The Third Qinghai-Tibet Loop Traveling Through the Good Rivers and Mountains of the Motherland Day 28~30 Lijiang-Anshun-Yueyang-Shanghai&Small Summary

Day 28

Although I will pass through Kunming when I get to Anshun today, because my distance is twice as long as that of my second uncle, I got up secretly while they were still sleeping. After finally waiting until 7 o'clock, breakfast was served in the hotel, and I became the first diner. After breakfast, I bid farewell to Lijiang and headed for Anshun, Guizhou.

It was raining all over the road that day, sometimes it was heavy rain, sometimes it was drizzle, but it never stopped raining.

If it rains, I won’t dare to drive too fast; in addition, the Guizhou section of the Hangzhou-Ruili Expressway is often blocked by road construction, so although I set off very early, I still didn’t arrive at the hotel until 9:30 pm.

I ate self-heating rice at noon, and had to rely on instant noodles to fill my stomach in the evening.

commit a sin.

The courtyard of Lijiang hotel is clean and beautiful

This is the trajectory of the day

Day 29

It didn't rain anymore when I woke up in the morning, so I went on my way without worries.

After walking less than 200 kilometers, the hotel on Junshan Island in Yueyang called me and asked me what time I would arrive in the afternoon. I said it would be about 7 o'clock, but they said I couldn't get to the island so late.

It turns out that the water in Dongting Lake has risen in the past few days, and the road to Junshan Island has been flooded. Now you have to take a boat to get in and out of the island. The last boat is at 5:30 pm.

It seemed like I wouldn't be able to make it in time anyway, so I had to cancel my hotel stay and instead book a hotel in Yueyang City, next to Nanhu Lake.

At around 7 o'clock in the evening, I came to Yueyang. The sky was filled with dark clouds, lightning flashed, and it looked like it was going to rain again.

There has been so much rain in the Yangtze River Basin this year that Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake cannot hold on.

Hey, stop raining soon.

This is the beautiful scenery outside the window of Guizhou Anshun Hotel

This is the trajectory of the day

Day 30

There was lightning last night, but luckily it didn't rain. When I woke up this morning, it was a clear sky.

After breakfast, I went to the Nanhu Lake (the younger brother of Dongting Lake) in front of the hotel and took a few photos. After that, we headed to Shanghai.

My route will pass through Jiujiang, and the highway is going through the waterway connecting Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River.

The water level of Poyang Lake has skyrocketed and has reached the largest area in history. It is hoped that the water level will subside as soon as possible so that people can return to normal life order as soon as possible.

The journey today was smooth and there was no traffic jam. Although I encountered several heavy rainstorms in Jiujiang, Anqing and Xuancheng, and the rain was so heavy that I couldn’t see the road clearly with the windshield wipers turned on to the highest setting, but fortunately I returned to Shanghai, my warm and cool home, without any danger.

Thank God!

This is the Nanhu Lake in front of Yueyang Hotel

This is the trajectory of the day

Summary

This trip lasted exactly 30 days and spanned 14 provincial-level administrative regions including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Tibet, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, with a total distance of 14,500KM. This is my longest trip so far.

Of course, we spend most of our time in Qinghai and Tibet. This is also my third Qinghai-Tibet Loop.

Now let’s make a brief summary of this trip:

1. Qinghai is beautiful.

I went to Qinghai for the first time in 2016. At that time, I took the Qinggan Small Loop. The main attractions in Qinghai were Kumbum Monastery, Qinghai Lake and Chaka Salt Lake. Now it seems that this is the most entry-level route in Qinghai.

This time, in addition to Qinghai Lake, we mainly traveled through the hinterland of the Qilian Mountains and the Qaidam Basin. The scenery we saw was far from comparable to scenic spots such as Qinghai Lake. It can be said that it gave us a lot of surprises and shocks.

I did some research myself and graded the scenery in Qinghai according to the difficulty of the route. Of course, the magnificence of the scenery is basically proportional to the difficulty of the route:

Entry level: Qinghai Lake, Chaka Salt Lake Loop, also known as Qinggan Small Loop. The main feature is the view of these two saltwater lakes, including some other less important views;

Advanced level: Qilian Mountains and Qaidam Basin are crossed by highways. The most important routes are Qinghai National Highway 569, Erga Highway (Qinghai Provincial Highway 204 and Gansu Provincial Highway 205), Provincial Highway 305 and National Highway 315. Along the way, we will appreciate the magnificent scenery of the Qilian Mountains, the nurturer of the Hexi Corridor, and the vastness of the Qaidam Basin;

Expert level: Crossing the uninhabited areas of Qilian Mountains and Qaidam Basin, such as the hinterland of Hala Lake and Qaidam Basin. There are no provincial or national roads here, but there are still basically (dirt) roads that you can walk on. Forget about sedans and SUVs in this line, at least they need to be at the off-road vehicle level;

Master level: At this level, only modified off-road vehicles can be used, and sufficient preparation is required. The goal is to explore the Sanjiangyuan no-man’s land, Hoh Xil no-man’s land, etc. Since there are many swamps in these places and there are basically no roads, vehicles can get stuck at any time. Off-road vehicles and bicycles can't handle it either. Of course, when going to these places, you also need to abide by local laws and regulations.

In short, the beauty of Qinghai lies in its varied landscapes, including rivers and lakes, meadows and grasslands; mountains and canyons, and snow-capped glaciers; rich cultural traces and magnificent uninhabited landscapes. It is very worth exploring and discovering step by step.

2. The Sichuan-Tibet Northern Line has a false name.

The 318 National Highway Sichuan-Tibet South Line is known as the Chinese people's landscape avenue. With its great reputation, its elder brother the 317 National Highway Sichuan-Tibet North Line seems to have a natural attraction. When doing research before, I also saw that it was praised by many people. However, my experience this time was very disappointing. At least from Leiwuqi to Nagqu, the scenery was extremely monotonous and ordinary.

The landform of this section of National Highway 317 is very simple, basically consisting of alpine meadows and a small number of canyons. The layering of the scenery is very poor. There are few high mountains passed along this road, and even fewer snowy peaks can be seen. This is far from the richness of scenery on National Highway 318.

In addition to the monotonous scenery, the cultural landscape is not rich enough. Except for the shining pearl of Zizhu Temple near Dingqing, there is basically nothing else.

Now, I have taken several routes into Tibet. The rankings according to the richness and magnificence of the scenery are as follows, for your reference:

318 National Highway > 109 National Highway > 214 National Highway Yunnan-Tibet Section > 214 National Highway Qinghai-Tibet Section >
317 National Highway

3. Summer is not the best season.

When I was summing up my trip to Tibet last year, I mentioned the importance of seasons and weather, and this time I felt even more profoundly.

I repeat: summer is not the best time to go to Tibet.

There are still two main reasons: first, there is a lot of rain and many road sections are very dangerous, making it impossible to guarantee safety and a smooth trip; second, between the clouds and rain, you cannot enjoy the most beautiful part of the Tibetan scenery: the towering mountains that reach into the clouds. All the famous peaks and mountains are invisible.

For example, I wanted to see Mount Everest the most during this trip, but I gave up because of bad weather; Namjagbarwa Peak, known as the most beautiful mountain in Tibet, is still shy to see me for the third time; it has not been conquered by humans so far. Meili Snow Mountain (Kawabog Peak) was not seen either...

Basically, all the snowy peaks with a slight height are hidden in the thick clouds. Very annoying.

If you want to see snow peaks, maybe the best season really has to be winter. If you are afraid of the cold, the worst possible time is spring and autumn.

In the summer, it’s better to stay at an altitude of 2 meters and enjoy the bottle opener and dog stick.

4. There are regrets and surprises.

Unfortunately, apart from the snow peaks I wanted to see mentioned above, I didn’t see any of them. Another regret was that I had too little time and didn’t have time to savor many places.

For example, Qilian Mountains.

From the name, it is difficult for you to associate the Qilian Mountains with the magnificent scenery. But in fact, Qilian Mountain is so beautiful. However, it is a pity that we left too little time and just glanced at the flowers before we had time to savor them.

If I were to make another guide, I would stay at least 3-4 days in the Qilian Mountains: the Erga Highway is worth taking two more trips, walk slowly, and take a look; the Bayi Glacier cannot be seen, and the Qiyi Glacier should be seen anyway. Go take a look; you must go to Hala Lake for a walk...

Another example is the Qaidam Basin.

We just traveled along the highway. In fact, if we go off-road, we can discover many sights we have never seen before, such as the black desert, the Yadan Group, which is more spectacular than along the 315 National Highway, and the brilliant Gobi Desert. starry sky...

Another example is Shannan area.

Shannan has a lot of beautiful scenery worth savoring, but because it is next to Lhasa, Lhasa takes away a lot of the scenery. When people come to Tibet, their first destination must be Lhasa, and then they can spend one or two days traveling around Lhasa. Shannan is lightly favored by everyone just because of the holy lake Yamdrok Yongtso, and nothing else.

In fact, there is Puma Yumcuo in the south of the mountain, with 40 glaciers, beautiful scenery such as Ram Latso, and famous cultural landscapes such as Samye Temple and the Tomb of the Tibetan King. Should spend more time in Shannan.

In addition to regrets, there are also constant surprises.

First of all, the scenery of Qilian Mountain is so rich. I didn’t expect it to be so rich. Here are not only mountains but also canyons; not only rivers but also grasslands; not only snow peaks but also glaciers; not only domestic animals but also wild beasts. Moreover, the mountains here often display a variety of brilliant colors. For example, the famous Zhangye Danxia is part of the Qilian Mountains. Many times there are multiple scenery changes in a short stretch of road, which makes people dizzying.

Next is the Qaidam Basin. Under the arid, desolate and lonely appearance, it has a smart soul. For example, the turquoise lakes that dot the desolation from time to time are embedded in the earth like emeralds; or the large oases that occasionally appear, vividly displaying the nobility and nobility of life under the endless desolation.

Then there is the Sanjiangyuan Reserve. The scenery along the way is also extremely rich and shocking. Walking here, climbing up any hill and looking down, you will see a beautiful scenery that makes your skin crawl all over. It is shocking and embarrassing.

Finally, there are the lakes on the northern Tibetan Plateau, all of which are gems. If you look at the map, you will find that there are a large number of lakes scattered on the vast plateau northwest of Lhasa. All these lakes are so blue. However, when you actually come to these lakes, you will truly feel what the breathtaking blue is and what the crystal clear is. Although every lake is blue and clear, every lake is different. They have different sizes, shapes, backgrounds, and there are also different creatures in the lakes... You will never get bored. a feeling of……

It has been almost a month since I returned from Tibet (today is September 12, 2020), but my heart is still there.

Now I finally understand why some people get high every time they go to Tibet, but they go there several times a year. Tibet is indeed a magnet that will attract your hard-hearted heart; Tibet is also an incurable disease and you will die if you don’t go there.

When will I go next? Maybe in spring, maybe in autumn, maybe in winter... After all, I haven’t seen Mount Everest, and I haven’t seen Namjagbarwa yet. As for the Bingchacha and Ngari areas that are the most worrying, I have not yet set foot in them. Tibet, See you soon!