Inscription: On September 23, 2017, chaka lake wrote: Chaka salt lake, the mirror of the sky, so beautiful that I don't know how to shoot, I had to put it all into my eyes and mind. National Tourism Geography magazine once rated Chaka Salt Lake as one of the "55 places that people must go in their lifetime", thick clouds reflected in the salt lake, and it is impossible to distinguish which is the lake and which is the sky, which is the origin of the sky realm. After getting drunk, I don't know the sky is in the water, the ship is full of dreams to press the galaxy, and the Chaka Salt Lake at night is said to be able to see the starry sky as if it were sprinkled on the lake, which is a beautiful "mirror of the night sky".
Walk with Qinghai Lake
Chaka Salt Lake, along with Qinghai Lake, Taal Temple, and Mengda Tianchi, belongs to the "Four Great Views of Qinghai", because the lake is empty and the lake surface has a strong reflective ability like a mirror, and it is called China's "Sky Mirror" by travelers. The salt produced in Chaka Salt Lake is called "Big Green Salt", and it is only because the salt crystals contain minerals that they appear blue-black.
Xining to Chaka Salt Lake is about 298 kilometers by car, departing from Xining in the morning and arriving at Chaka Salt Lake at 12:00 noon. Usually to go to Chaka Salt Lake, you can choose to go by car or charter from Xining, or take a coach from Xining. Of course, if there is a trip around Qinghai Lake, then you can choose to live in Heima River Town and go from Heima River to Chaka Salt Lake the next day.
On the third day of arrival in Qinghai, starting from Xining, circumnavigating Qinghai Lake through the Black Horse River, crossing the Rubber Mountain and going to Chaka Salt Lake. During this trip, most of the time was spent with Qinghai Lake. Qinghai Lake is very large, the car has been driving for a long time, and the blue Qinghai Lake has never left the line of sight.
Usually the self-driving routes in the Great Northwest are mostly desolate and lonely Gobi scenery, with some vicissitudes of white clouds and dogs, driving on such a road is a self-exile mentality, a brief escape from the present.
Driving around Qinghai Lake is different, on this road, the sky is always blue, covered with clouds, and the clouds rise and fall low, connecting with the ridgeline. Next to the highway is the blue Qinghai Lake, the center of the lake is higher than the shore, bordering the sky, and seems to pour from the sky.
At the end of September, in Qinghai Lake, you can still see golden canola flowers, mixed with rape flowers in the fading grass of the lake, sporadically and freely blooming. Although I have been accustomed to seeing large areas of wild rape flowers in my hometown since I was a child, at this moment, in the autumn grass fading and yellowing all the way in a foreign country, the sudden flash of rape flowers is still gratifying.
What is even more interesting is the grazing sheep on the shores of Qinghai Lake, rolling like a large woolen ball. They have become accustomed to the traffic of tourists, just burying their heads in the grass, and our noise has nothing to do with them.
When the grass was tired of eating, the sheep walked slowly onto the road and crossed the road to the other side to graze. They are always so unhurried and unhurried, sometimes staying in the middle of the road to think about health. The passing vehicles also know the rules and consciously slow down to give way to the sheep crossing the road.
Maybe the sheep are the masters of Qinghai Lake, but we are just passers-by. Of course, I think, a sheep is expensive, who dares to be reckless?
Every time I pass by Qinghai Lake, I look at the sheep and tents in a daze, and I think of Su Wu, who stayed in the Xiongnu for nineteen years, and I don't know what it was like to herd sheep in the North Sea. If the scenery of the North Sea can be as beautiful as Qinghai Lake, then it may be good to herd sheep in a tent in Qinghai Lake.
Out of the town of Heima River, Qinghai Lake gradually withdrew from the line of sight. Ahead is a rubber mountain at an altitude of 3817 meters, which is steep, mostly steep slopes of 30-40 degrees or even more. The car made a short stop on the rubber hill, which was very windy and the temperature was very low. Looking at the scenery of Rubber Mountain, climbing the pass of Rubber Mountain, looking into the distance, only to see the ridge line, the biting cold wind blowing in the face, making people shiver. It's a bit like the hills of Tibet, with large, low-hanging clouds, and the undulating mountains don't see a trace of vegetation.
Take a small train ride to the Sky Mirror
After leaving Rubber Mountain, take a short break in the town of Chaka. There are many Sichuan restaurants in Chaka Town, and I have found a restaurant to eat and supply. When you arrive at Chaka Salt Lake, it is more than 1 o'clock in the afternoon, there is a long distance from the scenic entrance to the center of Chaka Salt Lake, it takes twenty minutes to walk, most people will choose to take the small train of Salt Lake to enter, and walk out on the return trip.
The small train is heading towards the center of Chaka Salt Lake, lined with beautiful scenery, and tourists sitting on the small train have been unable to hold back all kinds of shooting.
As the little train advanced, gradually, the snow-white salt lake came into view, white to the eye. Thick clouds reflect on the lake, and it is impossible to distinguish where is the lake and where is the sky, which is why Chaka Salt Lake is called the land of the sky.
At noon, the sun shines directly on the lake, which is not the best time to shoot the salt lake. The day was cloudy and sunny, which added a lot of difficulty to shooting the mirror of the sky. The ultraviolet rays of the plateau are originally strong, and the reflection ability of the salt lake surface of Chaka is extremely strong, and the overall style of the picture taken is dark, and there is no beauty that you have seen with your own eyes. Of course, it doesn't matter if you just look at the scenery, it is also an experience to enjoy the salt lake from different dimensions.
It is said that in the mirror of the sky, it is best to wear red. Although he wears a red suit, the sky is not beautiful, and the clouds are uncertain. Only when the sun rushes out of the clouds can the mood of the sky mirror come out, and the reflection of the sky can be clearly seen on the lake. But when the sun was obscured by thick clouds, the whole world was bleak.
Such a snow-white world, if sunlight and snow can coexist, then it is in Chaka Salt Lake. Perhaps because of the reflection of the lake surface, when in the salt lake, it always feels like a filter, a magical light and shadow.
Entering Chaka Salt Lake requires the purchase of degradable shoe covers at the entrance, or barefoot entry, as stepping into it with shoes can destroy the Salt Lake. The concentration of salt water is really high, and the shore is condensed with snow-white salt particles. When you come out of the Chaka Salt Lake, the water on the calf is immediately dried, leaving a series of white salt stains.
In case of plenty of time, you can live in Chaka Salt Lake. It is said that at night, chaka salt lake can see the beauty of the Milky Way, can see the brilliance of meteors, and can see the starry sky as if sprinkling on the lake, which is a beautiful "mirror of the night sky". After getting drunk, I don't know that the sky is in the water, and the ship is full of dreams to suppress the galaxy. Overnight stay in Chaka Salt Lake, you can probably dream of the galaxy.
On the return trip, I chose the North Line around Qinghai Lake to return to Xining. It was late, and Qinghai Lake was shrouded in darkness and could not see the silhouette, but I knew that Qinghai Lake was there.
Mojia Street drink a cup of sweet milk tea
When I returned to Xining at about eight or nine o'clock in the evening, it was the time to eat the night market, thinking that I was going to leave Qinghai the next day, I decided to go back to Mojia Street to eat again. Mojia Street is a food concentration area in Qinghai, Mojia Street got its name folk legend, it is said that during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the Kyoto Rebbe Mohuai ancient family treasure "Wen Liang Cup" a treasure, with this "Warm Cool Cup" to serve wine, summer without ice self-cooling, winter without fire and self-warming, is regarded as a rare curiosity. Later, Mo Huaigu offended Yan Shifan because of "Wen Liangdian", was demoted to Xining, and built "Mojia Temple" in Xining, which was the Mo's Ancestral Hall, and after the temple was built, it was named after the temple, so it was called Mojia Street.
Mojia Street is very close to Xining Station and Dongguan Mosque, and in MaZhong Restaurant on Mojia Street, it is difficult to find a location. Piles of mushy spicy lamb trotters, steaming hand-grabbed lamb chops, specialty lamb intestines, hand-pilaf, all kinds of grilled skewers... It's dizzying.
Here there are the three treasures of Qinghai's desserts: yogurt, sweet sauce, and stuffed skin. Sweet milk tea is about the only drink in Qinghai, sweet and sour, a little delicious. The skin is slightly thicker than the cold skin, I don't know if I eat too much, or I am not used to this taste, the skin always feels liked.
About Chaka Salt Lake
"Chaka" is a Tibetan word meaning salt pond, mongolian called "Dabsunnur", which also means salt lake. It is located in Chaka Town, Wulan County, with an altitude of 3100 meters above sea level, and is the smallest of the four major salt lakes in the Qaidam Basin. The salt crystals it produces contain minerals, making the salt crystals blue-black, so it is called "green salt". It is one of the "Four Great Views of Qinghai" along with Taal Temple, Qinghai Lake and Mengda Tianchi. It has been called China's "Mirror of the Sky" by travelers and one of the "55 Places People Must Visit in a Lifetime" by the National Tourism Geography Magazine. The lake surface has a strong reflective ability, so it is called the "mirror of the sky", the best time to travel is from June to October, and the best time to shoot is before 9 am and after 5 pm. The reflection of the lake at night makes the starry sky and the lake surface merge into one color, and the starry sky seems to fall on the lake, so the Chaka Salt Lake at night is called the "Mirror of the Night Sky".
Many people choose to arrange the Qinghai-Gansu Great Northwest Ring Road during the long holiday, from Qinghai Lake to Dachaidan, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, Zhangye, and then back to Xining to complete the Journey of the Great Northwest Ring Road, and Chaka Salt Lake is one of the stops.
postscript
In September 2017, in the late autumn, he resigned and began the Silk Road journey. The impression that the Western Regions give me is that the desert is lonely and straight in the words outside the Sai, the Qiang flute of Yang Liu's grievances, the three stacks of Yangguan, the pot of spirits around the waist of the jianghu heroes, and the cold wind of hunting blown outside the Guan... I insist that late autumn is the best time to open the Silk Road, because of that land, its slightly desolate golden yellow, the west wind blowing up the dust of history, pervading the whole world, it is very much like the smell of autumn.
From making decisions to resigning to preparing for travel, it was quick and decisive, without half a moment's hesitation. The journey is scheduled for 14-30 days: departing from Xi'an and passing through Qinghai - Wuwei (Liangzhou) - Zhangye - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Ili. Unexpectedly, I encountered a snow day in Urumqi, and after coming out for more than half a month, I was also a little tired, so I stopped and returned to Beijing.