Winter Trilogy: Self-driving through Xinjiang full of legends

bound for xinjiang

Tianshan

Sometimes I feel that self-driving is torturing myself, but more often I still enjoy the freedom of self-driving. Although I was a little tired after driving nearly 2,000 kilometers in three days, I also enjoyed countless beautiful scenery. When passing the Tianshan Mountains, I was still shocked by the whiteness in front of my eyes. The snow in Xinjiang is pure and looks pollution-free. Coupled with the exposed landforms and small houses of various colors, I photographed the first time I came to Xinjiang. a photograph

Tianshan

The plan can't keep up with the rapid changes. The original plan was to start from Dunhuang and live in Hami, but it was earlier to get up early and the melons in Hami were out of season, so I planned to go directly to Mulei to eat Mulei barbecue. In fact, what I thought was that I went to Urumqi on the fourth day to change the snow tires and then drove the Haval H9 to challenge the ice and snow roads in northern Xinjiang. However, my sister thought that the snow had already started to accumulate on the Tianshan Mountains as soon as I arrived, and I already had it when I drove the car Slip feeling, switch directly to the snow mode, reduce the speed slightly and continue to move forward smoothly

Frozen Balikol Lake has other beauties too

barkol lake

I have always heard that Balikun Lake has the spectacle of "misty and mirage-covered mountains", and I really experienced this spectacle here. Although it may not be the same thing as the traditional description, the mountains in the distance appear like mirages. in sight. It is said that in midsummer, the scenery of lakes and mountains here is extremely charming. The nomadic herdsmen live by the lake, there are seats in yurts, flocks of cattle and sheep, and melodious pastoral songs. But the scenery around Balikun Lake in winter is not inferior to that in summer. Although there are no vegetation, it reveals a majestic posture.

barkol lake

There are many beautiful legends about Balikun Lake. The most popular legend is: a Han girl and a Kazakh youth named Pu Leihai joined forces to fight against the mountain demon that destroyed the lake. The girl was crushed under the sharp mountain and petrified. The young man grabbed the mountain demon and sank to the bottom of the lake together. They guarded the lake with their lives in exchange for a peaceful and happy life for future generations. In order to commemorate them, people call the clear springs at the foot of Jianshan Mountain "Hangu Spring" and the lake "Pulei Sea". Although the legends are not real stories, they are passionate and beautiful. Driving on the vast land and beautiful highways in Xinjiang, these stories seem to come alive, living in the beautiful imagination

barkol lake

It is said that this "Pulei Sea" located at the northern foot of East Tianshan Mountain has the largest area of more than 800 square kilometers. As time goes by, with the decrease of rainfall and the impact of human activities, by the 1980s, the lake area of Balikun Lake had shrunk to 140 square kilometers. The most frightening thing was in 2006. The latest statistics show that the water surface of Barkol Lake was further reduced to 37 square kilometers. According to this shrinking rate, the beautiful Barkol Lake is likely to face drying up. Although the protection of the lake surface by human intervention in the later period has been improved, the connection between the blue lake surface and the dry land is still shocking. It looks like alien soil, and I just want to be able to jump on it in a space suit.

barkol lake

What brings me back to reality is the herd of horses gnawing on the turf in the distance. The low temperature after winter has caused the grassland to become desolate. Yes, but this life is too rough and hard

a night's journey

Wooden barrier

To be honest, what I miss the most in Xinjiang is the generous portion of barbecue, and Mulei’s barbecue is very famous, so I would rather go to eat such a bite if I am traveling at night. When we crossed the Tianshan Mountains, there was still a lot of sky, but when we approached Mulei, there were more large trucks. There were a lot of giant trucks pulling fans with a length of tens of meters slowly crawling in front of us. The tip of the knife hangs above our heads. The scene of beheading people with a 40-meter machete is very vivid in our description. Every time I have to find the right time to kick the accelerator and overtake at a high speed. Fortunately, the power of the H9 is strong, and it can maintain a strong speed increase on the plateau. It was getting dark when it was about thirty kilometers away from Mulei. There are purple-red clouds floating in the distance, accompanied by the sequence of high-voltage electric towers, which is very beautiful. But in order not to feel the darkness in the mountains, I feel tight to eat meat.

This is the first time I saw so many wolves howling together

There is an ancient Cheshi road near Mulei for off-road enthusiasts to cross, but there is another point here that I especially want to go is the Wild Wolf Valley. I have seen people say that there are many wolves in it, and some even saw it. Being able to get in close contact with the heart is broken. Before going to Urumqi, I diverted directly to the Wild Wolf Valley. It took about an hour or so to reach the main entrance. To be honest, the gate looks no different from ordinary scenic spots. I am a little disappointed. Thinking about going in and having a look

Cheshi Ancient Road

When I first entered the scenic spot and saw wolves, I was very excited. A group of wolves were walking on the snow. When I see people, I won’t attack you. I came early, and there is no one in the scenic area. All the wolves stare at me and follow my steps, except that they don’t wag their tails and look like dogs. the difference. Occasionally, a wolf starts howling and all the wolves howl together, which is quite scary.

Cheshi Ancient Road

Don't think that the wolves in Wild Wolf Valley are all captive wolves like those in the zoo. These wolves are real wild wolves. It is said that in 1998, Yang Changsheng, the "Wolf King" here, fed a wild wolf cub to a farmer's house in Jimsar, and became attached to the wolf. The wolf cub had a good relationship with him, so the villagers began to pick up the wolf cubs The children were sent to him to be raised, and finally they speculatively built the Wild Wolf Valley, and the scale of adopting injured wild wolves and wolf cubs became larger and larger, and now there are more than 200 wolves.

Cheshi Ancient Road

Before the sun came into the wolf house, I was going to drive to Cheshi Ancient Road for a walk, but the administrator warned me that the Cheshi Ancient Road was closed, so I could only walk around the edge of the gate. To be honest, I didn’t expect so much snow and steep slopes here when I came here. It’s really difficult to come here without changing snow tires, but the snow-covered road is switched to low-speed four-wheel drive mode and snow mode throughout the process. Haval H9 The perfect challenge is successful, one word is stable.

Driving to Cheshi Ancient Road can only reach one scenic spot, Dripping Guanyin. Obviously, there is no dripping water now. All the water flowing downward has formed an ice waterfall. It is also interesting to see a statue of Guanyin standing in a cave surrounded by ice waterfalls. the dot

When we returned to the wolf house, the sun had already risen, and the cubs in the cold snow began to bask in the sun comfortably, without any ferocious feeling.

Cheshi Ancient Road

After watching the wolf set off towards my snow tires, all the way north! I am about to have snow tires and I am a hero on ice and snow roads. After passing the wooden barrier, the temperature plummeted. The first thing to do when getting in the car was to turn on the heated seat of the H9. When the heat rises from the buttocks, it can only be said to be very comfortable.

Here we come again, the long-lost Anjihai Canyon

When I was in Urumqi, I picked up mimo. Although I don’t know why she flew to Urumqi to find me right after the last event, but there were many people on the way who took care of me. By the way, it would be nice to have a girl as a model for me. Did the person in the upper right corner of the picture above see it? Maybe no one can see it without reminding you. That’s right, we’re back in Anjihai Canyon again.

Anjihai Grand Canyon

Anjihai River is one of the four major water systems in Shawan. The upper reaches of the river is Bajiangou, which originates from the main peak of Yilian Habiga Mountain, rushes out of the Tianshan Canyon near Tungut, and flows straight down, thus forming a large-scale piedmont alluvial fan under the northern slope of Tianshan Mountain. In the plain and hilly area about seven kilometers north of Yuanxing Palace, the river cuts out thousands of feet of cliffs and valleys, forming a rare plain in the history of landforms, dangerous passes and strong deep stretches.

As a geological fault zone at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, Anjihai Canyon shows the strength of being a member of the Tianshan family. This is not a scenic spot, and the locals don’t know much about it. There are almost no tourists. The risk factor is high. Standing on the top of the mountain and looking at the bottom of the valley, the legs We are all weak, but fortunately, we are all of good quality in our hearts. We have been busy taking pictures with our lives, and hardly pay attention to our feet.

Driving on the edge of the cliff is definitely a refreshing experience. When the H9 accelerator is pressed, the dust will fly instantly, and the feeling of speeding on the edge of the cliff with sweaty palms is definitely a super cool driving experience. However, the road we found is a relatively safe driving route. Before We found and walked past the canyon tip where Anjihai is particularly popular. It has been broken, so I also remind you to pay attention to safety when traveling. We should try our best to avoid such wild spots.

When I came out of Anjihai, a group of camels crossed the street. They were all huge Bactrian camels. There are also a lot of camel milk products here, but it’s very dark when I think about it.

I accidentally harvested my birthday in Devil City

Flushing the sand, flushing the sand, cutting the sand mode and flying in the Karamay Devil City, I like the pleasure of rolling up the dust. The typical wind-eroded Yardang landform in the Devil City is called "Sulumuha" by the local Mongolians. Ke", the Uighurs call it "Shaytankersi", which means Devil City

What is never lacking in Xinjiang is the legend. It is said that the Devil City was originally a castle. The men and women in it are good-looking and hardworking. Later, God couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to save these people, so he became a beggar and told them that he had become poor because of evil, but was ridiculed by these people, and then the castle was blown up in a hurry, and then it became a devil city. Every day and night, ghosts and wolves cry. The perspective of being in the Devil City is still different from that in the sky. After the drone flies up, when the whole Devil City has a panoramic view, it is still infinitely afraid of the power of nature, which is really scary.

Taking advantage of the low light of the setting sun, quickly ask mimo to pinch two handsome photos for me

The Devil City is also called the Windy City. The reason why it is called the Windy City is because there are strong winds blowing here all year round. I didn’t want to feel the devil’s “charm” of the Devil City in the middle of the night, so I drove back.

On the way back, I saw another nostalgic point. When I came to Xinjiang in July, I ate honeydew melons in the melon cart next to the small bungalow near the Devil City. I ran to the devil city alone to raise chickens and grow melons, sell melons in summer and chickens in winter, pass by, don’t miss it

At the end of the day, mimo finally told me why she came. It was my birthday for half a day, and I completely forgot about it. In order to match her romantic atmosphere, I specially asked me to give it a handful of fluffy dogtail grass. Give it to her, and start the show, hey why bother. But what about my gift? ? ?