Source: Ice City +2021/10/27
In May 2021, Harbin youth Cui Lianbo took the lead in launching the "100-day Tour of China" self-driving border activity. Over the course of 100 days, he and his companions embarked on a long journey around China's borders along National Highway 219-331-228. After passing through 21 provinces, 92 prefectures and cities, 1233 villages and more than 70 ports, Cui Lianbo completed the full closed-loop journey of the Chinese mainland border line by car for the first time, printing wheels on the frontier of the motherland, measuring China's magnificent rivers and mountains with cars as feet.
Cui Lianbo and his companions set off from Dongxing, Guangxi, on May 19, along the Hengduan Mountains into the Brahmaputra Grand Canyon, past the foot of Mount Everest, to the Gobi Oasis in southern Xinjiang, from Altay into Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia, then into Manchuria, across the Arctic Desert River and Antarctic Recovery, along the Yalu River to Dandong, and finally opened the coastal border line from Dalian to Shenzhen, and finally returned to Dongxing, Guangxi on September 23, with a total driving distance of 32,848 kilometers.
Through the world's highest altitude Ali no man's land, across the world's second largest desert Taklamakan, over the Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, Hengduan Mountains, Himalayas, all the way to the wind and rain, Cui Lianbo harvested far more than the original intention; he also transformed from a simple tourism practitioner into a protector of tourism and national culture.
On May 19, the Border Self-Driving Team embarked on a 100-day border journey along National Highway 219-331-228↑
300 kilometers a day, a magnificent package of mountains and rivers
"Life always has to complete a walk-and-go trip, even if you face more difficulties, you will always choose a distant place." Please follow our lens and challenge us to encircle the Chinese border for 100 days. At the beginning of May this year, Cui Lianbo released the first self-driving border video on the short video platform, inviting self-driving tourism enthusiasts to witness their 100-day challenge journey.
Cui Lianbo's research found that the 318 National Highway from Shanghai to Lhasa is currently the most mature and highly commercialized self-driving route in China, and the commercial operations such as homestays and scenic spots along the way are very developed, there are many relevant employees, and the tourism output value is amazing.
In Xinjiang Yining Sailim Lake ↑
In addition to the 318, can you explore a few routes suitable for self-driving? After some research, Cui Lianbo locked his eyes on the border self-driving car. Cui Lianbo said that the first is the 219 line from Dongxing in Guangxi to Kanas in Xinjiang, which has a total distance of 14,370 kilometers and is the top self-driving route on the domestic border, and most of the scenic spots in most areas have not been developed, and various scenery are included. The second line is line 331 from Kanas to Dandong, Liaoning, followed by line 228 from Dandong to Dongxing, Guangxi. These three lines are connected together, basically going through the Chinese mainland plate, so as to complete the journey of self-driving China.
On May 19, Cui Lianbo led a self-driving team from all over the country to assemble from Dongxing, Guangxi, and marched all the way to Xinjiang along National Highway 219. The convoy travels about 300 kilometers a day, about four or five hours when the road is in good condition, and seven or eight hours when the road conditions are not good. Sometimes driving in the rolling mountains, sometimes hovering next to the clear and meandering water, the border towns on the road and the green mountains and beautiful waters form a beautiful picture unique to Guangxi.
Guangxi Gongzhong Port Border Pass ↑
"In the Guangxi section, full of southern karst landforms, we saw the largest transnational waterfall in Asia, the Zhongyue Detian Waterfall; visited the Laoshan Battle Memorial Hall and the Malipo Martyrs' Cemetery to pay tribute to the heroes who guarded the border of southern Xinjiang, which added another layer of meaning to our trip; and rushed to the night market in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, and ate the cuisine of the Six Kingdoms." Under the alpine banyan tree, the largest banyan tree in Asia, the 700-year-old banyan tree path requires more than a dozen people to surround the shade of several basketball courts, and for 700 years, it has been sheltering villagers from the wind and rain. Cui Lianbo said that in the world cultural heritage - Yuanyang Rice Terraces, the friends were attracted by the beautiful scenery in front of them and temporarily decided to camp next to the terraces. Everyone set up tents, set up a marching stove to eat hot pot, and then brewed a cup of hand-ground coffee after the meal, enjoying the unique scenery of the Hani people in the birds and insects, and suddenly there was a feeling of being a god in the peach blossom garden.
"Along the 219 National Highway, we see countless self-driving tourist enthusiasts, including those who drive, those who ride motorcycles, those who ride bicycles, and those who hike." Cui Lianbo said that many people are temporary companions on the road. So when we posted the information on tibet on the website, many people said that they wanted to go together, and finally our team entered Tibet changed from the initial 6 people to a large team of nearly 20 people and 5 cars.
Visit more than 20 border villages to experience the collision of traditions and trends
"Along the way, we not only saw the green mountains and rivers of the motherland, but also truly felt the unique charm of each ethnic group." Cui Lianbo said that although each place has a different degree of openness and economic level, the people's customs in each village are very simple, and the development paths are also diverse. In the Ban Kao Wa Folk Village, the villagers have lived in a unified transformation and upgraded villa hut; in Yunnan Heshun Town, the ancient streets and alleys still retain their original appearance, both retaining the Centuries-old Zhongyuan style buildings, and rubbing many ethnic minority cultural imprints into it, and the lively vegetable market is a witness that people have lived and worked in peace and contentment for generations.
The self-driving team visited more than 20 border villages. "The border village that impressed me was the border village in Jingmai Town, Yunnan." Cui Lianbo said that in the thousand-year-old tree tea village, Cui Lianbo and his friends walked into the stilt house and talked with their fellow villagers. The old man said that the young people in the village have gone out to work, and the rest of the village are basically the old people and children, and each of them has five or six thousand-year-old tea trees and makes a living from them. They have been guarding the tea garden for several lifetimes, maintaining an ancient state of life. There are also young people who have returned from the outside world, who are more innovative in their thinking, doing rural tourism-related businesses such as homestays, tea houses, and tea garden sightseeing.
Aerial view of the ancient village of the Brown tribe in Maishan Onki↑
"In Dulong Village, Yunnan, we met a literati woman of the Dulong people." Cui Lianbo said that there are no more than 10 civilian women living at present, all of whom are over the age of 60. The old man told us about the tradition of the literary face, and they regarded the literary face as a kind of faith, a spiritual totem of the nation. In their homes, there is very little modern furniture, especially the kitchen, which is basically the traditional cooking utensils of the past. Their intangible cultural heritage, handicrafts with national characteristics, etc. are all from nature, pure plant dyeing. With their own practical actions, they have preserved their national traditions bit by bit.
Entering Xinjiang, Cui Lianbo and his friends came to a village called Happiness Village along the Tasha Highway in Xinjiang. "According to the local people, in the past, there were only a few families in this village, and they were all poor. In recent years, the state has sent a poverty alleviation secretary to carry out characteristic agricultural tourism business with the local apricot trees scattered throughout the mountains as a selling point. Cui Lianbo said that every spring when the apricot blossoms bloom, tourists from all over the country flock endlessly.
Xinjiang Ili Lavender Manor ↑
When the village secretary heard that Cui Lianbo and his party specialized in tourism, he pulled them to inquire about tourism-related business, and tried his best to keep them to stay overnight and tell the villagers how to promote their own products. That night, Cui Lianbo and his party stayed in the villagers' homes, and the local villagers made local specialties tajik noodles, bread and large skewers for guests from afar. After dinner, Cui Lianbo also communicated with local young people, telling them how to promote local tourism and products through live broadcasts, small videos and other forms. Talking about the live broadcast, the village secretary said, can we have a live broadcast in our village.
That night, Cui Lianbo and his team set up equipment and conducted one of the 20 live broadcasts on the border self-driving journey. During the live broadcast, hospitable local villagers sent local walnuts, dried apricots, dried apricots and other local specialties for guests to taste, and local villagers also performed folk songs and dances on the spot. "We eat while broadcasting, and the fan interaction is hungry, saying that I buy it." As soon as we discussed, we decided to bring goods to the local villagers, and as a result, walnut oil and other products sold particularly well, and after a live broadcast, they sold for 20,000 or 30,000 yuan. Cui Lianbo said that the cumulative number of viewers of a live broadcast is usually about 1,000 people, and more than 3,000 people watched it that day.
Adventures and hardships are fun
A self-driving trip to the border is actually an adventure. "Crossing the ashes-level route into Tibet, walking through the Ali no-man's land, turning over one yakou after another, and driving the Tasha Ancient Road, which is full of rocks, although we have experienced all kinds of tribulations and dangers, we still enjoy it." Cui Lianbo said, isn't there such a sentence, there are always a few minutes in life, you are willing to take a year or even a few years to wait; there are always a few scenes, every frame you have always remembered. This self-driving border is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.
Self-driving team in the Kingdom of Guge in Zada County, Tibet↑
In the process of entering Tibet, the convoy sped all the way from an altitude of more than 2,000 meters to an altitude of more than 4,800 meters. Altitude gradually increased, and altitude sickness also appeared. "Locals tell us to drink plenty of water, rest more, and avoid strenuous exercise." Cui Lianbo said that at the beginning there was no experience in Tibet, the first guide car drove relatively fast, when passing through the third high mountain pass, due to the bumpy road surface, the vehicle torque bar fell off, resulting in the vehicle can not drive, helpless can only call the trailer rescue. In the process of waiting for the trailer, everyone's symptoms of altitude sickness appeared one after another, and Cui Lianbo decided to continue to advance after consultation, and only one or two people stayed behind to wait for rescue.
"When I was walking through the Yunnan-Tibet Heavenly Danger, when I first got on the road, the road conditions were not bad, and we still thought it was just that." Cui Lianbo said that when the vehicle drove near the big quicksand, everyone was happy to get out of the car to shoot. Patting and patting, the group found that there was sand and gravel constantly rolling down from the mountain, and suddenly felt that this place was very dangerous, and there was a possibility of being hit by sand and gravel at any time. So, everyone quickly got into the car and quickly drove out of the danger zone. On the road, there are many small sand and gravel, and due to the fast speed, the sand and gravel have scratched the tire wall of the car. The convoy immediately stopped and replaced the spare tires. In the process of repairing the car, you can still hear the sound of rumbling sand and gravel rolling down. Since then, three or four cars in the convoy have experienced dangerous conditions such as punctures, but fortunately they have passed smoothly in the end.
On the way, the team encountered various challenges↑
On the road, there are many similar dangerous situations. On the road from Yunnan to Jiangcheng, we encountered a landslide, and after the repair team repaired it, we were able to pass. But the road after that was still very difficult, almost all the way was mud road. "When crossing the border between Guangxi and Yunnan, we encountered a foggy day. In the thick fog, visibility was low, and the convoy drove on a winding road with cliffs on one side and cliffs on the other, and if you were not careful, you would fall into the cliffs. Cui Lianbo said that the six drones prepared by the convoy for aerial photography also lost several on the road.
From Mohe to Fuyuan, the two poles are the most popular
At the end of July and the beginning of August, after a day or two of rest after the 219 border self-driving car, Cui Lianbo and his team began the journey of National Highway 331 on the northern line of the Chinese border.
"The most beautiful section of the 331 border line is the Hai desert section, which is from Hailar in Inner Mongolia to Mohe in Heilongjiang." Cui Lianbo said that in Hailar, he looked at the Mongolian grassland, walked along the Erguna River to the Heilongjiang River, looked at the birch forest in the Mohe River, and punched the Chinese Arctic. Then drive to the Sino-Russian border port of Fuyuan and punch in China's East Pole. Because this journey is safe and smooth, it has become the first choice for family self-driving. At its peak, the convoy consisted of 6 cars, with nearly 30 people involved.
Inner Mongolia Erlianhot Large Mudra ↑
On the 75th day of self-driving border, Cui Lianbo and his companions started a self-driving journey along the coastal border line. Departing from Dalian, visiting the ancient city of Xingcheng, visiting Liugong Island, visiting Xu Xiake's former residence, looking at the Mazu Temple on the sea, punching in Zhanjiang, China's land Antarctica, and finally returning to Dongxing, Guangxi from Hainan, on September 23, complete the closed-loop self-driving of the Chinese mainland border, and end the 100-day border tour.
In 100 days, the convoy traveled from the northernmost Mohe River to the Mouth of the Hainan Sea, from the westernmost Pamir Plateau to the Black Blind Island, the long coastline along the southeast coast, and traveled through China's West Pole Ucha, the Arctic Desert River, the East Pole Fuyuan, and the land Antarctic Zhanjiang. "This is a challenging journey, we use our eyes to record the colorful geographical landscape of the motherland, experience the culture and perseverance of various ethnic groups with our hearts, and feel their changes and changes in the new era."
Xinjiang Sailim Lake↑
Explore new modes of tourism Explore border road trips
"Hello everyone, I am Stone, and I will explore the great beauty of China with you." In the Douyin "border self-driving" video, Cui Lianbo filmed, and his partner Shi Shi appeared on the anchor, presenting each of their 100-day border self-driving journey in the form of a video. Today, more than 120 short videos have been released continuously, and 20 live broadcast activities have been carried out at the same time. In just a few months, there are nearly 10,000 fans and more than 60,000 likes. In addition, they also introduced the customs and customs along the way in the form of pictures and texts on the WeChat public account. Many fans left messages in the background saying that they really wanted to walk along and take a look.
Before leaving, Cui Lianbo estimated that the whole trip would cost about 200,000 to 300,000 yuan. Due to the high cost, he wondered if he could contact car manufacturers for sponsorship, so he contacted several car brands to turn stepping on the line into an adventure, and then promoted car brands and culture along the way. Unexpectedly, many car companies are very interested and have given various sponsorship policies. Finally, after a comprehensive comparison, Cui Lianbo selected the Volkswagen brand, which provided 2 Volkswagen brand off-road vehicles for free and provided 500,000 yuan of activity funds. In this way, it changes from an expenditure project to an income-generating commercial project, and the whole trip is not only without spending money, but also with a slight surplus.
Exploring a new tourism model is Cui Lianbo's biggest gain along the way. "Self-driving tourism is a new form of tourism between tourism and activities, and its social attributes have attracted more and more travel enthusiasts to join." Cui Lianbo said that this is a new experience for us travel practitioners, and there has never been such a tour in the past.
Xinjiang Duku Highway ↑
In 2014, he started from travel e-commerce and was one of the earliest northeast service providers and suppliers of Ctrip and Qunar. In May 2020, Cui Lianbo transformed into a peripheral tour. The first product made was a wilderness camping project. In addition to the mountain forests in the western suburbs of Harbin, Cui Lianbo has carried out camping projects in 8 scenic spots such as Xi'an, Kunming, Shanghai, Dalian and Jinan, and the scale of tents has also become larger and larger. In fact, this kind of rental scenic spot operation scene has become a popular way of tourism operation. Next, Cui Lianbo also plans to do outdoor scene operations such as wild afternoon tea, wild barbecue, jungle crossing, and go-kart.
"At present, domestic self-driving tourism is relatively mature, and border tourism is still in the early stage of development, so travel agencies have more potential business opportunities." Cui Lianbo said that our role is to connect the border lines in the past bit by bit, and integrate and optimize them, and provide border self-drivers with various documents, procedures and other services, which is the value of travel agencies. In the design of the entire line, some elements of strategy and gameplay will also be added. The expenses incurred on the road are all AA system for group members, and travel agencies earn tour leader service fees ranging from 30-100 yuan per person for bookings, organizing activities, and setting routes.
Along the way, Cui Lianbo and the team planned 10 routes, and after returning, after thinking about integration, from the user's point of view, with the key scenery and starting place as the core, each journey was designed with a theme, and finally streamlined into 5 boutique self-driving border routes. "At present, I want to focus on creating a bipolar crossing activity, that is, from the Arctic Desert River to the East Pole Fuyuan Line." Cui Lianbo said that it would take eight or nine days to complete. In this route, you can see large forests, large wetlands, large grasslands, large borders, large lakes, large granaries, all the way to green mountains and rivers, you can also experience the culture and activities of ethnic minorities in Northeast China such as Evenk, Orunchun, Hezhe, etc., and display the most complete preserved Far East ecological circle in Front of the world.
(Photos and videos provided by respondents)
Author: Wan Jia Editor: Wang Xiaoyu