May’s nine-day self-driving tour itinerary of Qinggan-Gansu Great Ring Road

Trip planning & time planning

• Departing from Shanghai Pudong Airport at 14:30 pm and arriving in Xining at 18:10 pm. Next to the exit of Xining Airport is the bus ticket office, which is very convenient.

• Take the bus from the airport to the central square, which takes almost an hour, and then take a taxi to the hotel, which takes less than five minutes.

• Hotel: Locals Boutique B&B

  Address: Xinhua Fairview City, No. 9 Kunlun Road, Chengxi District

  Evaluation: When renting a car on Shenzhou, we found that the prices at different pick-up locations were different, so we chose to pick up the car at an outlet near the stadium, which was also the cheapest outlet. So I chose to stay near the stadium. We stayed in this place on the first and last day of our trip. It has two bedrooms and one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom. It is suitable for four people. It has complete facilities, including a washing machine and a balcony where you can wash and dry clothes. The house is clean and hygienic. It is in a community and not noisy. There are several shopping malls not far away, making eating and shopping more convenient. The disadvantage is that the shower water is not hot enough and the washing machine drains directly to the bathroom floor.

• Tips: Because there is no signal in many places on this large ring road, it is best to download the offline map in advance.

Trip planning & time planning

• Pick up the car and set off

  ↓ 144km, 2h30min

• Qinghai Lake (1-2h tour)

↓ 150km, 2h30min

• Chaka Salt Lake (3-4h tour)

  ↓ 3.4km, 5min

• Chaka Town (accommodation)

• Hotel: Sunny Life Hotel

  Address: No. 177, Chaka New Village, Chaka Town

  Evaluation: Very close to Chaka Salt Lake, less than five minutes by car. Because it is near a scenic spot, the conditions can only be said to be okay, and the price/performance ratio is the lowest among all hotels this time. But the location is indeed a big advantage.

• Tips: Qinghai Lake personally does not recommend entering the scenic spot unless you want to take a boat. I think Qinghai Lake is best seen from a distance outside the rapeseed fields. Up close, it’s all water. There are also scenic spots such as Daotang River, Heima River, and Riyue Mountain near Qinghai Lake. Personally, I think you can go there or not. Whether the Chaka Salt Lake is good or not depends entirely on the sky. If the weather is good, it is the mirror of the sky. If the weather is bad, it is really all salt. The weather was bad on the day we went. Not only was there nothing to see, but it was also freezing cold, so we took a small train and went out to eat hot pot not long after. As a result, the weather was surprisingly good the next morning, which made me mad. Fortunately, the hot pot is delicious.

   

   

Trip planning & time planning

• Chaka Town

  ↓ 406km, 4h35min

• Emerald Lake (30min tour)

↓ 234km, 3h

• Usut Water Yadan Geopark (2 hours of play)

  ↓ 27km, 20min

• Dongtai Jinair Lake (30 minutes tour)

  ↓ 320km, 4h10min

• Delingha (accommodation)

  Hotel: Kunyi Hotel

  Address: Next to New World Food City, Xinyuan Road, Delingha City

  Evaluation: Before we went there, we originally wanted to stay in Dachaidan, but when I searched for hotels, I didn’t notice that this one was in Delingha. The drive to Delingha is an hour longer than Dachaidan, so if we don’t have enough time, we might as well stay here Dachaidan is more convenient. But there is one thing to say, this hotel is really the hotel with the best value for money and the best facilities this time. And because it's in the city, eating and shopping are very convenient.

• Tips: The drive on the third day was very long, so we only chose these three scenic spots that we particularly wanted to visit. In fact, there are several beautiful lakes on this road, but just pass by and take a look, otherwise the itinerary Can't make it. After going there, I think these three places are really worth visiting. Emerald Lake and Dongtai Jinair Lake are both undeveloped natural salt lakes, but they are of different beauty. You can take a speedboat on Yadan on the water, and it feels wonderful to shuttle between the strange mountains and rocks. By the way, remember to bring shoe covers when going to Emerald Lake and Dongtai Jinel Lake.

   

   

Trip planning & time planning

• Delingha

  ↓ 420km, 5h

• Dang Jinshan (passing)

↓ 128km, 2h10min

• Dunhuang (accommodation)

  Hotel: TOWO Shangpin Hotel

  Address: No. 4, Wenchang South Road, Dunhuang City

  Evaluation: It is in the urban area, very convenient and in good condition. It only takes a five-minute walk to reach Shazhou Night Market. It is highly recommended to go to Shazhou Night Market to eat. There are so many delicious foods. Because we first went to the time-honored Shunzhang restaurant to eat donkey meat yellow noodles, we couldn’t eat anything while visiting the night market.

• Tips: The fourth day is basically all about driving, and this section of the road passes through the Gobi and deserts. The Jinshan section is full of winding mountain roads with all kinds of sharp turns, so you must be careful when driving and download the offline map in advance. In fact, there are oil towns, Yangguan, Dunhuang ancient city, etc. after passing Dangjin Mountain, but we were not very interested in them, so we went directly to Dunhuang.

   

   

Trip planning & time planning

• Dunhuang

  ↓ 25km, 30min

• Mogao Grottoes (4h tour)

↓ 28km, 30min

• Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring (3h tour)

  ↓ 7km, 10min

• Desert camping (accommodation)

  Hotel: DNL Desert Camping

  Address: Group 4, Heshui, Yueyaquan Town, Dunhuang City

  Evaluation: This camping is the most expensive one-night stay this time. As for the accommodation itself, the conditions can be said to be very poor. Because it is in the desert, washing up is particularly inconvenient. I can only brush my teeth and wash my face, but it is impossible to take a shower. The tent and sleeping bags didn’t look like they had been cleaned. When we slept in the tent at night, the wind was so strong that we couldn’t sleep due to the noise. The sleeping bags were very hot under the cushions, but without the cushions we were afraid of catching cold in the middle of the night. Anyway, the four of us probably only slept. After three or four hours, one of them couldn't bear it anymore and ran to the car to sleep. but! but! I think desert camping is still worth experiencing. As soon as we arrived at the camp, we took a desert motorcycle ride, which was very exciting. Then everyone helped themselves to hot pot and watched the show together. Although the food was not good, the atmosphere was still good. After eating, there was a bonfire party and a desert disco, and everyone was very high (I'm afraid I'm trembling). Finally, we set up tents and rested. We also saw the long-awaited Milky Way and desert sunrise, including shooting stars. The Milky Way alone made my trip worthwhile.

• Tips: The fifth day is spent in Dunhuang all day long. Our arrangement is Mogao Grottoes in the morning and Crescent Moon Spring in the afternoon. However, it is recommended that everyone go to Crescent Moon Spring in the morning because it is really too hot and sunny in the afternoon. We will go at five or six o'clock It’s very sunny, so you must wear a big scarf. Mogao Grottoes requires booking tickets in advance on the official website. We bought Category A tickets, which include two movies. I think the second dome movie is better. By the way, you can’t drive by yourself when going to Mogao Grottoes. You have to go to the Digital Center (where you watch movies) first, and then take the scenic bus there. Mogao Grottoes has done a good job in cultural creation, and the ice cream is also delicious.

   

Milky Way captured while camping in the desert

Colorful Danxia

Cows on the grassland

Finally, let me show you how dry the northwest is. On the left is me at Xining Airport, and on the right is at Pudong Airport on the same day.