The Chaerhan Salt Lake in Golmud, Qinghai is an unforgettable itinerary that the reporter took in Qinghai in July 2007 with the China Railway Travel "Charming Qinghai-Tibet Tour" special train. On the evening of July 28, the tourist train departed from Xining to Golmud, the second largest city in Qinghai Province. After a one-night journey, the train arrived at Golmud Station at 8 o'clock in the morning on July 29, and then the team drove straight to the famous Chaerhan Salt Lake.

The reporter previously learned that with the increasing popularity of sightseeing and tourism in Golmud Salt Lake, almost every June and July for many years, there are almost many tourists visiting Golmud Salt Lake. In addition, most of them are self-driving tourists. Today, hundreds of tourists from Beijing's special tourist train visit this place again, which shows that the charm of the Salt Lake Scenic Area is extraordinary.

The tourist bus passed through the urban area of ​​Golmud, and I saw that this city in the northwest is very clean, with few vehicles and pedestrians on the road. Relevant information contains: Golmud is Mongolian, meaning "a place with dense rivers". It is located in the south-central part of the Qaidam Basin. It is a city built in the 1950s. Geographically speaking, Golmud is adjacent to the Kunlun Mountains in the south and Chaerhan Salt Lake in the north. It is 2,800 meters above sea level. Long, less precipitation.

The area under the jurisdiction of Golmud is 124,000 square kilometers. It is composed of two geographical units that are not connected to each other. Golmud is located in the transportation hub, with very convenient transportation and communication facilities. It reaches Dunhuang, Gansu in the north, Lhasa, Tibet in the south, Ruoqiang, Xinjiang in the west, and Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province, in the east. The first phase of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway project opened to traffic here, and civil aviation can reach Beijing, Xining, Xi'an, and Lhasa.

The population here is mainly Han immigrants, who came to Golmud a few years ago and started planting potash plants. Today this has become Golmud's main economic pillar. Otherwise, it is hard to imagine anyone willing to live in this dry and cold place. Golmud is extremely rich in mineral resources.

In addition, there are abundant water conservancy, land, wild animals and plants, and tourism resources. For tourists, Xining is to the east of Golmud, Dunhuang is to the north, and Lhasa is to the south. Perhaps it is because of this transit location that makes Golmud interesting. Many tourists can get off at Golmud for a short stop before heading to Xinjiang, Tibet and other places.

The Chaerhan Salt Lake visited by the tour group is the largest salt lake in China and one of the most famous inland salt lakes in the world. It is located in the Qaidam Basin in the west of Qinghai. The salt lake is more than 160 kilometers long from east to west, 20 to 40 kilometers wide from north to south, with a salt layer thickness of about 2 to 20 meters, an area of ​​5,800 square kilometers, and an altitude of 2,670 meters. There are more than 50 billion tons of sodium chloride stored in the lake, which can be eaten by people all over the world for 1000 years. The world-famous carnallite is also produced here, which is crystal clear and very lovely. Accompanied by magnesium, lithium, boron, iodine and other minerals, potassium and salt resources are extremely rich.

The bus convoy full of tourists arrived at the Salt Lake after about an hour's journey from Golmud City. On the way, the tour guide said that the road section the car passed was the famous Wanzhang Salt Bridge. Wanzhang Salt Bridge is a section of road from Golmud to Dunhuang that passes through Dabson Lake. The salt cover with a thickness of 15 to 18 meters constitutes a natural salt bridge with a total length of 32 kilometers. It is called "Wanzhang Salt Bridge".

The road on the "bridge" is smooth and flat, the mountains and lakes reflect each other, and the scenery is beautiful, which can be called "peerless in the world". Yanqiao Road, like a jade belt, has no guardrails beside it, no piers under it, and no running water. The entire road surface is smooth and clean, open and straight. The salt bridge (road) splits the salt lake in half from the middle, which is amazing and has to surrender to human intelligence and wisdom.

The maintenance method of the salt bridge is very peculiar. Normally, once there are potholes on the road surface, road maintenance workers smash some salt grains from the nearby salt cover, then pour a spoonful of thick brine into the salt water pit dug by the roadside, pour it on, and the salt grains will melt quickly. And condense on the road surface, the potholes will be intact.

After arriving at Salt Lake, the reporter discovered that this is the location of Qinghai Salt Lake Development Co., Ltd., which is the "Salt Lake Potash Fertilizer" with outstanding performance among the stocks of listed companies in Shenzhen.

The car passed through the factory area and came to the endless salt lake scenic spot in a blink of an eye. I saw the dotted salt lakes, like a series of unique natural beauties, distributed in the vast Qaidam Basin, which is extremely spectacular.

Some of these salt lakes are adjacent to the snow-capped mountains, reflecting the rolling mountains and white snow in the lake; It has dried up and turned into hard salt rock, and the railway road passes over it. The salt rocks are in various shapes and styles, and they have the style of Yunnan Stone Forest. The various chemical elements contained in the salt lake water contain huge inorganic salt mineral resources.

Tourists came to the pier in the center of Salt Lake. Although it is the best place to watch the scenery, the wind is so strong that the people are shivering. Look at the lake, colorful boats in twos and threes are working on the lake.

On the shore of the dark green salt lake are white crystals of salt flowers like jade. They have different shapes, and they seem to be full of spirituality, which is really beautiful.

The formation of salt lakes is due to disasters or crustal movement. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau used to be part of the ocean. After long-term crustal movement, this piece of land was lifted and became the largest plateau in the world. As a result, seawater remained in some low-lying areas and formed many salt lakes. and ponds, of which the Chaerhan Salt Lake is one, has an almost endless supply of salt as rainwater brings more salt down from the surrounding mountains.

Chaerhan Salt Lake has a mining history of more than 3,000 years. Tourists can not only enjoy the scenery of the salt lake, but also observe the mechanized salt mining operation. This is a world of salt. There is a salty smell in the car, on the ground, and even in the air. There are salt dredgers digging salt in the distance; Salt, which is crystal-like crystals; taste it, it tastes slightly different from table salt.

It is said that if visitors are lucky, they can see the natural wonder of "mirage" here during the day. These natural scenes formed by sunlight refracted by water vapor make people feel in a trance. In the mirage, there are houses, cows, and even sheep swimming on the lake, all of which are breathtaking.

The terrain around the salt lake is flat and the desert is boundless, but the scenery is peculiar. The entire surface of the lake seems to be a piece of fertile soil that has just been plowed, and it is like fish scales, layer by layer, wave by wave. It is a pity that there is no green grass on the land, no fish in the lake, no birds in the sky, and a scene of silence.

When the weather is sunny and sunny, the vast lake is like a huge mirror, emitting silver light, steaming, shimmering waves, really like a blue ocean. The salt flowers in the lake are sparkling and transparent, in various poses, some are like coral, pagodas, flowers, some are like constellations, ivory, and precious stones. Being in the flowers, people have boundless reverie, as if roaming in a fairyland.

After returning from the Salt Lake scenic spot, the team also visited the exhibition hall of Qinghai Salt Lake Development Company. Through many colorful graphic materials, sand table models and exhibits, not only did the tourists understand the ins and outs of the Salt Lake, but also deeply felt that these perennial The Salt Lake people who work in the wild are worthy of respect and praise for their great achievements on the industrial front of our country... (Photo: Feng Ganyong)