The best travel routes in Qinghai 2017

Qinghai tourism is a major challenge for many people. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is not something ordinary people can control. The air here is thin, the environment is harsh, and it is sparsely populated. Various emergencies may occur, making it difficult for people to travel there. Your mental state is in a high state of tension. Let me share with you the best travel routes in Qinghai in 2017.

I just came back from Qinghai and quickly wrote down a guide for your reference.

I won’t talk about the essential items, ordinary mobile phones and chargers are a mess. A reminder of something else.

Daily washing and care, I won’t go into details based on personal requirements, but I would like to remind you that the conditions of hotels in tourist areas are not good. Babies who want to take a bath must bring shampoo and shower gel.

Warm baby. You must bring this with you. You will know it when you get to the tourist area, but I forgot to bring it because it was cold.

Sun protection. It’s best to spray it on and keep it in your bag so you can take it out and refill it at any time. It was June when I went, and it was cloudy, so the ultraviolet rays were already very strong.

shawl. This is a must-have for girls, haha. It’s great for taking photos and provides sun protection. They are sold everywhere in tourist areas, but they are more expensive than online ones. Rich people are free to do whatever they want. If you want to look good in photos and wear very little, you can buy a thick one. If you wear a thick one, you can buy a thin one. I will post a link to the photos I took in Qinghai later. Everyone can refer to it.

Long cotton coat or jacket. I would like to remind everyone to bring a long cotton-padded coat, which is the best to match your clothes. You can wear a short-sleeved long skirt inside and a cotton-padded coat outside. This way, if you want to take pictures, you can take them off directly.

Cellphone case with cord. This saves one hand, and you can hang it on your chest directly after taking the photo. It is very convenient when traveling.

Parasol. A must-have for girls. Although I brought it with me, I never used it because it was too troublesome to carry. It rained in Qinghai when I went there, but I was particularly lucky because it rained when I got on the bus and stopped right after I got off. So it's useless.

Take Rhodiola rosea capsules in advance. Eating a little every day will relieve altitude sickness. As long as you are not too fat or are in particularly good health, altitude sickness is actually not very obvious. You will just feel a little breathless while walking and talking. If you are the kind of person who is very fat or who works out regularly and is in good health, you will have altitude sickness. When my dad got there, he felt a little uncomfortable breathing even when he was sleeping, and he wanted to exhale loudly. For someone with a normal body like me, there was no problem when he got there. Too big of a reaction, I just feel a little out of breath when I walk fast

General introduction

Because my mother has been working in Qinghai, she has always known a lot about Qinghai.

The main tourist places in Qinghai are actually two major attractions, one is Chaka Salt Lake and the other is Qinghai Lake.

In addition, Kumbum Monastery is a major attraction, but in fact, if you don’t have faith, you can ignore it. I think it will be very sad because there are so many people and I don’t understand it.

Almost all other scenic spots are passable. Some of them pass by on tourist buses to take a look.

My mother has worked there for many years. She also said that Qinghai actually does not have many places to visit, and the scenic spots are not as many and good as those in Yunnan and Tibet. If you can't just travel for a few days, it is recommended that you buy your own air tickets from the destination to Xining. Arrive on Friday night, then sign up for a two-day tour, travel for two days and then fly home on Sunday night.

If you want to feel the Tibetan culture or experience the life in Qinghai, it would be a great choice if you can stay for half a month. I just want to stay for a while if I have time. The local Tibetans in Qinghai are very simple and down to earth people. My mother lives in Goluo, Qinghai Province. The Tibetans there have their own mountains. They graze their cattle and sheep in the morning and drive them home at night. When digging Cordyceps, the Tibetans sell it very cheaply and inexpensively, but the Hui people there will take it and resell it, which will be very expensive and unrealistic. Therefore, it is best to find a local Tibetan to buy things from. You must be polite, they will be super happy to talk to you.

My travel itinerary

I flew from Beijing to Xining early Monday morning. The air ticket is very cheap, less than 500.

Hainan Airlines is very punctual and arrived an hour early, around 8:30.

Xining Airport is very small and simple and standard. There is an airport bus ticket office right outside. It costs more than 20 yuan to go to the central square, which seems to be 21. Not expensive.

After getting off the bus, I found the Home Inn Gymnasium store near the gymnasium. More than a hundred dollars a night.

There is a very prosperous place near the central square. There is an underground commercial street. The things sold are not expensive, but there is nothing special about Xining. There is a snack street next to the stadium, where you can eat a lot of snacks. It's not particularly distinctive, just like the city center of an ordinary second- or third-tier city.

There is Wangfujing Department Store next to the stadium, and there is a supermarket underground. I bought a lot of food in the supermarket to eat on the road. Because the food in tourist areas is really hard to praise and I’m not used to it. There are also many specialty products in the underground supermarket, which are nothing more than black wolfberry and other things. You can buy a few boxes. The ones there are not expensive and are regular. My mother said that the price is not much different from the local ones in Biguoluo, but it is a few yuan more expensive, but it doesn’t matter, the quality is also good, and it is cheaper than the ones in the scenic area.

After shopping and eating, we returned to the hotel in the afternoon and booked a tour group, which set off at 7:30 the next morning. The meeting point was also opposite Wangfujing Department Store and at the entrance to the snack street, which was super close.

The tour group price ranges from 300 to 600. Because it is very cheap, it is recommended that you choose the one with more than 500. There are many routes, but the one I chose did not visit Kumbum Monastery. I felt uninterested and mainly wanted to see the natural scenery. Visiting that one takes too much time.

Let’s talk about the experience of each itinerary

The first scenic spot we went to was Chaka Salt Lake. It took about 5 hours to drive on the road and was also the farthest scenic spot. It also feels the most beautiful. When we arrived, we ate first, and the food was passable.

The time to visit Chaka Salt Lake is two hours, which is enough. There are two modes of transportation, one is a battery car, which will take you to the entrance of the scenic spot. It is very cheap, but I don’t think it is worth it. It's necessary, it only takes a while to walk, and I'm not in a hurry at all. I arrived very quickly, about 2 kilometers away.

One is a small train, which costs tens of dollars to go to Huxin Island. Personally, I don’t think it is necessary, because the photos taken outside are the same as those taken inside, and the scenery is the same.

It’s not too cold in Chaka Salt Lake, but it’s still a bit cold. You definitely need a jacket. You can take it off when taking photos. By the way, there will be merchants selling things when you come out. I don’t contact you to buy the things there. It’s not good. I will recommend a place to buy things for you later.

The next stop is Qinghai Lake. It takes two hours to reach the Tibetan area. On the way, you will see herds of cattle and sheep on the mountains. Great feeling. You will feel colder and colder as you walk along. When we arrived, it was already past 5 o'clock. When we got off the bus to eat, the food was really unpalatable.

The hotel is really average, but it is still clean. One thing to note in particular is that it was really, really cold and the heating was turned off. I was sleeping with two layers of quilts and it still felt super cold. I turned on the electric blanket because I am afraid of the cold.

Pack up if you can go out and walk with thick clothes. Be sure to wear thick clothes, otherwise it will be quite uncomfortable if you catch a cold. Because the altitude is high, you will feel tired and have difficulty breathing if you suffer from altitude sickness. If you catch a cold in addition, you will feel several times more uncomfortable, so be sure not to catch a cold. If you go out for a walk, you will see local Tibetans driving groups of cattle and sheep home. Several dogs are running nearby or in front of them. If the cattle and sheep stray, they will rush back. It is a super good feeling.

I had too many expectations for Qinghai Lake on the second day, so I was a little disappointed in the end. There is a hot air balloon that you can do, the price is not cheap, and the time is not long. Rich people can do it at will. It feels good. Because I have been to Erhai Lake in Yunnan, my impression of Qinghai Lake is average. It is not as good as the development near Erhai Lake. Taking photos is not as beautiful as the Salt Lake.

Let’s talk about the rapeseed flowers near Qinghai Lake. There were no rapeseed flowers when I went there. I was so sad that I didn’t see them.

The last attractions in the afternoon are all small attractions. One is a sand skating ground, with unlimited sand skating, which is quite fun. The main reason is that it is really beautiful to take photos against the sunshine on the mountain.

The following is the last location, the time is very short. The scenery is average, like Atomic City, it's a small place, and it's not nice to take photos or anything like that. Why should I mention it separately, because this is a great place for shopping and things are really cheap. The merchant at the very back is a Tibetan. The people are very down-to-earth, and the black wolfberry there is cheaper and of better quality than in the supermarket.

Let’s talk about two very unique and very cheap things there. One is yak horns, which cost about 150 yuan for a big one. This is a very cheap price that my mother learned about. One is processed and ground, and the other is natural and unprocessed. They both look good, so I bought a pair of them. The other one is Wolf Fang. Seriously this is the thing I regret not buying more. There are too many wolves this year. Only when the country agrees to kill wolves can we openly sell wolf teeth. Let me tell you a relatively real price. Don't worry about how much it costs, just bargain with him. A small wolf tooth is 50 yuan a piece, and a big fang is 100 yuan. Just say this price and have a better attitude. Here in Beijing, a small one costs more than 300 yuan. It’s really a good deal. If you like it, you can buy it here. It’s genuine.

That’s about it. I would like to remind everyone not to wear thick clothes just because they are beautiful. You can wear thinner clothes inside and cotton clothes outside. It is really important. I saw a lot of friends wearing very thin clothes in Tongdao, and ended up catching a cold. They were so uncomfortable and had a headache that they couldn't play.

I will make a post later to show you the photos I took at that time for your reference.