When we returned to Kashgar, we got bad news. There was a landslide on the north slope of the Duku Highway, which collapsed the snow-proof corridor on the road, making it impossible for vehicles to pass through. The southern section of Duku Highway, from Kuqa to Qiaoerma, can still be opened to traffic. Everyone negotiated urgently and decided to slow down the planning process for the next stage, waiting for news while walking. So we lingered in Kashgar for another half a day before going to Aksu, and then we added an extra night of accommodation in Kuqa. That night we stayed in Wensu County, Aksu City. A comrade-in-arms of our driver who used to be in the army is now the head of this county, so he introduced us to the home of a local Uyghur fellow. A small courtyard and a nice two-story building. There are apricot trees and mulberry trees planted in the courtyard. We picked some apricots and mulberries under the tree for fun, and when we left, the villagers packed us a big plastic bag. During the meal, we were invited to drink camel yogurt, which was so sour that it was difficult to swallow. In general, I feel that the lives of the people here have greatly improved compared to what we saw in Turpan six years ago. All 32 poverty-stricken counties in Xinjiang will be uncapped by 2020, and more than 3.8 million poor people will be lifted out of poverty.
The highest peak of the Tianshan Mountains is Tomur Peak (7444 meters) in Wensu. There is a very large canyon located on the southern edge of Tomur Peak in the middle of the Tianshan Mountains, which has been developed into a tourist area in recent years. The Chinese name is "Wensu Tuomur Grand Canyon", and the Uighur language is called "Kuduluk Grand Canyon", which means "thrilling, mysterious" place. Starting from Wensu County, take the G3012 expressway to the east for about 40 kilometers, get off the expressway at the industrial park interchange, enter the Y637 rural road, and go northward for about 20 kilometers to the Grand Canyon Tourist Service Center. The Y637 road leads straight to Tianshan Mountain, which is a good place to take pictures on the road. There are many canyons in the Tianshan Mountains. I have been to the Tianshan Grand Canyon near Urumqi and the Tianshan Mysterious Grand Canyon near Kuqa, but this place is indeed better. First of all, the geology here contains a variety of mineral elements, and the mountain has formed a colorful Danxia color. The iron-containing places are red, the saline-alkali-containing places are white, and the sulfur-containing places are light green. Then this is the huge volume of this canyon, with a total area of more than 200 square kilometers. There are two main valleys and hundreds of branch valleys. At present, the development of tourism routes is more than ten kilometers long, and there are 12 branch valleys, of which 6 are available for tourists to visit. According to surveys by geologists, this is the stratum deposited by inland lakes 26 million years ago. After tens of millions of years of floods, rain erosion and strong wind erosion, a mixed geological landscape of rock salt karst landform and canyon Yadan landform has been formed. The road in the main valley is not hardened, it is completely soft sand and gravel at the bottom of the valley. There are two ways to enter the valley. If you are driving a four-wheel drive off-road vehicle, you can drive in by yourself. The ticket for the car is 100 yuan. In addition, you must sign a danger notice, and the rescue of the car is 450 yuan each time. Another way is to buy a ticket and take the high-powered, heightened chassis, four-wheel drive station wagon provided by the scenic spot, 60 yuan per person for a round trip. Tickets are 36 yuan, half-ticket for those over 65 years old, free for those over 70 years old, and free for medical staff with certificates. At the gathering point of the six branch valleys that are open, there is a natural empty field, where the tourist bus arrives, and then it is necessary to walk into each branch valley. When we went, only No. 5 and No. 6 branch valleys were open due to the heavy rain two days ago. To be honest, I was exhausted after walking down the two valleys. It is a pity that the No. 3 Valley is not open. There is a climbing plank road in the No. 3 Valley, and you can climb to the top of the valley to see all the small mountains. Always leave some regrets when traveling so that you can come back next time. Entering the branch valley, you can see steep mountains on both sides, with folds in texture and different rock shapes, some of which look like Buddhist niches in Thousand Buddha Caves, and some of them look like a pillar of the sky. There are also "safety islands" built on several mountain bosses, where tourists can take refuge in case of flash floods. There are still some wild animals living in the canyon. We actually saw the eggs of the national second-class protected animal snow chicken (the locals call it quack chicken) in a concave hole in No. 5 Valley. It is not clear whether there are hens in it. . The tour guide we invited said that it was the first time he saw it after working here for more than two years.
Our luck was really good. When we were in the valley, the weather was fine and there was no wind. When we left the canyon and returned to the road, we saw that the canyon was windy and the sky was full of dust. Friends who go to the Tomur Grand Canyon must choose a good day. If the weather is bad, they would rather stay in Wensu County and wait. The next stop is Kuqa, and then inquire about Duku Highway.
