Checking in Qinghai

Two-day self-driving tour in Qinghai from September 10 to 12, 2021.

Since 2012, I have traveled to Qinghai three times and visited most scenic spots, but there are still two 5A scenic spots that I have not checked in, namely the Tu Nationality Hometown Garden in Haidong Huzhu County and Haibei Qilian County Ami Dongsuo Scenic Area. I originally planned to complete this plan during this year's Corban Festival holiday in July when the rapeseed flowers are in full bloom in Qinghai, and visit the Qarhan Salt Lake in Golmud, the Dachaidan Emerald Lake and Nian Baoyu Ze, so that I can basically travel all over Qinghai, but due to official business Due to reception reasons, the trip for the Eid al-Adha festival was not possible. I had nothing to do on the second weekend of September, so I used two days to visit two 5A scenic spots.

DAY1

Arrive in Xining at 10:00 am on September 10th. After getting the car at the airport, we went directly to the Huzhu Tu Hometown Garden Scenic Area 52 kilometers away.

The Huzhu Tu Hometown Park Scenic Area is located in Weiyuan Town, Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, Haidong City, Qinghai Province, 31 kilometers away from Xining City, the capital of Qinghai Province, with a total planned area of ??6.81 square kilometers, of which the core tourist area covers 3.25 square kilometers. The scenic spot includes five core attractions: Tianyoude, the source of Chinese highland barley wine, Rainbow Tribe Tu Nationality Garden, Naton Manor, Western Tu Nationality Folk Culture Village, and Xiaozhuang Tu Nationality Folk Culture Village, which respectively display the colorful folk culture of the Tu nationality and the long-standing highland barley wine. culture, long-lasting agarwood culture, ancient and innocent architectural culture, unique residential culture, and simple and mysterious religious culture. It is the most comprehensive, purest and most authentic tour in the world with the theme of "Tu Culture". It is a comprehensive tourist attraction integrating sightseeing, leisure vacation, folk experience and religious pilgrimage.

The tourist center of the scenic spot is located in the square on the left side of Tianyoude Highland Barley Winery. We did not do any homework before coming to Qinghai, so we did not have a detailed understanding of the scenic spot. The navigation directly guided us to the gate of Tianyode Highland Barley Winery and then terminated the guidance. We thought there was a problem with the navigation, so we left the winery and headed to the right. The traffic arrangement near the scenic spot is a bit confusing. Originally, you could go directly to the core scenic spot Rainbow Tribe along Tianyoude Avenue in front of the winery. However, the scenic spot is divided into several passages by guardrails. If you don't turn left consciously at the roundabout, you can just go directly Enter the right lane and turn right ahead. After turning right, we saw a grand iconic sculpture in front of us. We thought it was the entrance to the scenic spot, but when we got closer, it turned out to be the Western Tu Folk Culture Village. After asking the staff, we learned that the visitor center is near the winery, so we drove back and bought tickets at the visitor center before returning again. When I returned, I didn't turn left at the roundabout, so I walked back to the original path. I had no choice but to turn around again. After several times, I finally arrived at the entrance of the Tu Nationality Garden. It's really annoying that the scenic area has been artificially made into such a complex situation for a road that was originally not complicated.

When we entered the scenic spot, we caught up with a group of tourists, and the scenic spot held a welcome ceremony for them. The staff dressed in Tu ethnic costumes presented white hada to each tourist. We also joined the team and entered the park with the tour guide to start the tour.

There are two entrances to the Rainbow Tribe Tu Garden. We entered from the north gate. The tour guide led everyone to start the tour from the left side of the park. The north entrance is the Shanmen-style makeup archway. The top of the archway is supported by a bracket pattern to support the top of the cornice. This architectural form imitates Chinese-style architecture, which is less heavy and more flexible. The colorful brackets are gorgeous, exquisite and dazzling. There are many such archways on the roads in the park. They are much smaller in scale, but they are all bright and colorful. The first landscape in the park on the left is Shiyide Winery, a time-honored highland barley wine brewing workshop in Huzhu County, and now also a brand of Tianyoude. Continue past the powder room and arrive at the east gate of the park. From the east gate, you can reach Tuyuhun Camp, which is a hotel-like facility in the scenic area that uses yurts as accommodation. We visited the Shibadonggou Old Oil House and the Tusi Horse Training Farm, and then we entered Anzhao Square, which is the center of the Tu Nationality Garden. The square is surrounded by wooden archways with strong Tu characteristics. There is a performance stage in the middle and audience stands under the surrounding columns.

Originally, there would be a Tu ethnic performance here at 13:00 every day, but there were too few tourists today, so the performance was cancelled. To the west of Anzhao Square is the Quexi Living Buddha Courtyard, which is like a farm courtyard. There are gleaming golden Buddha statues enshrined in the Buddhist hall. There is no Living Buddha abbot. The staff informed the Living Buddha that he had gone to Kumbum Monastery to perform rituals. It will take a few days to come back. Next to the Living Buddha Courtyard is the Zhuangkuo Courtyard, where the Tu people originally lived. The Zhuangkuo Courtyard has a north room and an east room, which are generally three-bay, with guests in the middle and bedrooms on both sides. In the bedroom is an earthen kang, with a kang table in the middle and neatly stacked quilts on both sides. In the middle of the courtyard is an altar about 1.5 meters square, with peonies and peonies planted on it. In the middle stands a flagpole about 5 meters high, which is covered with colorful prayer flags. The landlord is a Tu man in his fifties. He is an employee of the Tu Garden. He lives in this courtyard and is responsible for explanation and maintenance work. The Tu people believe in Tibetan Buddhism, so many religious customs are based on the teaching system of Tibetan Buddhism. In my opinion, the most authentic Tu ethnic style in the Tu Nationality Hometown Garden is undoubtedly the Zhuangkuo Courtyard here. Most of the other visiting projects were newly built or imitated later based on development needs, lacking the sense of historical heaviness and vicissitudes. .

After visiting the Zhuangkuo Courtyard and the Toshidai Old Water Mill next to it, we also visited the Tusi Mansion and the Tusi Grand Altar. These are the two most magnificent buildings in the park, but there is no specific content. There is no actual display, it is just a formality. The Tu Nationality Production and Life Museum displays the unique characteristics of the Tu nationality in handicrafts, textiles, agricultural tools and food, etc., and together with the many intangible cultural heritage items displayed in the form of sculptures in the garden, they constitute the unique life and development characteristics of the Tu nationality. . Finally, we visited the Tu Nationality Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, where we learned more about the history of the Tu nationality. The Tu nationality originated from Tuyuhun, which belonged to the ancient Xianbei people. At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, they migrated from the Liaodong Peninsula to the Qinghai area of ??Gansu and established the Tuyuhun regime. In the seventh century AD, the Tuyuhun regime was destroyed by the Tibetans in the Western Regions. After that, part of it merged with the Han people and part with the Tibetan people. After generations of mutual absorption and integration development with the Tibetan, Han and Mongolian ethnic groups, the Tuyuhun people in the Haomen River Basin and Hehuang area became the ancestors of the current Tu people, and the ethnic group was formed in the Yuan Dynasty, more than 700 years ago. history. Therefore, we can see the intertwined shadows of Tibetan, Mongolian, Han and other ethnic groups in the living habits of the Tu people.

After visiting the Rainbow Tribe, we went to the Western Tu Folk Village, where there is a huge Mani stone, known as the best Mani stone in the world. This huge stone is smooth and round, weighing 72 tons. The stone is engraved with ancient Indian Sanskrit scriptures such as "Medicine Buddha Mantra" and "Longevity Buddha Mantra". It has a history of more than 300 years and is the town and village here. treasure. Xiaozhuang is a scenic spot focusing on farmhouses, and Naton Manor is a scenic spot focusing on catering and accommodation, so we just took a quick look around and then returned to Tianyoude Highland Barley Winery to visit. The tourist name here is called "Tianyoude Chinese Highland Barley Wine" source". Combining the wine-making process of Tianyode Highland Barley Winery as an industrial tourism project with the Tu Nationality Garden is a prerequisite for the place to obtain 5A qualifications. This was confirmed through verification with the scenic spot tour guide. Indeed, many 5A scenic spots cannot meet the real standards at all, so they are trying to find multiple scenic spots to piece together. Therefore, I secretly think that the quality of my country's 5A scenic spots is declining. However, from a national level, after all, tourism must serve economic development. We must take into account poverty alleviation, support for local economies, etc., so these are understandable.

As the crowd of tourists entered the sightseeing corridor of the factory, we visited the cellar, distillation, filling, packaging and other workshops of the winery in turn, tasted various highland barley wines, and then went to On the second floor, we visited the research and development, flavor, blending, wine tasting and other centers, learned about Tianyoude’s scientific research level, and finally visited the original wine storage workshop. What is strange is that after visiting the entire factory, we did not see a single worker. The tour guide explained that the factory held a staff sports meeting today. All workers and cadres went to participate in the sports meeting. Only those responsible for tourism reception were left in the factory. people. After visiting a set of processes, we have a detailed understanding of Tianyoude highland barley wine.

Tianyoude, the source of China’s highland barley wine, is the country’s largest highland barley wine production base and highland barley wine origin protection base. Huzhu highland barley wine originated in the Yuan Dynasty, flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, developed in modern times, and is brilliant today. The Huzhu County People's Government established the state-owned Huzhu County in 1952 on the basis of eight major workshops, including "Tianyoude" and "Yongqinghe". The winery established a joint-stock company in December 2011 and was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The stock abbreviation is: Qingqing Barley Wine. At present, the company has a registered capital of 450 million yuan, total assets of 1.8 billion yuan, an area of ??300,000 square meters, more than 1,800 employees, and a production capacity of 15,000 tons of highland barley wine. The company produces "Huzhu", "Tianyoude", "Eight Big" There are more than 100 varieties of highland barley wine products in four series: "Zhoufang" and "Yongqinghe". The company takes "Tian You De" as its general trademark. According to the company's introduction: "Tian You De" comes from the second line of the plaque on the "Jianji Suiyou" in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City in Beijing, which reads "Heaven's heart bless your husband with one virtue, and he will always protect it and pursue it." rather".

The tour of the Tu Nationality Garden ended at 15:00 in the afternoon, and we had to rush to Qilian County, 276 kilometers away. Passing through Datong and Menyuan, surrounded by mountains and rivers, after more than four hours of long journey, we arrived in Qilian County at 19:30 and checked into Qilian Hotel. When we traveled to Qinghai-Tibet three years ago, we came to Qilian County to visit Zhuoer Mountain and stayed in this hotel. After visiting Zhuoer Mountain at that time, I saw the signboard of Ami Dongsuo Scenic Area, but at that time I had no idea of ??visiting 5A scenic spots across the country, so I didn’t continue the tour. I didn’t expect that three years later, I would still have to visit the same place again. .

DAY2

Depart at 8:00 in the morning, first browse around Qilian County, and then go to Ami Dongsuo Scenic Area 14 kilometers away. Ami Dongsuo Scenic Area is actually on the roadside that we passed when we came here, but there are no hotels nearby, so we can only stay in the county town.

Ami Dongsuo means "God of the Mountains" in Tibetan, also known as "Thousand Soldiers Sentpost". The locals call it "Niuxin Mountain" or "Little Dongsuo". Ami Dongsuo is 4,667 meters above sea level, with an absolute gap of 1,880 meters from Babao Town, Qilian County. Qilian Tibetans worship Ami Dongsuo as the king of the Qilian God Mountains.

About 20 minutes later, we arrived at the tourist center of the scenic spot. It is now the off-season for tourism, and due to the impact of epidemic prevention and control, there are even fewer tourists. Therefore, the scenic spot has stopped sightseeing cars and allows self-driving cars to enter the scenic spot. As the first batch of tourists in the scenic spot, we signed the safety agreement and drove into the scenic spot. The staff of the scenic spot informed that the route of the scenic spot is 12 kilometers, and you will reach the end when you reach the glass plank road, and you can return the same way.

Entering Amidonsuo along the scenic road, our first impression is of a relatively wide mountain valley. On the slopes on both sides, there are intermittent valley alpine forest belts, and there are high mountains between the forest belts. There are meadows and patches of farmland at the foot of the hillside. It's autumn now, the grassland has turned yellow, the farmland has been harvested, and the forest has taken on a dark green color. If it is summer, this place should resemble the scenery of the Nalati Grassland in Xinjiang. I read some guides before, describing the summer scenery of Ami Dongsuo: wheat waves rolling at the bottom of the mountain, birds singing and flowers fragrant, a farmhouse scene in the plateau valley, full of spring; the green grass at the foot of the mountain is an excellent pasture, and there is "Good pasture at the foot of the Qilian Mountains" The reputation. But now it is early autumn, and the spirit of summer is gone, showing a slight desolation of autumn. The clear stream flows happily down from the mountain, meandering in the river valley, or breaking out of a tidal flat. In the center of the tidal flat, there are many shrubs of different heights and graceful shapes, with branches in full bloom, like trees. The bonsai bay here is Ami Dongsuo's bonsai bay, which is also one of the few scenic spots in the scenic area. Admiring the beautiful scenery of the river valleys on both sides, we walked all the way along the winding mountain road. It didn't take long to reach the bottom of Wanfo Cliff. The gentle mountain road suddenly became steep, just like the 72 turns on the Sichuan-Tibet Line. After several windings, We came to Ten Thousand Buddhas Cliff. There is a wooden plank road leading to the cliff on one side. From a distance, you can see a rugged stone forest on one side of the cliff. We didn't see the glass plank road, so we continued to move forward and walked a few kilometers. We saw the mountain road going down and there was no view from a distance, so we called the scenic spot to inquire and learned that the glass plank road was at the Wanfo Cliff scenic spot. So we turned around and headed back, taking the wooden plank road to visit Ten Thousand Buddhas Cliff.

When I came to Deji Village, I realized that the so-called Jianzha Xiaosanya is another name for Deji Village. The reason is that an artificial beach was built here beside the Yellow River, equipped with parasols, beach chairs and other facilities. It has a bit of a Sanya beach feel, so it is called "Qinghai people's Little Sanya". Deji Village is affiliated to Jianzha County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It is a poverty alleviation relocation village, which was mainly built with counterpart assistance from China Huaneng Group. After the relocation was completed in 2017, Huaneng Group took advantage of the location advantages of Deji Village to actively explore the combination of poverty alleviation relocation and rural revitalization strategies, and cultivate characteristic poverty alleviation industries with rural tourism as the leader and deep integration of culture, photovoltaics and other industries. Tourism industries such as leisure squares, piers, open-air beaches, sea of ??flowers, farmhouses, and snack squares have been built, and China Construction Tourism Group has been introduced to be responsible for commercial operations. Tickets are 10 yuan. In 2020, tourism revenue has been achieved at 6.8 million yuan. In July 2020, Deji Village was selected into the second batch of the list of key villages for national rural tourism determined by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Development and Reform Commission. It has become a local tourism business card, and Huaneng Group has become an advanced collective in poverty alleviation.

Come here to the open-air beach known as Little Sanya. Although it is very different from the beach in Sanya, it is also unique. Although there is no blue sea here, there is the blue Yellow River. "The Yellow River in the world is pure." I have never been to Guide, so I don't know what the color of the Yellow River is, but we just visited Linxia, ??Gansu in August, and the Yellow River there was clear and transparent, and looked as green as jasper from a distance. . The Yellow River here is indeed as blue as the sea when viewed from a distance. Surrounded by mountains, it looks like a crystal clear blue gem. In people's traditional impression, the Yellow River is turbid with cement and sand, but here, the water of the Yellow River completely subverts our impression and imagination. Clear and transparent, as warm as jade, just like Fuxian Lake in Yunnan, azure and graceful. "Lucid waters and green mountains are the most valuable assets", "Mountains depend on the mountains, and water depends on the water." These sayings can be said to be vividly reflected in Deji Village today. These farmers in Deji Village, who have struggled with poverty and poverty for generations, are now guided by the party's poverty alleviation policy. They have not only escaped poverty and lived a happy life, but also have a seashore relying on the beautiful water of the Yellow River. The enjoyment of the beach, such a huge change in the sea, can only be realized under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

After visiting Deji Village, we visited Jianzha County for a while before returning to Xining at 20:00. The two-day check-in trip to Qinghai has ended, with this trip covering 970 kilometers.