Departing from Hohhot, our car stopped and stopped along the vicissitudes of the old road of the Yellow River, and our eyes were full of mountains piled up with loess, rivers carved with loess and cave dwellings built with loess.


Two Old Niuwan Villages


Outside the Great Wall, beside the Yellow River, several rows of cave dwellings squat on the loess slope and stare into the distance. Before and after the Awakening of Insects, the sound of ice breaking from the thawing of the big river could be faintly heard in the distance. In Laoniuwan Village, Qingshuihe County, there was chatter and laughter in the compound of Li Yu's family. The "Village" that day welcomed the first batch of tourists after the beginning of spring. As night fell, the fried cakes on the table were golden, and the scrambled eggs exuded an attractive fragrance. "Living in our cave here, I can see the beacon tower that has stood for hundreds of years at home, and the first bend of the Yellow River in the world is right outside my house..." Li Yu happily introduced it to me.



Originally, after the Yellow River set off from the Bayan Har Mountains, it went out of Kunlun, went down to the plateau, passed through the valleys, and crossed the Hetao, basically singing all the way to the east. But just as they were about to pass by the northern border of Shanxi, they suddenly made a "right turn" at Laoniu Bay, cutting out a grand canyon with a length of more than 800 kilometers on the Loess Plateau. After the Great Wall bid farewell to the Yalu River in Liaoning, it met the Yellow River in the south for the first time at Pianguan. Although the Great Wall reaches the bank of the Yellow River here, it does not cross the Yellow River to the west, but goes south along the east bank of the Yellow River, passes through Wanjiazhai, Guanhekou to Hequ County, and then crosses the Yellow River to meander west.




There are actually two Laoniuwan Villages, one belonging to Qingshuihe County, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the other belonging to Pianguan County, Shanxi Province. There is a deep ditch between the two Laoniuwan villages. Due to the increase in the water level of the reservoir and the backflow of the river, the water in the ditch is 30 to 40 meters deep, and it is necessary to take a local farmer's boat to cross it.


The valley is full of walls, and the river course is full of blue waves.

"Do you know how many bays there are in the Yellow River? How many boats are there in the bays? How many poles are in the boats? Dozens of boats come to move the boats?" Inner Mongolia Laoniuwan Scenic Spot on the side of the autonomous region, walking along the long trail and boarding the viewing platform, is the best viewing spot of Taiji Bay, the "first bay of the Yellow River", where the roaring Yellow River rushes back and forth. It came to an abrupt end, forming an "S"-shaped bend with a curvature close to 270°. The Yellow River enters Jin from here, the inner and outer Great Walls meet here, and the vicissitudes of the Loess Plateau are highlighted here.




Looking down from the air, Taiji Bay looks like a picture of Taiji, with the cathode being the curved Yellow River and the anode being the loess hillside. There are thousands of walls standing on both sides of the valley, and there are thousands of hectares of blue waves in the river. The fields on the Loess Plateau are criss-crossed and dotted with farmhouses, majestic and magnificent, tranquil and natural.


Lao Niu Bay:

Laoniuwan National Geological Park, located in Qingshuihe County, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has the geographical indication of Laoniuwan established by the State Council. It has built supporting facilities such as Shenlong Square, viewing platform, wharf and long walking plank road, so that you can enjoy the Yellow River more conveniently. and the Laoniuwan Scenic Spot in Pianguan County, Shanxi Province has cultural landscapes such as Laoniuwan Fort, Wanghe Tower, and Ancient Theater.


Food: Fried oil cake, Yellow River carp, Yellow River shrimp, sea red fruit, sipping bean noodles, naked noodles

Driving route: Hohhot (G59 Hubei Expressway, G209) - 125 kilometers - Qingshuihe County (G209) - 55 kilometers - Laoniuwan National Geological Park

Mileage: about 180 kilometers one way