This is not the first time I have come to Qinghai. The lake is still as beautiful as ever, but there are more people. He made up his mind to avoid tourists, so he drove his newly bought locomotive with his friends and quickly skipped the Qinghai Lake in summer, heading west to the northwest.
This time, I want to go to a different place.
We arrived at Dachaidan at night, only a pink-purple sunset was left on the Emerald Lake, standing on the empty saline-alkali land, as if stepping into the wilderness. In the early morning of the next day, I planned to go to Wusute Water Yadan, which is more than 200 kilometers away. My friend said: "There are no charging piles on the road, and this car is just enough to drive back and forth when it is fully charged. If something happens, it may be left on the way. Shall we go?" The two of us thought for a few minutes, Looking at each other, they resolutely embarked on this "power outage journey", thinking that if there is no power, the worst thing is to call a tow truck. Be mentally prepared to face all the unknowns, we really are friends in times of trouble.
In order to save energy, we swayed "slowly" at a speed of 80 yards per hour on the Northwest Expressway, which is tens of kilometers away from anyone, and this gave me a chance to observe the landforms of the Northwest. From Dachaidan Town to Wusute Water Yadan, it is almost all the Gobi desert, the grass is brown, the sky is smoky gray, and the huge khaki rocks are carved into different shapes by the water and wind, only the rows of white ones in the distance The windmill is trying to prove the traces of human existence.
After going all the way, I finally arrived at the entrance of the scenic spot. After buying a ticket, you can go all the way to the depths of Yadan after taking the shuttle bus against the strong wind. Wusu Te Yadan was formed in the crustal movement tens of thousands of years ago. It took time and space transformation, wind, frost, rain and snow to form the largest Yadan community in the world. At first there was no water. Decades ago, the diversion of the Nalengele River, which originated in the Kunlun Mountains, caused a flash flood that submerged the area. This has formed the unique water Yadan here.
The water here is crystal clear and rich in minerals. As the sunlight changes, it will show different gradients such as milky white, light green, mint and so on. I got out of the car and walked to the water's edge. It felt strange to step on the sand tens of thousands of years ago, as if connected to another time and space. The rocks are like small islands, placed in the lake by nature. If you look carefully, the texture and color of each rock are different.
Thinking that these landscapes are still changing with time and space, and we are just witnesses of this moment, I suddenly cherish it. On the way back, he refused to take the car in the scenic spot, and simply walked out along the lakeshore. And we were lucky to return to Dachaidan Town before the car was completely out of power.
The Chaerhan Salt Lake between Dachaidan and Golmud is another place that amazed me on this northwest trip. Compared with Chaka Salt Lake, it is much less famous. The salt field for tourists to visit belongs to the Qinghai Potash Salt Plant. It takes more than half an hour to drive to the middle of the salt lake by a minibus from the entrance, which is enough to see the size of Chaerhan Lake.
As soon as I got out of the car, my eyes were filled with emerald green lake water and pure white salt flowers. Regardless of my image, I couldn't help shouting excitedly: "This is too beautiful, it's the Maldives!" The road under my feet was piled up with salt crystals It is made of a thick layer, nearly 1 meter above the lake water. During the crystallization process of brine, salt flowers of different shapes will be formed due to differences in concentration, composition, time, etc. You can go directly down to the shore to watch the salt flowers up close. They are like mushrooms, corals and stalagmites growing out of the lake, so cute. But don't touch it with your hands, these salt flowers are corrosive to a certain extent.
Walking along the salt bridge, there are several small viewing platforms overlooking the salt lake from above. As the angle of view changes, you will find that there are countless white pools of different shades hidden under the turquoise lake, some of which are oval and some of which are heart-shaped, filled with gradient green. Looking into the distance, the lake and the sky have long been connected, and the white lake embankment looks like a beam of light passing across it. Who would have imagined that such a scene is hidden in a fertilizer factory in the northwest desert?
The last stop of my trip to Qinghai is Hoh Xil, which I have been thinking about for several years. Departing from Golmud, we headed towards Tibet along National Highway 109. The kilometers were not too many, only more than 100 kilometers and less than 200 kilometers. However, we drove for more than three hours, because the road conditions in this section were extremely poor. The permafrost roadbed on the plateau is not so strong, and the Qinghai-Tibet line is mostly used by large trucks, so there are potholes everywhere, some of which can be tens of centimeters deep. Naturally, the locomotive couldn't be driven, so we directly changed to a pickup truck with a high chassis to move forward. But it should also prove the old saying-the most beautiful scenery is on the road, and it takes some effort to see the beautiful scenery.
The first snow mountain to come into sight is Mount Yuzhu with an altitude of more than 6,000 meters, and then we have to cross the pass of Kunlun Mountain at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters. When the air becomes thinner and the scenery on both sides of the road changes from snow-capped mountains to meadows, Hoh Xil is not far away.
In order to protect the ecology and ensure the safety of life, tourism and crossing in the reserve are now prohibited. The Hoh Xil that most tourists can see is actually the Tibetan antelope protection station along the national highway. There are two Tibetan antelope protection stations near Golmud. After arriving at the first station, I opened my eyes and searched for the Tibetan antelope everywhere, but I didn't even see a living thing. On the contrary, I met several groups of gazelles and wild donkeys on the way here.
Unwilling, I asked a friend to drive me to the next place. My eyes were almost glued to the windows along the way, for fear of missing a single thing. It's a pity that the second protection station was still empty. I stood on the viewing platform and refused to leave until my friend called me from behind: "Let's go, if you don't go back, it will be dark," and then turned my head reluctantly.
As a result, the moment I looked back, I saw a small herd of Tibetan antelopes, about five or six, grazing quietly on the grassland not far across the road. Regardless of the plateau panting, I hurried down the viewing platform and crossed the road without a sound. In this way, I stood by the national road in Hoh Xil and saw the Tibetan antelope that I have only seen in the animal world. They are so nimble, their little heads are swaying and grazing, and they will raise their heads to scout around if they make any noise. A truck drove by, and the Tibetan antelope ran quickly. As expected of athletes on the plateau, they run really fast and disappear into the distance in a few tens of seconds. I have to record their figures with my eyes.
Words cannot describe the evening when I saw the Tibetan antelope. I only remember that the sky was blue and the grassland was golden. I was sitting in the car, and the snow-capped mountains were constantly rewinding, just like a movie rewinding, but this It's a fantasy film that only happens once.
