Does anyone know what day tomorrow is? The answer is: the first "Tibet-Arctic" event has officially started! A media car and a racing car of "Self-Driving Geography" also departed from Guangzhou on the 12th of this month
This "feast" of off-road people, we ordinary people also want to participate, what to do? Very simple, the route launched today: Chengdu - Amdo, is prepared for everyone ~ the same route, others racing, we can follow behind without hurrying to see the scenery, think about it is beautiful ~
The Yellow Line is the planned route for 2017, and the Green Line is planning the schedule for the future / Production: "Self-driving Geography"
Our media car: the Discontinued Land Rover Defender 90
35° north latitude, the westernmost point in China is the Karakoram Mountains, the easternmost point is Lianyungang, whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, along this line you can see the late autumn of the first ladder pastoral area, the mid-autumn of the second ladder agricultural area, and the early autumn of the third ladder fishing area!
Road map of three major ladders across China's terrain at 35° north latitude / Production: Self-driving Geography
On this trip, let's first depart from Chengdu to Miaro to enjoy 3000 miles of autumn leaves!
Photography @ Shadow of the Heart
Then cross Aba and head north to Kuji, Qinghai, followed by the autumn colors of the pastoral area nearly 1 °C!
Autumn at 35° north latitude, until the grassland near Mado gradually became popular, autumn is also a good season for livestock to be fat / Photo @ Zheng Yunfeng
In Jiuzhi County, we can meet the "back garden of the gods" - Nian Bao Yu Ze, Nian Bao Yu is the birthplace of the Goluo Tibetan people, and was also the ancient battlefield where King Gesar fought and galloped!
The Mani Stone of the Six-Character Mantra sublimates the spirituality of Nian Bao Yu Ze / Photography @ Wen Xing
Next, the source of the Yellow River & yangtze River at 35° north latitude in Qinghai is the focus of this route!
<h1>Source of the Yellow River Two Lakes and One Monument & "River Death"</h1>
NO.1 | Two lakes and one monument
In the northern part of the vast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, there is the first county of the Yellow River - Maduo, scattered with a large wetland lake, maduo county above the county seat of about 20,000 square kilometers of the Yellow River source area, near the Yellow River source of the two lakes and a monument: Eling Lake & Zhaling Lake & Bull Head Monument by the lake.
Mado Yellow River Source Bull Head Monument / Photo @ Visual China
Zhaling Lake is one of the two largest freshwater lakes at the source of the Yellow River, in addition to the beautiful scenery, there is also the most important ferry port on the "TangBo Ancient Road" by the lake, and it is also the first ferry port of the Yellow River from the upstream - Zhaling Lake Ferry.
Princess Wencheng who was married to Songzan Gampo at Zhaling Lake / Photo @ China National Geographic
Everyone knows that the source of the Yellow River is in the county seat of Maduo County, Qinghai, but in the end", "the Yellow River originates from The Ancient Sect of Liequ", "Eling Lake is on the top, Zhaling Lake is below"? Or is it "Kariqu is the source of the Yellow River" and "Zhaling Lake is on the top, Eling Lake is below"? This is not the focus of today~Anyway, Joguzong Liequ, Kariqu, Zhaling Lake, and Eling Lake are all next to each other, and everyone can watch and do it themselves
Schematic map of the source area of the Yellow River / Production @ "Self-driving Geography"
NO.2 | "River Death"
The Yellow River civilization has always been the official orthodox existence of Chinese civilization, and the early days of human civilization were mostly periods of dialogue with rivers, and the more intense the dialogue, the faster the civilization grew. Chinese civilization began to control water, since then "river" (the special name of the ancient Yellow River) runs through the entire history of civilization, and even the indicators measuring guotai and min'an are "river" is unclear, and the nickname of the Taiping Dynasty is "River Qinghai Yan". The Xianfeng Yellow River was diverted, and the reunification of the world was a hundred years later.
The picture shows the overwhelming trend of Hukou Waterfall / Photography @ Acacia Love Rhyme
How many people remember the documentary "River Death" from the 1980s and 1990s? I believe that most of the 40-year-old people have seen it, leaving aside various factors, some of the interpretations of the Yellow River in this film are still profound, and those who are interested can dig it up privately.
<h1>Yangtze River Source Tongtian River & Tuotuo River & 1986 Yangtze River Rafting</h1>
NO.1 | Tongtian River & Tuotuo River
After crossing the Bayankara Mountains, the watershed between the source of the Yellow River and the source of the Yangtze River, from Maduo County, the source of the Yellow River, you will soon encounter the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the Tongtian River mentioned in the Journey to the West.
Aerial view of the Tongtian River near Zhimenda Village in Xiewu Town, Zhiduo County / Photo @ He Daming
Only to see the river cut through the deep canyon from the lofty mountains, like a giant python through, Zhimenda Village is the famous Tongtian River ferry in history, where the Zhimenda Ancient Station is located, and the reason why it can cross the river here is because the water flow in this section of the river is small and the water flow is calm.
Photography @ Sanjiangyuan people
Whenever the river freezes in winter, Yushu Tibetans spontaneously gather on the thick ice to carry out annual blessing activities. On the ice surface of the Tongtian River, the "Six-Character Mantra" is neatly engraved and prays for peace and auspiciousness.
Different from the Yellow River in addition to the source, the other are uniformly called, the "boy" of the Yangtze River from the source, to the easternmost Yangtze River estuary, the name is constantly changing, such as the source is called Tuotuo River, to Yibin's Minjiang Estuary is also known as jinsha River, and then to Yueyang is also known as Jingjiang...
The reason why there are so many names is because the Yangtze River Basin was developed late, and for a long time people did not know where the source of the Yangtze River was!
Sources of the Yangtze River at different scales / Image @ China National Geographic
Even the famous geographer Xu Xiake only arrived at the stone drum of Lijiang, Yunnan, and never traced the river upwards, and was still very far away from the real source of the river ~ In 1946, because of a "Introduction to Chinese Geography", everyone misunderstood the source of the Yangtze River even more deeply! The book reads: "The Yangtze River, also known as the Yangtze River, originates in the southern foothills of the Bayankara Mountains in Qinghai... With a total length of 1,800 kilometers, it is the largest giant river in China. Upstream in Qinghai there are two sources, north and south, the southern source is Mulu Wusu, and the northern source is Richumar."
Since the Yellow River originates from the northern foothills of bayan Xila Mountain, and the Yangtze River originates from the south of the mountain, there is the saying that "the rivers originate from the same mountain", "the Yangtze River and the Yellow River are sister rivers", and even the geography textbooks of primary and secondary schools at that time were written in this way, and introduced that the 5800-kilometer-long Yangtze River is the fourth largest river in the world, and this concept is still prevalent!
Until the summer of 1976 and the summer of 1978, the Yangtze River Basin Planning Office twice organized Jiangyuan investigation teams to go deep into the Jiangyuan area to conduct detailed investigations. On January 13, 1978, Xinhua News Agency announced the new results of this jiangyuan expedition: "How long is the Yangtze River?" Where is the source? The results of the investigation organized by the Yangtze River Basin Planning Office show that the source of the Yangtze River is not in the southern foothills of the Bayankara Mountains, but in the Tuotuo River on the southwest side of the Main Peak of the Tanggula Mountains; the total length of the Yangtze River is not only 5,800 kilometers, but 6,300 kilometers, which is longer than the Mississippi River in the United States, and only second only to the Amazon River in South America and the Nile River in Africa." The next day, the Associated Press sent a telegram from Tokyo, Japan: "The Yangtze River has replaced the Mississippi River as the third longest river in the world."
Photo @ Institute of Remote Sensing, Chinese Academy of Sciences
The uppermost source of the Tuotuo River has two branches, the east branch originates from the south side of the main peak of Tanggula Mountain, Geladan Dong snow mountain, the west branch originates from the west side of Gachadi Rugang Snow Mountain, the east branch is slightly longer than the west branch, so the initial source of the Yangtze River should be the east branch, and the upper section of the east branch is a large glacier - Jiang Gendiru Glacier. The trickle formed by the meltwater of glaciers is the beginning of the Yangtze River.
And the Tuotuo River Basin is close to the edge of Coco Xili, and you who feel that watching the scenery is not too addictive, you can continue to wear a no-man's land! Or at the terminal station Tanggula Mountain Town, go north through Wudaoliang to Gansu and Inner Mongolia, or go south through Amdo into Tibet, and then go to the waves
NO.2 | Drifting on the Yangtze River in 1986
Today's Tiger Leaping Gorge in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is famous throughout the country, and young people probably don't know the reasons behind it... 1986 Yangtze River rafting, two names that can not be left unspeakable: American Ken. Warren &Chinese Yao Maoshu, so that rafting and tiger jumping gorge in the country immediately "fire" up ~ ~
The picture on the left is Ken. Warren, pictured on the right is Yao Maoshu
By chance in the early 1980s, Yao Maoshu, an electric education photographer at Southwest Jiaotong University, learned that the famous American rapids explorer Ken M. In 1985, after Warren personally led the American rafting expedition to China to float China's Yangtze River, in order to get ahead of the Americans, he single-handedly rowed the "Dragon's Descendant" rubber boat from the source of the Yangtze River, and after drifting for more than 1,200 kilometers on the inaccessible Tuotuo River and Tongtian River, he unfortunately overturned and died in the Tongjia Gorge of the Jinsha River in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
This year, Ken. The American rafting expedition led by Warren was unable to make the trip due to various difficulties, but the following year (1986) came to China to raft the Yangtze River to complete the preparations. So there was the 1986 Chinese Yangtze River rafting fever, which caused great repercussions in China, and since then it has also created a precedent for China's rafting adventure movement.
willing. Warren's "Which River Next Time" Drift boat / Image @ National Geographic Chinese Network
In a sense, without Yao Maoshu, there would have been no 1986 Rafting Expedition on the Yangtze River in China; at the same time, it was Ken. Mr. Warren brought the thrilling and happy sport of rafting into China, so that the Chinese people knew and understood rafting. Although they have all passed away, their contribution to the development of rafting in China will not be forgotten.
<h1>Line recommended</h1>
Hand-drawn new route map
Day 1
Chengdu 140km Wenchuan 200km Aba
G4201-S9-G317 <340km Estimated time is 5.5H>
On the day, the whole road is parked, all the way is smooth, pay attention to the safety of the car.
Day 2
Aba 300km Jiuzhi County 100km Baiyu Township
G317-S209-S302-S101 < mileage 400km Estimated time is 8H>
After Aba turned into S209, the road surface narrowed, through Anqu Township to S302, officially entered the rugged road, at this time the road has begun to appear autumn colors, watch the early autumn, pay attention to driving safety.
Note: Since you can't find a suitable place to stay in Baiyu Township, if the trip is not rushed, you can choose to spend late in Jiuzhi County and then go to Baiyu Township the next day.
Day 3
Baiyu Township 80km Deang Township 60km Dari County
S101 < mileage150km Estimated time is 4H>
The whole road condition of the day's itinerary needs to be noted that after passing through the Walyi Township, there are many curves on the mountain road, and how sharp bends to pay attention to the rhythm of driving.
Note: In the morning, you can go to nianbao Yuze scenic spot to visit, and it is not too late to leave after eating at noon.
Day 4
Dari County 250 km Maduo County
S205 <250km Estimated time is 6h>
The whole day for the plateau country road, the road occasionally snow, pay attention to anti-slip, cross the Huashi Gorge into the national highway 214, road conditions become better, pay attention to speed control.
Day 5
Mado 150km Clearwater River Town 200km Qumalai
G0613-S308 < mileage350km Estimated time is 7.5H>
The whole trip on the day is composed of national highways and provincial highways, driving along the Tongtian River, the road conditions are not good, pay attention to driving safety.
Day 6
Qumalai 150km Qumahe Township 150km frozen spring
S308 < mileage300km Estimated time is 7.5H>
On the day, the trip needs to cross the Tongtian River and Chumar River Basin, continue to cross the snowy mountains and wetlands, and pay attention to driving safety and speed.
Note: If there is no suitable inn to rest in the frozen spring that night, then camping here is also a good choice, pay attention to prevent wild animals, in short, depending on the weather conditions of the day, whether you need to camp.
Day 7
Frozen Spring 140km Yanshiping Town 200km Amdo County
G109 <340km Estimated time is 8h>
On the day, the whole high-altitude national highway, the road surface became wider, all the way south across the Tuotuo River, Tanggula Pass, you need to continue to rush the road, overnight in Amdo County.
< 1986 Yangtze River rafting data is referenced from the national geographic Chinese network >
Walking through the thousands of miles of red leaves - Mian Luo, the sacred mountain in the hearts of the Tibetan people - Nian Baoyuze, you can meet the most important "one river & one river" birthplace for the Chinese people - the source of the Yangtze River & the source of the Yellow River! While the game is in full swing and the season is in full swing, it is better to follow the tail of the big team and go to enjoy the autumn in the pastoral area of 35 ° north latitude
Source: Self-driving Geography
WeChat public account: drivegeographic