4. Unforgettable trip to Kashgar
Xinjiang, Xinjiang, dear Xinjiang, Ah Li and three friends arrived at Kashgar, the westernmost border city of my country at 8:00 am on June 19th. As soon as they walked out of the train station, they found the hot master who picked us up and sat on him. The minibus started our unforgettable trip to Kashgar.
Master Re is a Uighur. He once worked as a teacher in a local technical secondary school. After retiring, he started traveling. He drove a commercial vehicle at first, and was a driver and tour guide like Master Ma, Master Cui, and Master Feng; later he bought this minibus and became a full-time driver (the commercial vehicle was driven by his younger brother), but he was not professional enough. When you’re a tour guide, you can’t resist being a free tour guide—he did that during our three-day trip to Kashgar.
Master Re took us to Kashgar city to meet the tour guide and eight other group members. The tour guide's surname is Suo, a Han man from Shandong, with a large piece of Hetian jade hanging around his neck (Master Re also has a piece of Hetian jade around his neck). He served as a soldier in Kashgar, and returned to Shandong after retiring. Later, a comrade-in-arms opened a travel agency in Kashgar and asked him to help, so he returned to his second hometown, became a tour guide, and bought a house in Kashgar. Because I became a monk halfway, I sometimes forget my identity as a tour guide during the journey. Fortunately, Master Re will forget that he is not a tour guide at the same time, and will always explain to everyone in time, making our trip full of laughter. The other eight members came from all over the country, and they signed up for a two-day tour of Taxian County at a local travel agency in Kashgar. Dear Xinjiang, a tour group of 12 people is formed like this! After Cable Guide and the other eight members boarded the minibus of Master Re, we headed for the Pamirs along the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway (part of National Highway 314), which is known as the highest and most beautiful highway in the world!
Dear Xinjiang, the Pamir Plateau looks rough and uninhibited - full of wilderness and snow-capped peaks. In fact, it also has a beautiful and sentimental side, such as its magical Baisha Mountain and its clear Baisha Lake. We arrived at Bulunkou Township, Akto County, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture at noon, and saw Baisha Mountain and Baisha Lake at its foot. Baisha Mountain stretches for several kilometers. It looks like the mountain is not high, but it has a dazzling beauty: the white and soft fine sand covers the mountain, and the peaks are shining with silver, like silver mountains; In Baisha Lake, the color of the lake water seems to have changed from blue to milky white. Dear Xinjiang, Baisha Mountain and Baisha Lake vividly explained to us the saying "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains"!
Dear Xinjiang, while admiring, Ali is also wondering: there is no white sand around Baisha Mountain, so where does the thick white sand on Baisha Mountain come from? How did it get up there? After Ali returned to Wuhan, he searched for answers on the Internet, but found that none of the answers were reliable. Dear Xinjiang, do you know the correct answer?
As for Baisha Lake, dear Xinjiang, Ah Li finally knows its past and present life: Before 2012, Baisha Lake was a natural lake with small islands in the lake and lush vegetation, which was a paradise for birds; 2012 Years later, it will not be a pure natural lake, because the country built a reservoir here, called Bulunkou Reservoir, and the original small island in the lake was submerged in the bottom of the water; the total storage capacity of the reservoir is 702 million cubic meters, which is currently the largest storage capacity here The reservoir is also the leading reservoir of the Bulunkou-Gonger Hydropower Station, which was connected to the grid for power generation in 2014. From this point of view, dear Xinjiang, the role of Baisha Lake is really not small: its beauty can fascinate tourists from all over the country, and its lake water can be used for power generation, irrigation, flood control and so on.
Dear Xinjiang, Ah Li would like to praise Baisha Mountain and Baisha Lake!
At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, we successfully arrived at our destination - Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County (referred to as Tajik County). It is located in the eastern part of the Pamir Plateau, with an area of 24,000 square kilometers, but a population of just over 50,000, 80 percent of whom are Tajiks—the only native Caucasian in our country. The county boundary of the entire western half of Taxian County is the national border, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan respectively. It is the border county that borders the most countries in my country. It has been an important international passage since ancient times and today: in ancient times, the southern line of the Silk Road passed through here; today, the county has the Khunjerab Port on the China-Pakistan border and the Karasu Port on the China-Tajikistan border.
Tajik is where the story and filming of the classic Chinese film "Guests on the Iceberg" took place. The People's Liberation Army soldier Amir in the film is a Tajik, and the movie's theme song "Why Are Flowers So Red" is a Tajik folk song. Dear Xinjiang, Ah Li watched this black-and-white film shot by Changchun Film Studio in 1962 in its entirety a few days ago, and was once again deeply moved by its beautiful melody, tortuous story, and magnificent scenery.
After arriving in Ta County, we first visited the stone city ruins. Taxian Stone City, Nanjing Stone City and Liaoyang Stone City are also known as the three major stone cities in my country. It is located on the north side of the county seat, built on a high hill, at the foot of which is the grassy beach of Aral, and the Taxkurgan River meanders through the grassy beach. Although there are only broken walls and ruins left in Stone City, it also has a glorious history: it was once the royal city of Puli Kingdom, one of the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, and it was also the Congling Shouzhuo established after the Tang Dynasty unified the Western Regions. It was also the place where Tang Xuanzang stayed when he returned from India to learn Buddhist scriptures. The piles of rocks and remaining mud walls on the ruins have all witnessed the former glory of this place.
The Aral Grass Beach under the Stone Town has become the Alar National Wetland Park on the Pamir Plateau. A wooden plank road has been built on the lush green grass for tourists to walk on. There is a cable bridge connecting the two sides of the Taxkurgan River. We walked on the plank road, looking at the green grass on the flat and open grass beach, looking at the horses grazing leisurely on the grass, looking at the towering stone city wall not far away, looking at the bare mountains and blue sky in the distance The white clouds are reflected in the shallow Taxkurgan River together, as if you are in a fairyland. It was evening and the temperature was very low, only a few degrees, but we still lingered here.
After visiting the Aral Grass Beach, we went to visit the Tajik family next to the grass beach. The beautiful Tajik women and handsome Tajik men greeted us with smiles, but they did not sell their local products, just like the old Uighur mother we met when we visited the home of Yangbulak Village during our trip to Yili. . Dear Xinjiang, the home visit is not for the purpose of promoting local specialties, especially silverware and jade. Ah Li only met in Yangbulake Village and here! When Ah Li traveled with a group in other provinces and cities before, every home visit had a common link: the so-called local cultural representatives were selling souvenirs to tourists.
Dear Xinjiang, in the second chapter of this article, when Ah Li reminisced about his home visit to Yangbulak Village, he once asked you: Why is the tourism in Yangbulak Village different from other places? Now, Ah Li wrote about his home visit in Alar Village in Taxian County, and he still couldn’t help asking: Why is the tourism in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County different from other places?
Dear Xinjiang, Li seems to have found the answer to the question about home visits in Yangbulake Village from Master Cui, and to the question about traveling in Ta County, Li seems to have found the answer from the three local slogans.
The first slogan is what Ah Li saw on the side of the road when we returned to the hotel after our home visit: "Ambition is higher than a mountain peak, backbone is harder than a rock, and happiness is more than oxygen." The second slogan is when we checked in at the hotel , Ah Li saw at the hotel service desk: "Notes to the staff: Smile more, temper less, have a bigger stomach, feel better, do more things, complain less, speak smarter, move faster, and do things better." Be serious and work faster." The third slogan was what A Li saw on the base of the Eagle Statue when we left Ta County the next morning and passed the Eagle Square in the county: "With the strength of the whole county, gather the power of the whole county." Wisdom, build the Pamir tourist attraction into a national 5A-level scenic spot.”
Dear Xinjiang, these three slogans reveal the ambition and backbone of the people of Taxian County, and reveal the ambition and confidence of the people of Taxian County. No wonder they don’t sell local specialties to tourists during home visits—they don’t bother to do so Woolen cloth! Ah Li hereby sincerely wishes the people of Taxian County to build the Pamir tourist attraction into a national 5A-level scenic spot as soon as possible, so that the Pamir Plateau will become a tourist attraction that people all over the country yearn for!
In the early morning of June 20th, after visiting Eagle Square, we left Ta County and returned to Kashgar. Along the way, Master Re stopped several times to let us enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way: Taheman plateau wetland is the largest basin and wetland in Taxkorgan County, surrounded by snow-capped peaks, criss-cross streams, and green grass; Karakul Lake is in Mushi Under the protection of Tage Peak, Gongger Peak, and Gongger Jiubie Peak, it is secluded and charming; and the Baisha River and Baisha Mountain that appeared in front of us for the second time still made us reluctant to leave just like the last time... my dear In Xinjiang, the nearly 300-kilometer journey from Taxian County to Kashgar is actually a long, beautiful and magnificent landscape painting, but we only have one pair of eyes, and we cannot see enough of this painting in such a short period of time! Can't get enough of this picture on this trip!
At around 5 pm on June 20, we returned to Kashgar. Director Suo led everyone into the "Kashgar Hetian Jade Exhibition Hall" and let the group members buy freely. Ah Li and his friends signed up for a pure play group, and there was no shopping on the itinerary. In the previous trips to Kanas, Yili, and Korla Kuqa, the masters did not take us into shopping stores. Ah Li hurriedly contacted the customer service of the reported travel agency, but the customer service lady replied: "Kashgar Hetian Jade Exhibition Hall" is an AA attraction, not an ordinary shopping store, and consumption is not compulsory; this attraction was given to us by the Kashgar local travel agency. Ah Li and his friends couldn't believe that this is an AA attraction, but we really saw a sign on the upper left of the gate of the exhibition hall, with two golden English letters "A" printed on it. Dear Xinjiang, the AA scenic spot presented to us by the Kashgar local travel agency is quite unique. Their approach is somewhat different from that of the people in Yangbulake Village and Taxian County.
After all the group members came out of the Hetian Jade Exhibition Hall, the cable guide announced that the two-day tour in Ta County was officially over. The eight members left separately, leaving Ah Li and three friends to continue the trip to Kashgar. The four of us went to the hotel to put our luggage first, and then took a taxi to the ancient city of Kashgar. We wandered around the ancient and prosperous ancient city for a few hours. Attracted by the delicious food, the warm and simple residents, especially the happy children, I didn't return to the hotel until late at night.
The 21st is the last day of our trip to Kashgar and also the last day of our trip to southern Xinjiang. Suo Dao, Master Re and his minibus continued to accompany the four of us to play in Kashgar.
In the morning, we went to watch the opening ceremony of the ancient city of Kashgar at 10:30, then visited the tomb of Xiangfei, and then went to the ancient city in the rest of the time.
At noon we went to the century-old teahouse in Kashgar, drank sweet rose tea, ate several exquisite refreshments, and watched the singing and dancing performances held in the teahouse from time to time.
In the afternoon, we first went to visit the Id Kah Mosque, the symbol of Kashgar, which is known as the "Small Plus". After that, the tour guide took us into a jade shop, which was the second AA attraction presented to us by the Kashgar local travel agency. Because it is the off-season of tourism, there are not many customers in the store. After the four of us entered, we were immediately surrounded by many salesmen. For the first time, Ah Li enjoyed the service like "all the stars are holding the moon". It's a pity that Ah Li and the three friends all have the "mother-in-law's face" that Director Zhang Suo said - there is neither gold nor silver nor jade on the face. But did not buy anything! Let these girls who don't seem to be Uighurs be disappointed! After visiting the jade shop, we wandered around the Central and Western Asia International Trade Market, the Kashgar Grand Bazaar, and looked at the Gaotai folk houses not far from the Grand Bazaar (it is under renovation and is not open to tourists).
Dear Xinjiang, this is the end of our unforgettable trip to Kashgar. In the evening, Master Re sent us to Kashgar Airport, and we flew back to Urumqi that night.
Dear Xinjiang, the end of the trip to Kashgar means that our trip to southern Xinjiang is also over! But, dear Xinjiang, the end of the trip to southern Xinjiang does not mean that our 2019 Xinjiang trip will also end. We stayed in Urumqi for another four days and visited the botanical gardens, museums, and Hongshan Park in the city freely. , the International Grand Bazaar and other scenic spots, tasted a variety of local delicacies, enjoyed the cool weather here, and heard interesting stories about flower skirts, meat buns, vegetable baskets, etc., which made Ah Li laugh and roll, until the afternoon of the 25th. Take the flight back to Wuhan.
Dear Xinjiang, our initial plan for the arrangement of activities after the trip to southern Xinjiang was not like this—the original plan was to visit Tianchi Lake and Turpan in two or three days after returning to Urumqi from Kashgar! However, when we really come back from Kashgar, we don't want to go to Tianchi, and we don't want to go to Turpan either!
Dear Xinjiang, if you want to ask us why we don’t want to visit your two internet celebrity attractions, Ali will ask you: I have seen Kanas Lake, Sailimu Lake, Bosten Lake, Baisha Lake, and Karakule Lake After the various poses and with different expressions, do you think we still need to see Tianchi? After seeing the magnificence of Colorful Beach, Taklamakan Desert, Kuqa Grand Canyon, Baisha Mountain and Stone City, do you think it is still necessary for us to visit Turpan? Dear Xinjiang, Ali even feels that after visiting your northern and southern Xinjiang, not only Tianchi and Turpan are not necessary to visit, but also grasslands, lakes, deserts and wastelands in other provinces, cities and countries!
Dear Xinjiang, as early as more than a thousand years ago, Yuan Zhen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, had already written about our state of mind after returning to Urumqi from Kashgar: "Once the sea was difficult for water, except for Wushan, which was not a cloud. Take the time to look back at Hua Cong lazily. Cultivate the half-marginal gentleman."
Dear Xinjiang, the time to say goodbye to you has finally come—on the afternoon of June 25th, Ah Li and his friends left Urumqi and returned to Wuhan, officially ending the 2019 Xinjiang trip!
Dear Xinjiang, Ah Li began to miss you not long after he returned to Wuhan! The round trip from June 8th to 25th left too many fond memories for Ah Li: your vast territory, your infinite scenery, and your enthusiastic people are all unforgettable for Ah Li. Ah Li wants to keep these good memories so that he can read them at any time. So Ah Li used his free time to sort out more than a thousand photos taken on this trip, and then wrote the travel notes of this trip intermittently. On July 25, I finished the first chapter "Unforgettable Journey to Kanas", with a total of 4195 words; on August 20, I finished the second chapter "Unforgettable Journey to Ili", with a total of 3857 words; on September 8, I finished writing The third chapter "Unforgettable Journey to Korla and Kuqa" has a total of 4,684 words; and today, on October 5, Ah Li finally finished the last chapter "Unforgettable Journey to Kashgar", with a total of 4,954 words.
Xinjiang, Xinjiang, dear Xinjiang, Ali also had the habit of writing supplementary travel notes before, usually it only took a few days, and the content was only a few thousand words, such as "2018 Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Tour", "2017 Inner Mongolia Chifeng Shocking Tour", "2016 National Day Yuanling Tour" "It's all the same. However, in the travel note "Travel to Xinjiang 2019", Ah Li actually wrote it from the beginning of July to the beginning of October, and the content has more than 17,000 words! This is the longest travel note written by Ali! Dear Xinjiang, can you feel Ali's affection for you?
Xinjiang, Xinjiang, dear Xinjiang, it's the National Day at this time, countless people walk out of their homes, go through the crowds, to see the mountains and the sea; and Ali sits quietly in front of the computer at home, recalling your scenery, recalling your Food, remembering your people. When the memories slowly turned into words and flowed out, Ah Li seemed to have returned to your incomparably broad embrace, once again indulging in the beauty of your mountains and rivers and unwilling to wake up.
Xinjiang, Xinjiang, dear Xinjiang, although Ah Li does not want to wake up from the dream of memories, he has to end this article! With this article, Ah Li sincerely wishes you and wishes you a beautiful scenery forever! Ah Li also sincerely wishes your people, wishing them happiness and health forever!
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2019, 10, 5
