tasongs all over the hillsides around the lake, and lush greenery everywhere. We all flocked to the lake, and the tour guide hurriedly stopped us. He said that we still have to continue to the highest peak around Tianchi, "Maya Mountain". It is better to wait in line at the starting point of "Ma Yashan Special Line Bus".
The sightseeing car is yellow, commonly known as "Little Hornet". The starting point of the line is Tianchi, and the end point is the next station of the Maya Mountain Cableway. The round-trip ticket is 100 yuan per person. According to the information on the ticket, we should stop at Huixiantai, Daguodideng, Xianglutai, Tianshan Alpine Stone Forest Viewing Platform, and Lingshan Temple on the way. However, the driver of our car is very awesome. , driving for 15 minutes at a stretch, the first stop took us to the "Alpine Stone Forest Observation Deck", and the tour guide ignored him when he asked him to stop halfway. This viewing platform has a wide view, and you can not only overlook the Tianchi Lake from a high position, but also look at the "alpine stone forest" on the opposite "Maya Mountain". These Cuiwei stone peaks look like rows of "horse teeth" from a distance, and the name "ma tooth mountain" comes from this.
The tour guide Xiao Zhang unfurled the banner of "Dream Journey", not only organized the whole group to take a group photo, but also asked every small group to take a photo with him separately. Our group is "Yin is prosperous and Yang is declining", women accounted for more than 2/3 of the total number of people, and the tour guide Xiao Zhang also liked the ladies all the way.
After taking a group photo, take the "Little Hornet" and arrive at the next station of the "Maya Mountain Cableway" in 4 minutes, which is the end of the "Little Hornet". The "Little Hornet" travels up the mountain for about 19 minutes in total. Calculated at 50 yuan per person, the price can be described as expensive. Next to the lower station of the cableway, there is also a viewing platform of "Dengganshan Landscape Group". Standing on the platform, you can see pine forests and grasslands nearby, and stretching green hills in the distance. The scenery of Tianshan Mountain is beautiful, just like an oil painting.
The cableway extends horizontally for more than 1,000 meters, with a total height difference of about 300 meters, connecting "Maya Mountain" and "Denggan Mountain". The round-trip fare is 120 yuan per person. There is also a climbing boardwalk near the cableway, so there are not too many tourists who choose to take the cableway, so we got on the cable car without much queue. 13:02 Arrive at the "Shang Station" of the cableway, where there is also a viewing platform for the "Maya Mountain Landscape Group". Compared with "Xiazhan", the landscape of "Shangzhan" is quite different. The dense original pine forest is replaced by towering stone forest (horse tooth), and there are clear snow peaks behind the huge "horse tooth". appeared in the distance.
"Maya Mountain Landscape Group" is located on the peak of Maya Mountain. It is composed of multiple viewing platforms connected by wooden plank roads, extending from the "upper station" of the cableway to a higher place. After taking the cable car up the mountain, most of the group members adopted the advice of the tour guide and did not continue to climb. Only the three of us, considering that we should not come to Tianshan Mountain again in the future, decided to make full use of this only opportunity in this life. We can climb as high as we can. how high. The top of the mountain is nearly 3,000 meters above sea level, and it is still quite strenuous to climb the steps on foot. When I climbed to the second platform out of breath, X.D. felt dizzy and his legs were weak, so he was forced to retreat and go down the mountain. Only Y.C. and I continued to forge ahead. Arrive at the third platform at 13:40, from here you can overlook the "Bogda Snow Mountain", which is a famous peak in the eastern section of Tianshan. However, the boardwalk continued to extend to the heights, as if "never-ending", Y.C. and I were discouraged, and decided to just look at the scenery here, take photos, and then go down the mountain. However, being the oldest in the group, I was able to climb the highest today. I was still a little proud of myself. I stretched out my hand and posed for "Yakexi" in Uighur, with my back against the stone forest and snow peaks of Tianshan Mountain, and took a photo as a souvenir. Some tourists saw me wearing a flowered hat and asked curiously if I was a Uyghur? I imitated the Uighurs to speak Chinese, but no one saw through it. Moreover, when I spoke Mandarin again, some people praised my accurate pronunciation.
Return to the upper station of the cableway at 14:00, where the tour guide is still waiting, take the cable car, then transfer to the "Little Hornet" to go down the mountain, and return to the Tianchi Lake at 14:40. The tour guide announced that from now on, free activities will be gathered at the parking lot under Tianchi in 1 hour. The three of them walked casually on the north bank of Tianchi Lake, took a few photos, evacuated Tianchi Lake at 15:20, went downhill along the road, and went to the parking lot to join the team. After counting the number of people, the tour guide will take the traffic car down the mountain, then transfer to our own tourist bus, and go straight back to Urumqi. "Tianshan One Day" ended here, and "Xinjiang Six Days" was about to end. Tour guide Xiao Zhang distributed forms in the car, asking everyone to fill in his evaluation, and we all filled in "satisfied". Although this tour guide never forgets to obtain his own interests, what a tour guide should do is also unambiguous. As he said, a tour guide also has to eat, raise a family, and get married. We all understand.
Arrived at "Diwopu Airport" at 18:45, 7 women in the team got off the bus, and they will fly back to Beijing tonight. The others will take the train tomorrow afternoon and still need to stay in Urumqi tonight. The tourist bus enters the urban area and passes a tall Islamic-style building at 19:46. The tour guide said that it is the famous "International Grand Bazaar" in Urumqi. It is not far from the "Xiyu International Hotel". Most of the shops in it are currently run by Han bosses. Hiring Uighur girls as sales assistants.
After returning to the hotel, the tour guide gave everyone travel expenses, and let us "taxi" to the train station tomorrow. The three of us can take a "taxi" together, and the fare is 15 yuan. I also received another 230 yuan refund for the group participation, because some attractions are free of charge for those over 70 years old. For dinner, go to the Tianshui Muslim restaurant opposite the hotel to enjoy the "big plate chicken", which is still 100 yuan for three people.
On September 2, the train Z 70 back to Beijing departs from Urumqi South Station at 13:02. The tour guide has arranged for us today’s breakfast last night. At 9:00 in the morning, we will go to the Galina restaurant on the first floor of the hotel for dinner. After eating, go back to the room to rest for a while, and check out at 11:00. The three of us did not "take a taxi", but took a bus, 1 yuan per person, and arrived at Urumqi South Railway Station at 11:30. The turbulent trip to Xinjiang is a complete end, standing on the station square, using the waiting building as the background, and taking a photo as a souvenir.
