Written in front of the words and itinerary:
In August 2014, I traveled through northern Xinjiang with a tour group. I was impressed by the beautiful scenery of Sailimu Lake, Nalati, and Lavender Garden in Ili. From then on, I remembered the beautiful Ili , I always want to know more about Ili: Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, referred to as Yili Prefecture and Yili, is located in the Ili River Valley in the northern part of the Tianshan Mountains in the west of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is also the only sub-provincial autonomous prefecture in China. Ili Prefecture is adjacent to Kazakhstan, a Eurasian country in the west, and Khorgos Port, China's largest land-based trading port, is located in the west of the state. The total area of the prefecture is 350,000 square kilometers. Because of the abundant rainfall, it is called the Wet Island of Central Asia, Jiangnan Beyond the Great Wall, and Flower City. At the end of 2013, the total population was 4.408 million, including 47 ethnic groups including Kazakh, Han, Uyghur, Hui, Mongolian, and Xibe. The most beautiful April day in the world, I chose the spring of 2021 to be with my friends, and the four of us went to Yili to play at will for thirteen days.
Our itinerary is as follows:
Day 1 and 2 (20210329~30): Guangzhou Baiyun Airport - Chengdu Shuangliu Airport - Yining Airport, stay at Yili Hotel,
The third day (20210331) Yining City - Sailimu Lake, play Sailimu Lake
The fourth day (20210401) Yining City - Yining County, participate in the Yili Apricot Blossom Festival
Day 5 (20210402) Yining City - Tekes County, stay in Ligong Bieyuan Homestay in Tekes County
Day 6 (20210403) Tekes County - Qiongkushitai Village, Human Grassland of Kuokesu Grand Canyon
Day 7 (20210404) Tekes County - Zhaosu - Xiata Scenic Spot
The eighth day (20210405) Tekes County, learn about the humanities of Bagua City
Day 9 (20210406) Tekes County - Xinyuan County, stay at Xinyuan Liancheng Ecological Hotel, enter Xinghuagou
Day 10 (20210407) Xinyuan County Erjin Xinghuagou
No. (20210408) Xinyuan County - Yining City, stay at 7 Days Premium Hotel (Yining Shanghai City Branch)
Day 12 (20210409) Yining train to Urumqi, plane to Wuhan Tianhe Airport
Day 13 (20210410) Wuhan Tianhe Airport - Guangzhou Baiyun Airport
First stop: Yining
Yining City is the capital of Yili Prefecture. We landed at Yining Airport on time on March 30 by plane. When leaving the airport, every passenger has to undergo a free nucleic acid test. This measure is very good during the epidemic. For the entire Ili Prefecture, it is now the off-season for tourism, and we still booked the Ili Hotel on Ctrip before the trip. Yili Hotel should be one of the best hotels in Yining. It was formerly the consulate of the former Soviet Union in Ili. Here is a green forest world with towering ancient trees and centuries-old trees everywhere. Several Russian-style old buildings are elegantly hidden. In it, it is quiet, detailed, thick, and has a lot of cultural heritage. Personally, I think that you must experience it when you come to Yining.
Kazanqi Folk Village
This folk village is the only large-scale cultural scenic spot in northern Xinjiang that mainly reflects the customs of the Uyghurs. Kazanqi means "people who make pots for business" in Uyghur. It is not considered a scenic spot, but there are many scenic spots. Where the locals live, there is no need for tickets, wandering here in the streets and alleys, enjoying the tranquility and serenity here, the blooming apricot flowers in front of and behind the houses sway under the breeze, and the pink and white The petals welcome our guests from afar, it is very pleasant! The houses here are relatively distinctive, mainly in blue, the unique architectural style and the charm of colors are intertwined, and you can feel the humble life and the most authentic life of the people here in the tranquility.
Hanren Street
Yining's three strange things: There are no flowers in the Flower City, there is no bridge in the West Bridge, and there are no Han people on the Han Street
In Yining City, there is a famous "Hanren Street". Yili people always like to introduce this place to guests like this, "If you don't go to Hanren Street, you don't count as being in Yili". It is said that many years ago, Hanren Street was originally an alley about two kilometers long. It can be said that exchanges were very popular for a while, and the street name of Hanren Street has remained. With the improvement of living conditions, the descendants of Yangliuqing people in Hanren Street have been relocated, and there are very few who still live in the old houses. Therefore, "there are no Han people in Hanren Street" has become one of the "three strange things in Yining".
six star street
Six Star Street: It is an ancient block in Yining City. It was built in the mid-1930s (1934-1936). According to the six major policies (anti-imperialist, pro-Soviet, ethnic equality, peace, Construction, clean and honest) concept, planned and designed by German engineer Vasli. The plan of the block is circular, with six main roads radiating from the center, dividing the block into six fan-shaped areas. The center is public buildings such as schools, shops, and mosques, and the periphery is residential areas, forming a unique living pattern. In this block with an area of only 47 hectares, residents of seven or eight ethnic groups, including Han, Kazakh, Hui, Uyghur, and Russian, live. Liuxing Street is famous for its unique hexagonal streets and alleys. There are mixed-race Russian buildings everywhere, and its pattern is very different from the traditional Chinese urban planning concept. According to research, the block layout of Liuxing Street is very similar to the garden city theory (1898) proposed by Ebenezer Howard, a pioneer of modern urban planning at the end of the 19th century. At present, only a few countries in the West still have hexagonal streets and alleys, which are really rare in our country.
Apricot Blossoms on Haitang Road and Apricot Blossoms in Yining County
When you come to Yining City at the end of March and early April, you have to come to Haitang Road to check in. We first came here to check in twice when we first arrived in Yining City. Nine days later, we returned to Yining City and came here to check in again, because this whole street is on both sides of the road. They are all planted with apricot trees. During the blooming season, whether it is the budding, shy flower buds, or the smiling faces and blooming flowers full of enthusiasm, we are intoxicated. We always love to linger in this pink and white romantic world. inside. In fact, there are apricot trees everywhere in the streets and alleys of Yining City, but there are more and larger scales on Haitang Road. On April 1, we also took a taxi to Yining County, which is about 30 kilometers away from Yining City, to participate in the launching ceremony of the 2021 Eleventh Yili Apricot Blossom Cultural Tourism Festival. The degree of blooming of apricot blossoms in different places is very different. The apricot blossoms in Yining City are already in full bloom, while the apricot blossoms in Yining County are just small red flower buds, but the apricot trees here are more vigorous and simple. It must be beautiful when the flowers bloom.
Yili River
Yili River is located in the outskirts of Yining City. It has a wide surface and beautiful scenery. It is the river with the most abundant flow in Xinjiang. The Yili River passes through the city and divides Yining City into north and south banks. We took a taxi for only 39 yuan, took a sightseeing tour of the development zone in Yining City, and felt the rapid development of Yining.
Back Beach Park
On the morning of April 2, when I woke up, I saw a snow-capped world outside the window, and it was snowing in Yining! But we were so excited. After breakfast, we faced the snow and immediately went to Houtan Park to take pictures of the snow scene. This snow was a big surprise for us, an unexpected harvest! Looking around, it is covered in silver everywhere, like a fairy tale world. There are only four of us tourists in the whole park, as if the snow fell specially for us.
Sailimu Lake
I went to Sailimu Lake in late summer in August. Sailimu Lake is the last place favored by the warm and humid Atlantic air in Xinjiang. There is a saying that "the last tear of the Atlantic Ocean". This blue lake surrounded by mountains has a beautiful scenery. The charming mountain forests and lakeside grasslands form a lake-type scenic spot. The lake is 20 kilometers long from east to west, 30 kilometers wide from north to south, covers an area of 454 square kilometers, and has a water storage capacity of 21 billion cubic meters. The lake is crystal clear with a transparency of 12 meters. At that time, I felt: Sailimu Lake is so big, and this "last tear of the Atlantic Ocean" is too rich! This time we arrived in a chartered car from Yining City. The distance between the two places is about 160 kilometers. At that time, there was heavy snow, which affected our travel to a certain extent. It took 3 hours to arrive at Sailimu Lake. On the way, the viewing platform of the Guozigou Bridge was also closed. I wanted to enjoy the first cable-stayed bridge on the highway in Xinjiang Autonomous Region at close range and slowly. Can understand from other information.
We went to Sailimu Lake this spring (March 31) to experience the fun of winter. Listening to the driver's introduction: On this day, we experienced three types of snow, snow, snow, and wind. We experienced rainy days, cloudy days, There are three types of weather on a sunny day. As a Cantonese, it is rare to have such an experience. Thousands of miles of ice, thousands of miles of snow, distant mountains, grasslands, and the entire lake are crystal clear and white. Looking around, it is a pure white and clean world. See The quiet and deep blue ice makes us ecstatic. There is a feeling of cleansing the soul. People really become simple here. Only when you are on the scene can you feel the cleanliness, deepness, and Noble beauty!
Second stop: Turks County
We took a car from Yining City Bus Station to Tekes County (33 yuan/person), and it took about 2.5 hours to drive, but foreigners must undergo nucleic acid testing before entering Tekes. According to Baidu Encyclopedia: Tekes County in Xinjiang is famous for its gossip layout. Relevant departments canceled the traffic lights on the road in 1996, and Bagua City became a city without traffic lights. The city was first built in 1937, and was surveyed and designed by Qiu Zongjun, the Ili settlement envoy and garrison commander at that time. Legend has it that the Tekes Bagua City was first laid out by Qiu Chuji, one of the Quanzhen Seven Sons of Taoism in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, Qiu Chuji, a real person from Changchun, went to the Western Regions at the invitation of Genghis Khan. When he passed the Tekes River Valley, he was moved by the mountains and rivers here, so he arranged this Bagua City. The Bagua City is radially circular, and the street layout is like a magical maze, with roads interlinked and streets connected. At present, there are many items of the most in Turks: the largest and most complete Bagua city in the world; the only place in the world where Wusun culture and Yijing culture intertwine; the westernmost Bagua city in China and the seat of Yijing culture; Chinese Taoist culture The westernmost place of spread; the seat of Wusun Kingdom, the largest nomadic ancient country in the Western Regions of China, and so on. . . The mystery of Turks lies in its rich I Ching culture and Wusun culture. Before arriving in Tekes County, I had contacted the local B&B - Ligong Bieyuan, and the proprietress told me: Don’t come now, come after June, it will be beautiful then. What a simple person, just come here, we stayed in this homestay for three days in Tekes County, it was a good accommodation experience! Facts have proved that for Turks County, we did come early. I found that everything here seems to be still hibernating. There is the largest Tai Chi-themed Ferris wheel in the world's Guinness World Records --- Tai Chi Eye, sit Going up, you can overlook the whole picture of Bagua City, but as soon as you know it, it is closed for maintenance, and it will not open until May Day. After May 1st, you can take a helicopter or a hot air balloon to overlook the whole picture of Bagua City in the sky above Bagua City. The central Tai Chi altar in the Bagua Square in the center of the city is also closed for maintenance. Lijie is a concentration of homestays, and most of them are not open to welcome guests. Wherever he went, there were very few tourists. Therefore, the earliest time to travel to Turks is after May Day.
Turks Bagua City
Turks Bagua City Zhili Street
When you come to Yili, you must visit Bagua City; when you come to Bagua City, you must visit Li Street, Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui. The Yijing hexagrams represent fire, which symbolizes auspiciousness and festivities, and is booming. Because the block just happens to be in the position of Li Gua, it is called "Li Street". Li Street is located on Bostan Street, Tekes Town, Tekes County The southern end is composed of 6 ethnic groups including Kazak, Han, Hui, Uyghur, Mongolian, and Kirgiz. The existing residential courtyards are preserved to the greatest extent, and the residential function and neighborhood structure remain unchanged. Gradually provide tourist services Transformation, forming a leisure block integrating homestay, gourmet and national characteristic products, forming a multi-ethnic cultural style block integrating Wusun culture, Silk Road culture, grassland culture, and Yijing culture, and has now become a bright spot in Tekes County. landscape.
Jonkushtai Village
From Baidu Encyclopedia: Qiongkushitai Village is located in Karadala Township, Tekes County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It was selected as a famous historical and cultural village in China on December 13, 2010. Qiongkushitai Village is 90 kilometers away from the county seat. It is a herding village with more than 300 households and more than 1,700 people. The residents in the village are mainly Kazakhs. The village is surrounded by mountains, and the houses are built along the water. The drinking water and domestic water for people and animals in the village come from the Kurde River. The river valley is wide and the water flows continuously all year round. The villagers solved the electricity problem by using hydroelectric power. Most of the buildings in the village are wooden structures, which is a well-preserved wooden structure complex in the Yili River Valley, with high historical and cultural value. On July 28, 2019, Qiongkushitai Village was selected into the list of the first batch of national rural tourism key villages. Almost all the houses in Qiongkushitai Village are made of wood. Some houses are built from a whole log, and some houses are built by splitting the log in two from the middle and using various techniques such as digging, tenoning, and arching. of. Not even the bark was peeled off in the part of the shed. The plane, facade and detail processing of the building, as well as the architectural technology and construction techniques, etc. maintain the traces of architectural culture, with rich historical information and strong authenticity. It is a well-preserved wooden building complex in the Ili River Valley. Some folk houses have a history of more than 100 years and have rich and complete historical and cultural connotations. Judging from the use of wooden buildings in Qiongkushitai Village as the residential buildings of Kazakh herdsmen, this is undoubtedly the evolution of herdsmen from a mobile living style to a permanent living style. There are still many wooden houses with Kazakh nomadic characteristics in the 1950s and 1960s. This is a very primitive ancient village, which is too tempting for us. On April 3rd, we chartered a four-wheel drive vehicle and went there in the snowy weather. The road over the mountains and ridges was difficult, but the scenery along the way was beautiful! Mountains, ancient pines, cabins, flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. . . Heavy snow buried the original road, and there were almost no passing vehicles along the way. Fortunately, the master Wang we hired was an old driver with excellent driving skills. After more than three hours, we finally arrived at this quiet small mountain village. In winter, we only saw two mothers and daughters and a female doctoral candidate from Xiamen University. She is a sociology student and came to this ancient village to complete her doctoral dissertation. With her help, we had a meal at a herdsman’s house The meal with the horse's meat and hands really solved the problem of food and clothing. Later, I met two villagers who patrolled on horseback. It seems that the life of the villagers here is still very orderly. The sun came out at noon, and the whole village suddenly became brighter and warmer, and the snow slowly melted. The villagers told us that it is very beautiful here in summer: blue sky, white clouds, and below the white clouds are silver snow-capped mountains, dark green fir forests, pale Blue grasslands and colorful flowers. . . By the way, tickets are free here and it is open 24 hours.
Human Grassland of Kuokesu Grand Canyon
Leaving Qiongkushitai Village and returning to Tekes County, we came to the south gate of the Kuokesu Grand Canyon Scenic Area at nearly 19:00. We went straight to the human grassland. The deep, winding and beautiful canyons seemed to have just woken up after a deep sleep. The mountain grassland has just grown a little bit of green grass close to the ground, and the main tone is still yellow. No matter what the color tone is, the naturally formed gullies are like the graceful curves of women. .
Zhaosu and Xiata Scenic Areas
April 4th is a good weather. It is about 130 kilometers from Tekes County to Xiata Scenic Area at ten o'clock. It passes through Zhaosu County along the way. The whole Zhaosu is a free scenic spot. Zhaosu is a high mountain basin. It is the only county in Xinjiang without deserts, an important node of the ancient Silk Road, and one of the opening counties determined by the State Council. It is well-known for its rich production of "Teng Kunlun, Li Xiji" Tianma. The county has a total population of 193,000 and is inhabited by 21 ethnic groups including Kazakhstan, Han, Uighur, Mongolian, and Ke. It is a plateau border county that mainly focuses on animal husbandry and combines agriculture and animal husbandry. , China’s Rapeseed Township, and China’s Rainbow Capital” and other titles, Zhaosu is currently vigorously cultivating and developing tourism economy, horse industry, leisure and sightseeing agriculture, and eco-environmental protection economy.
Shata Scenic Area
It is about 130 kilometers from Tekes to Xiata scenic spot. Because we were walking and playing and some roads in Zhaosu were repaired, we arrived at the entrance of the scenic spot after more than 4 hours. Due to the heavy snow yesterday, the road in the scenic spot was impassable, and the shuttle bus stopped Fortunately, private cars are also prohibited from entering, so we can only check in at the door. According to the data: Xiata means "stairs" in Mongolian, and it was the transportation station from Yili to Aksu in ancient times. It is said that Tang Xuanzang traveled westward and crossed "Lingshan Mountain". The road is basically full of stone stairs, most of which are left over from ancient times. The scenic spot has a profound cultural background. At the same time, the Xiata Canyon is a beautiful natural canyon park. Because it is located in a remote area, it has maintained a very primitive state. Shata: You owe me a beautiful display, I owe you a set of footprints, there will be a period later!
The third stop: Xinghuagou, Turgen, Xinyuan County
There is a bus from Tekes County to Xinyuan County every day at 11:00 a.m., and the next day in the afternoon. Tickets are not sold in advance on the next day. We arrived at Tekes Bus Terminal before ten o'clock in the morning on the 6th, but we were told that today's car had already been chartered and departed ahead of schedule. Helpless, we can only go to Gongliu County first and then transfer to Xinyuan County, the traffic is a bit inconvenient! (The total of the two-way ticket is 41 yuan per person) (Kurdening Scenic Spot, known as the most beautiful green valley in Tianshan Mountain in Gongliu County, is a good place to visit in summer) It is close to 17:00 to check in the hotel in Xinyuan County, put down your luggage , we immediately took a taxi (15 yuan/person) to Xinghuagou in Turgen. Sunset didn’t arrive until 21:00 in Xinjiang. Taking a taxi in Xinyuan County was very convenient, and we stopped at the beck and call. It can be described as full of mountains and plains, overwhelming and majestic! It is said that this is the largest primitive wild apricot forest left over from the Middle Ages. The wild apricot blossoms stretch for more than ten kilometers. The most shocking thing is: this is a natural and original ecological magnificence, this is a world of flowers, a charming fairyland! I wanted to visit Xinyuan County on the 7th, and then go to Turgen Xinghua in the morning of the 8th In the ditch, but the weather forecast rained on the 8th, so the next day (7th) we soaked in Xinghuagou for another day. Really, only one day later (in fact, it was only more than ten hours) and many flower buds bloomed. We have witnessed the saying "Turgen apricot flowering period is usually 7-10 days, and the most beautiful time is about a week". We have seen a lot of apricot flowers on Haitang Road in Yining City before. Compared with the two, the wild apricot flowers are more skinny, and the trunks are thicker and more vicissitudes. Turgen can attract the attention of tourists. In addition to the wild apricot blossoms all over the mountains, there is also a special place. If you carefully observe the trunks of the apricot trees on the hillside, they are all inclined! This is: Turgen's magical drunken forest. According to the data, the reason for the formation of the drunken forest is that due to the action of gravity, the loose soil layer on the hillside will slowly creep downward. In the frequent occurrence area, the creeping speed of the soil layer will be faster, and this force will drag the trunk of the tree close to the root down, causing the trunk to tilt.
Kind tips
1. The main purpose of our trip is to appreciate apricot blossoms and snowflakes. If you want to ride the beautiful grassland, you should choose after mid-June. At that time, the grassland grass in Yili is beautiful, and there are purple lavender flowers waiting for you!
2. The temperature in Yili has a large temperature difference between day and night, so you must not lack cold and warm clothes.
3. All of the attractions we visited above are niche attractions. Because inter-county transportation is underdeveloped, chartered cars are the first choice for free travel.
4. The ultraviolet rays in Xinjiang are very strong, even if it snows, you must take good care of sun protection and moisturizing skin protection.
