In the summer of 2021, self-driving and self-guided travel on the 12-day Grand Ring Road in Gansu and Qinghai. "Part Three: The Call from Kunlun Mountains"

On the morning of July 17, after watching the beautiful sunrise of Qinghai Lake, we bid farewell to the small town of Heima River and headed west along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (G109) to Delingha in Haixi Prefecture. According to the scheduled itinerary, there are few attractions today, only the rubber mountain pass in Gonghe and Gahai in Haixi. Even so, we still look forward to unexpected surprises and gains along the way.

over the rubber mountain

After driving out of the small town of Heima River, there are many mountains along the way, entering the Nanshan mountain system of Qinghai Lake. Today, there is no cloud in the blue sky, the air on the road is fresh, the vision is good, and the scenery is pleasant. On the way, all kinds of tourist vehicles all "like-minded" filed towards Haixi. The scene in front of us reminds us that this year's summer tourist army has come!

The sky is blue, the mountains are rolling, the grass is green, and the sheep are all over the hillside. The current scene remains unchanged from ancient times, it seems to span time and space, contains a kind of power, stirs your reverie, arouses your impulse, and awakens your longing for the distance! Walking on this magical land, you will always be moved again and again - this is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau!

We drove for about 30 minutes, and arrived at the first goal of today, the rubber mountain pass at an altitude of 3,817 meters. The rubber mountain pass is located between Qinghai Lake and Chaka Salt Lake. It is one of the many passes around Qinghai Lake and an important landmark leading to the Qaidam Basin and Kunlun Mountains in Qinghai.

We feel that there is nothing special about the landform and surrounding scenery of Rubber Mountain Pass. Perhaps attracted by the pass culture on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, when people come here, they always compete to take pictures, or ride horses or camels to celebrate.

We didn't have much to see today, and we originally planned to experience horse riding here. When we saw that there was a long queue of tourists waiting for horse riding, we immediately "retired".

We found that after passing the rubber mountain pass, there are places suitable for horse riding all the way, and the cost of horse riding is much cheaper than that of the pass. It seems that there are "inexhaustible bargains and inexhaustible losses" in everything, and the knowledge of saving money is also "extensive and profound"! (don't laugh)

A view of Rubber Mountain.

A video of the herdsman transitioning.

In mid-July, when the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has abundant water and grass, we saw herdsmen from time to time along the road, driving their livestock and their families to migrate to their summer pastures. The mighty cattle, horses, and sheep, the loyal Tibetan mastiffs, the vigorous riders, the women driving motorcycles, and the dust raised in the gullies constitute a unique scene of the grassland - the transition. The scene in front of you is like a poem where heaven, earth, people, and animals are all in one!

A video of the herdsman transitioning.

After passing the rubber mountain, we continued to drive westward along G109. (Navigation display) when we were less than 40 kilometers away from Chaka Salt Lake, we encountered a big traffic jam. The Delingha section happened to be temporarily closed as the track for the Qinghai Lake International Cycling Road Race. Looking at the endless traffic jam, we decided to turn around and take the Beijing-Tibet Expressway for fear of being "stuck in it".

Video footage of the Qinghai Lake International Cycling Road Race.

The Beijing-Tibet Expressway follows the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. There is no speed limit for tolls on the expressway, and there are few vehicles on the road. We "sing forward" all the way on the expressway. Not long after passing the Chaka Salt Lake, we even caught up with the first phalanx of the International Cycling Road Race. Another unexpected The surprise of encountering! The scenes that were only seen on TV in the past are truly presented in front of our eyes!

At noon that day, we arrived in Ulan County, Haixi Prefecture, where we got off the expressway to go to the county town for lunch. Unexpectedly, this is also the detour route of the Qinghai Lake International Road Cycling Race. People in the county are all dressed up and go to watch the race on the road like a festival. The beautiful little town has almost become a ghost town. We finally found a restaurant that was still open. Due to the large number of people eating, we had to wait for more than 2 hours for a simple lunch.

After lunch in Ulan, we went to Delingha, Haixi Prefecture, our target accommodation today. Since we could only take the high speed, we had to detour for more than 80 kilometers to Gahai. For this reason, we chose to give up. I didn't stop all the way, and went straight to Delingha.

At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon that day, we arrived at the target accommodation early, a homestay in the eastern suburbs of Delingha (booked by Ctrip), and walked into the small courtyard in front of us, which completely changed our previous perception of homestays. The beautiful environment , clean rooms, warm reception, friendly instructions, good facilities, delicious breakfast. In the small courtyard that night, the tourists "had nothing to say" except for praise. Here, we spent a warm night in Delingha!

to Kruk Lake

On the morning of July 18 (as the International Road Cycling Race will be held in the urban area of Delingha on that day, all roads out of the city will be closed at 8:00 a.m.) we followed the instructions of the hotel proprietress and drove on the road early. We still took the Beijing-Tibet Expressway and headed to today The first point of view - Keluke Lake in Haixi Prefecture.

Today, there is another blue sky and white clouds all the way. In front of you is the majestic Kunlun. On the other side of the mountain, there are the salt lake and Yadan you like, and the barbaric wilderness that has existed for thousands of years. The heart moves freely, and the distance seems to be calling. After driving for less than an hour, we arrived at Keluke Lake.

Walking into Keluke Lake, we are greeted by unknown birds above our heads (it is said to be a local swallow). They are naive and ignore the existence of human beings at all. No matter how you call them, they ignore them at all. ! It's really "one place, one color", even the characters of the birds are different!

Keluke Lake, also known as Lover's Lake, is the largest freshwater lake in Qaidam, located in Huaitou Tala Grassland 50 kilometers west of Delingha City. Keluke - "a place with lush water and grass" in Mongolian. It originates from the Bayin River in Delingha Boshu Mountain. The lake covers an area of 57 square kilometers and has an average water depth of more than 7 meters. Reeds grow thickly along the coast and birds soar. Keluke Lake is the first choice for Delingha citizens for leisure, fishing and vacation. At present, Keluke Lake and Tuosu Lake (where the famous alien site is located) are both in the same scenic spot, with a combined ticket of 20 yuan, and half or free tickets for children and the elderly.

Tourists come to Keluke Lake mainly for bird watching, fishing, tasting lake freshness, and sightseeing on the water by yacht (during the epidemic, water sports are not open for the time being). The other is to go to Tuosu Lake. Since the alien site is closed for protection, our original plan for Tuosu Lake has also been cancelled.

Today, we meet the seagulls again in Keluke Lake. These elves from Siberia hardly shy away from humans, and they are more daring than the seagulls on Bird Island in Qinghai Lake.

A scene of bird watching in Keluke Lake.

On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, every beautiful place must have a story. There is also a moving legend about Tuosu Lake and Keluke Lake. According to legend, the handsome Tosu and the beautiful Keluke were originally a Mongolian couple. They decided to hold a wedding. According to local customs, they went to the head of the tribe to get married. Unexpectedly, the headman saw Keluke's natural beauty and decided to marry him. I have evil thoughts in my heart. He tricked Tosu into going to a distant salt marsh to bring back a bag of salt for Keluke, swearing his love and loyalty. For this reason, Tuosu went to Yanze to carry the salt without hesitation, but was exhausted to death on the way. The kind-hearted wild goose passed the news of Tosu to Ke Luke. In order to recover Tosu's body, the loyal Ke Luke also fell beside Tosu. So, they immediately turned into two beautiful lakes, one salty and one fresh, and stayed together on the Huaitou Tala Grassland under the Kunlun Mountains!

Behind the statues of Tuosu and Ke Luke is a mural, which records that many young people from the mainland devoted their youth and life to the development and construction of this desolate land, but they also found their love here . Today, they guard the blue sky and clear water together with Tuosu and Ke Luke!

A view of Keluke Lake.

A video of bird watching in Keluke Lake.

A view of Keluke Lake.

We bid farewell to Keluke Lake and continued to take the Beijing-Tibet Expressway to Dachaidan Town in Haixi Prefecture. Today, we will stay at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, see Kunlun Snow and its starry sky, see the beautiful emerald salt lake, and watch the sun set from Qaidam Salt Lake!

Impression of Dachaidan

Dachaidan, Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai, this famous place name has an irresistible magic power for every traveler! There is the world's unique Wusute Water Yardang, Emerald Salt Lake and Mangya Emerald Lake, Mangya Aiken Spring known as the "Devil's Eye", and Dongtai Lake known as China's Maldives. And the fantastic Xitai Shuangse Lake, the most typical Erboliang and Nanbaxian land Yadan in China, the ancient and wild Lop Nur Martian landform, the incredible G315U-shaped sky road...etc. More than ten years ago, since we learned about Dachaidan, we started to make the itinerary here. Today, we are finally on the way to it!

A video to Dachaidan recorded the vastness under the Kunlun Mountains.

Every year from the end of June to the beginning of August is the golden season for tourism in Qinghai. The boom in the Northwest Ring Road in recent years has promoted the rapid development of Dachaidan's tourism service industry. This small town built on the Gobi Desert is now a hotel and guesthouse. There are many restaurants and supermarkets everywhere. But in the face of the influx of tourists, it still cannot meet such a huge demand! For this reason, if you come to Dachaidan in summer, you must try to book accommodation in advance, otherwise, on the day of arrival, you may find it hard to find a room or have nowhere to live!

A caravan hotel in Dachaidan, a place where you can see the snow-capped mountains and the starry sky at night. Its excellent facilities, clean environment, and hygienic standards have greatly exceeded our expectations! Although the price of accommodation is a bit more expensive, it is an unforgettable experience for a person's life.

A scene of Dachaidan.

After staying in Dachaidan, we took a short rest, and then went to the long-awaited Emerald Salt Lake and Dachaidamu Lake.

Two-color Emerald Lake

Dachaidan Emerald Salt Lake, also known as double-color emerald lake, is only separated from Dachaidam Lake by a dike, and is actually two major attractions in a scenic spot. Since the emergence of the Emerald Salt Lake, it has overshadowed the Chaka Salt Lake in the "mirror of the sky" and has become a new landmark of Qinghai tourism. It is 12 kilometers from downtown Dachaidan to Emerald Salt Lake. There is no public transportation, so you can only drive or take a taxi.

On the day we arrived at the Emerald Salt Lake, the weather was excellent, and the Emerald Salt Lake under the blue sky and white clouds was particularly pleasing to the eye!

At present, Dachaidan Emerald Salt Lake does not charge tickets, such as taking a scenic transportation vehicle (about 14 kilometers round trip, with 5 parking spots on the way) 50 yuan per person. The traffic car departs in a continuous cycle, which is very convenient to ride.

In front of you is the Great Qaidam Lake, and behind you is the Emerald Salt Lake. Only when you have been here will you know that the two salt lakes are a whole and each has its own attractions. Simply put, it is the emerald salt lake to see the changing colors, and the Qaidam lake to see the afterglow of the sunset.

The most beautiful moment of Emerald Salt Lake and Qaidam Lake is when it is calm and the sun is setting. The soft light and shadow at dusk makes the color of the lake more colorful, and reveals blue and green, like gem-like luster.

A view of the Emerald Salt Lake. Salt flowers grown in lake water.