Heihe, a gift from Qilian Mountain. Photo/Visual China
If you search for "Heihe" on Baidu Maps, the map will automatically switch to Heihe City in Heilongjiang Province.
However, another heihe river should be more famous: it is one of the great rivers ruled by Dayu, it nourishes the Yanzhi Mountain that is the heart of the Xiongnu, it gives birth to the Golden Zhangye of "Zhang Guo's arm, to pass through the western region", it throws oases in the vast desert of Alashan, without it, our history and life may be another picture.
Map of the Black River Basin. Cartography/Monk
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"The moon rises out of the heavenly mountains, between the clouds and the sea." - Li Bai
Tianshan Mountain, the ancient Chinese name for the Qilian Mountains between Gansu and Qinghai, water vapor from the three directions of the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean, blocked by this mountain range with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters, turns into rain, merges into a river, and the Heihe River, which is why it comes from this.
Qilian, mountains make rivers. Photo/Visual China
The slopes below the snow line are the place where the Heihe River was born, although the average annual temperature here is only hovering around 0 degrees Celsius, which is very cold, but the average annual precipitation of more than 350 mm irrigates the shrubs and arborvitae forests, and the water they conserve, which flows into a trickle, is the most delicate blood vein of the Heihe River.
Jungle under Qilian Mountain, river water. Photo/Visual China
The tumbling water vapor also creates a rugged and spectacular valley glacier for the Qilian Mountains. The glaciers here are continental glaciers, relatively stable, low sensitivity to climate change, they are the stabilizer of the river's water volume, under the common care of glaciers, snowmelt, rainwater and forest conservation, the Black River flows from year to year.
Monco Glacier. Photo: Colorful China
For the 821-kilometer-long Heihe River, the mountains upstream are almost all of its "source of income." The annual precipitation in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin plain area is less than 200 mm, and the annual precipitation in the lower plain area is reduced to less than 50 mm, and 90% of the Heihe River water originates from this mountain catchment area of more than 10,000 square kilometers.
In the meandering valley of the Qilian Mountains on the Qinghai side, the Heihe River flows slowly from west to east, growing stronger, and at the Huangzang Temple at the junction of The Two Provinces of Qinghai and Gansu, it encounters the Babao River from east to west, at which point the Heihe River turns north, enters Gansu, continues to chisel the mountains and valleys, and rushes forward.
The rushing river in the Qilian Mountains. Photo/Visual China
The abundant Black River, at the dividing point between the upper and middle reaches of the yingluo Gorge, rushes out of the valley and into the plain, ready to attack it is completely ready! As China's second largest inland river, it will give everything it has for the Hexi Corridor and the Alxa Plateau.
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The Heihe River, which rushed out of the mountain pass, slowed down on the plain of the Hexi Corridor, and it created an ancient city with the reputation of "half city reeds, half city tower shadow" for the arid northwest - Zhangye.
"Half-city reeds" refers to wetlands, and the famous Heihe Wetland is a wonderful representation of this scenery. The Heihe River is a dotted water, forest, swamp and tidal flat left by the Zhangye Plain, which is a natural barrier to curb the invasion of the Badain Jaran Desert in the north and protect the oasis under the Qilian Mountains.
Heihe Wetlands, bird paradise. Photo: Colorful China
The Heihe Wetland is also a table for migratory birds to replenish their energy. September is the peak of migratory bird migration, and on average, thousands of birds rest here every day to replenish their energy.
Spotted geese flying from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have seized a patch of mudflats, where the abundance of mollusks is enough to soothe their hunger, while more birds, such as giant swans, gray geese, and black-winged sandpipers, choose to find food on the open water. The excellent environment of the Heihe Wetland makes some migratory birds even regard this place as a second home, and every year, they spend the breeding period here and give birth to new life.
In the Heihe Wetland in Gaotai County, Zhangye City, egrets, herons and white spoonbills appear in the same picture. Figure/Figureworm Creative
"Half-City Pagoda Shadow", referring to the stupa. Zhangye was the throat of the Silk Road, and it was along this path that Buddhism was introduced from the Western Regions to the Central Plains. Originally built in the Sui Dynasty, Zhangye Wooden Pagoda, nine levels high 33 meters, after more than a thousand years of vicissitudes, several damages and several reconstructions, as long as there is still flowing Black River water, Zhangye's civilization fire will not be extinguished.
Zhangye Ancient Pagoda. Figure/Figureworm Creative
In fact, the Black River water not only nourished the agricultural civilization that entered the Hexi Corridor, it was also one of the mother rivers of the nomadic people. The Shandan River (upstream of the Damaying River), which also originates from the Qilian Mountains, is one of the tributaries of the Heihe River, which nourishes the Yanzhi Mountain from the hinterland of the mountain range from south to north, and flows west after encountering the Longshou Mountain, creating the world's largest and oldest Shandan Military Horse Farm.
The Shandan Army Racecourse with ten thousand horses galloping. Photo: Colorful China
Before becoming a military horse farm, the fertile grassland on the shandan river was once a paradise for nomads, until 121 BC, when the hussar general Huo Quyi twice led an army into the Hexi Corridor to attack the Xiongnu, firmly controlling the area in the hands of the Han Dynasty.
Since then, the Central Plains regime has drawn four circles in the Hexi Corridor: Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang, and those Xiongnu who have left their hometowns have left behind "losing my Yanzhi Mountain, leaving my women colorless." The loss of me in Qilian Mountain, so that my six animals will not rest". (There is a purple-red flower that can be used as rouge in Yanzhi Mountain)
The Shandan River and the Shandan Military Horse Farm under the Qilian Mountains. Photo: Colorful China
Zhangye, fed by the Heishui River, has become a veritable "Saiwai Jiangnan" in the hands of agricultural civilization, and the folk are even more popular with the saying "Jin Zhangye, Yinwuwei". Although the source of the "gold" in "Jin Zhangye" is still inconclusive, it is mostly attributed to the fertile land and high grain yields here.
Fertile fields and wetlands are watered by the Heihe River. Photo: Colorful China
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Zhangye was a haven for Han civilization; after the great unification of the Sui Dynasty, the Sui Emperor personally visited Zhangye to accept the court of the countries in the Western Regions, which can be called the world's earliest "World Expo"; sheng Tang opened tun tian in Zhangye, "rice harvest, a bunch of dozens of grains, accumulating military grain for decades"; until the Ming and Qing dynasties, Zhangye became a regional center and logistics base, commanding the military and civilians in the surrounding towns.
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After 185 kilometers of Haohao Tang soup from Yingluo Gorge, the Heihe River came to the Zhengyi Gorge, and after crossing the Zhengyi Gorge, it was downstream. Downstream, the Black River, there is a more resounding name - weak water.
Autumn scenery on the weak waterfront of Ejin Naqi. Figure/Figureworm Creative
"Shang Shu Yu Gong" records that Dayu "guides the weak water to Heli, and the aftermath flows into the quicksand", the weak water mentioned here is the Heihe River, and Heli is a hill on the east side of the Zhengyi Gorge, and the quicksand is not the quicksand river in the Journey to the West, but refers to the Juyan Sea, which is 300 kilometers away. Therefore, this sentence is translated, that is, Dayu led the Heihe River to Heli Mountain, and finally merged into the Juyan Sea.
Juyan Hai in the early 1930s (based on the Juyan Sea map of the Sino-Swiss Northwest Scientific Expedition). Photo: Colorful China
The name weak water often appears in ancient Chinese books, for example, in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", there is a record that "there is water in the north of Kunlun, and its strength cannot overcome mustard, so it is called weak water". Some of these weak waters refer to shallow water that cannot carry boats, some refer to rivers in remote areas, and this weak water in the lower reaches of the Black River are two different things.
The more well-known weak water is in "Dream of the Red Chamber": "Weak water three thousand, I only take a scoop to drink", although it is said to be the loyalty of love, but for this weak water of the Black River, this sentence is also very valuable: our demand for the black river water may also take only "one scoop".
The black river, the middle reaches must not be "exhausted and fished". Figure/Figureworm Creative
The Heihe River leaves Gansu, enters Inner Mongolia, and heads north, leaving an oasis of Ejina in the Badain Jaran Desert (the Heihe River is also known as the Ejina River after entering Inner Mongolia, which means black water in Mongolian). The area is extremely arid, with an average annual precipitation of less than 40 millimeters and an evaporation of more than 3,500 millimeters, almost all of which comes from the Heihe River.
The oasis of Ejina is not only an ecological barrier in the desert, but also a smooth road connecting the Mongolian plateau and the inland of the Central Plains, when Huo went to the sick second expedition to Hexi, it was directly through the Badain Jaran Desert, replenished in the Juyan Sea, and then went all the way south along the oasis, launching an attack from the back of the Xiongnu Hun Evil King and the Hutu King, and only then did he fight in Hexi.
Juyan Hanjian is known as one of the "Four Great Discoveries" of Chinese archival circles in the 20th century. Photo: Colorful China
Since the 1950s, the agricultural and industrial water consumption in the middle and lower reaches of the Heihe River has begun to surge, and the reservoirs and dams in the river have appeared one after another, and in 1961 and 1992, the Once Abundant Heihe River has been cut off twice, and in the 1980s and 1990s, except for the autumn flood season, only the dry riverbed accompanies the oasis.
With less water left for the oasis, the land became more arid and salinized, and the places where the reeds were overgrown and the poplars and dates were lined with dates were replaced by more drought-tolerant red willows and camel thorns, and the meadows gradually degraded into new deserts.
Ejina dried up poplars, these poplar trees have died, but still stand tall. Photo: Colorful China
With less water, the two lakes of the Juyan Sea, the end of the Heihe River, are not spared: Gashunnur dried up completely in 1961, and Suboer dried up several times in the 1970s and 1980s, and the fish in the lake suffered a catastrophe, birds never returned, and there were few animals such as wild donkeys, wild camels, and goose-throated antelopes.
Time came to the 21st century, On July 17, 2002, under the scientific dispatch of water volume, the Black River water once again flowed into Subo Naoer, and on September 24 of the following year, Gashun Naur, which had dried up for 42 years, finally waited for the moisture of the Hei River, and now, with the continuous supply of years, JuyanHai was rejuvenated, and the Ejin Oasis was slowly restored to its former vitality.
Today's Subor is adjacent to the Badain Jaran Desert on the eastern side. Photo: Colorful China
Three thousand weak water, take only one scoop to drink, otherwise you will see neither weak water nor water to drink.
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Wen 丨 Zhang Yuchen
Source of the seal 丨《Colorful China》