Detailed travel notes on a self-driving trip to the Northwest, one car per person

Traveling to Qinghai has always been an idea in my heart, but I have no chance to realize it. This summer vacation is almost over! If you don’t go after September, you will miss the last chance of this year! I don’t want to have any regrets this year. This time, even if I am alone, I want to go.

Preparation work:

Car maintenance, comprehensive inspection, replacement of third filter, oil change, and brake pad replacement.

Apply for an ETC card and recharge it.

Buy emergency starting power supply and towing rope.

Buy car mp3 and download your favorite songs.

Buy food, mineral water, etc.

Buying a car air mattress, I am used to taking naps, and I plan to take a nap every day on the road, just half an hour.

Book Mogao Grottoes tickets online. Among the many scenic spots in the Northwest, this is the only one that requires advance booking. The reservation is on July 13th.

Before leaving, I suddenly thought that I should bring a fire extinguisher bottle. I bought a small fire extinguisher bottle for 26 yuan. Later, it proved that this was a wise decision.

Physical condition:

In the past 2 months, my gastrointestinal condition has been bad. During the treatment, this is what I am most worried about. So, I will be honest and eat more during the trip. I like pasta, but it’s better to stay away from all kinds of northwest delicacies.

I brought gastrointestinal medicine and cold medicine. As for rhodiola rosea to prevent high fever, a small box costs more than 100. It is for prevention. I thought it should be fine, so I didn’t buy it. I prepared a box of glucose. .

Determined to go:

Although I am alone, even though no one in my family or friends agrees, even though my physical condition is not ideal, I am determined to go! People have to have some pursuits and some hobbies. , life must have some color, there must be adventure, not just enough to eat and sleep well. In short, I just want to go!

Completion status:

The first step is the hardest to take. , once you take the first step bravely, you will find that difficulties are always overestimated, and there are not so many hardships and dangers in the outside world!

From From July 8th to July 27th, which lasted for twenty days, my solo bicycle self-driving tour of the Northwest was a complete success. Before leaving, I only had a rough planned route, and I adjusted it as I went. In the end, I walked more than 9,200 kilometers. The travel route map is shown below:

Detailed travel notes:

The first day, 07.08 (Changzhi-Dingbian)

I didn’t sleep well the night before the trip. This is my routine. It may be affected by my emotions. The anticipation and excitement are involuntary. , I had no way to control it and could only let it take its course.

On July 8, I woke up at 5 a.m., got up, packed my things, and went to the car. I didn’t sleep well, I felt uncomfortable in my stomach, and my body was not good. Not in the best condition, but the arrow is on the string, I have to shoot, I have to start! Adjust your mentality, be a little confident, and enjoy the fun of driving alone!

After breakfast, we set off from Changzhi at 8:10. It's raining lightly, and the light is green all the way out of the city. Go north along the Erguang Expressway, turn to the Qingyin Expressway at Yushe South, and turn westward to Pingyao South Service Area at 12:00, and have lunch. After passing the Jundu Toll Station, we entered Shaanxi Province, which is the Loess Plateau. There are ravines and cave dwellings everywhere. I wonder if the mountains can be leveled and the ravines can be filled up. Can this area be turned into fertile farmland?

3pm, Zizhou Service Area, I rolled out my mat and wanted to take a nap in the car, but it was so hot and stuffy inside that I couldn’t sleep at all! Before I left, I thought that I must take a good nap every day. I really wanted to More! After lying down for half an hour, we continued on our way. As we approached Dingbian, we saw grassland on the side of the road, but it was uneven, bumpy, and covered with small green mounds. Every time in life, I saw a new landform. I'm always excited.

I'll arrive at Dingbian at 6:30, which is still more than 100 kilometers away from Yinchuan. It's my first day on the road, so don't be too tired. Just get off the highway in Dingbian tonight. How far to go? I booked Zhongxin Express Hotel for 108 yuan. The conditions were good, the backyard was large, and parking was convenient.

On the first day of the trip, I was in a good mood and drove more than 600 kilometers. Driving around in the car, listening to music, and singing songs, I was so happy.

Dinner was across the street, noodles with soybean paste, 16 yuan, which was quite delicious. It was almost 12 o'clock in the evening and I watched TV. I just went to bed. I didn’t sleep well and woke up early. For two nights in a row, I slept for about 5 hours at most. I was so worried!

The next day, .07.09 (Dingbian - Northwest Film and Television City - Zhongwei

When I wake up in the morning, my head feels dizzy and I obviously don’t have enough sleep! During the journey, it is important to have a peaceful mind and not be overly excited in anticipation of the beautiful scenery; be content with the situation and not be anxious about the difficulty of the journey; Life must be regular. For example, it was extremely inappropriate for me to go to bed too late last night while watching TV. Only in this way can I have fun and sleep well, and the trip can be "sustainable".

I set off without breakfast. , when I got on the expressway, I saw a long queue at the entrance, but I passed the ETC channel without any obstruction, and I felt more and more that this ETC was really convenient! At 7:30, I had breakfast and instant noodles at the Cai Jialiang service area.

< p>At 9:30, we arrived at Zhenbeibao Northwest Film and Television City. We originally planned to go to Shahu Lake, which is also a 5A scenic spot, and we had to go north. Its style is probably similar to Shapotou, but after thinking about it, we gave up.

The Northwest Film and Television City has now become a landmark attraction in Yinchuan. Some people say that if you don’t come to Yinchuan without the Film and Television City, your visit is basically in vain. The Northwest Film and Television City was built under the leadership of Zhang Xianliang. He was a famous writer who was once a "rightist". He was decentralized to work and was in a miserable situation for a time. Later, he counterattacked. There is a memorial hall for him in the film and television city.

The film and television city includes three areas including Qingcheng, Mingcheng and Laoyinchuan streets. When you first entered, it felt very fresh and quite big! After walking around, it was actually nothing, just mud houses with mud walls. , there is a sign indicating that this is the filming location of a certain movie and TV series, etc. After looking around, I felt that it was nothing more than that. Old Yinchuan Street was even more uninteresting. When I got to the back, there were many houses that I simply wasn’t interested in looking at.

But the Northwest Film and Television City has indeed produced many "famous actors and directors", which is a blessed place for film and television people. There is a city gate in Qingcheng called the "Luck Gate". It is said that many works shot here have become popular. It is the gate where Zhizunbao and Zixia Fairy stand face to face.

Northwest Film and Television City

The Gate of Fortune

In the 1980s, Xie Jin's "The Wrangler" and Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" made the Northwest Film and Television City, It became famous, and "Journey to the West" really made the film and television city famous all over the country, and its popularity reached its peak. The film and television city also has the most and most eye-catching filming location signs for "Westward Journey". That’s right! When you go to the back garden of “I love you for ten thousand years”, you will know how small it is.

The filming location of "Love You Ten Thousand Years" in the back garden

At 12:30 noon, we left the scenic spot and went to Yinchuan City to buy wolfberry. This was a task assigned by my wife and I had to arrive in the afternoon. Zhongwei City, I don’t want to stay in Yinchuan City for too long. I searched online and found that authentic Ningxia wolfberries can be bought in large supermarkets. So, I searched large supermarkets on Baidu Map and found the nearest large supermarket, which was more than ten kilometers away. When I went there, I saw that there was no supermarket as small as the one with wolfberry. of. Your grandma has legs! How dare you mark a big supermarket on Baidu Map for such a small supermarket!

Going eastward towards downtown Yinchuan, I checked two more small supermarkets, but there were no wolfberries in them. At 1:30 in the afternoon, I asked the locals and they said that the nearby Tongxin Road Comprehensive Market had wolfberry, which was cheap and of good quality. I felt relieved and started by eating a big bowl of braised noodles. It tasted good and the portion was really big. Afterwards, we quickly went to Tongxin Road Market and successfully completed the task.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, I set off for Zhongwei City. With plenty of time, I decided not to take the highway and take County Road 751, which is said to be a desert highway. First take the Yinchuan Ring Expressway and then transfer to the Yinba Expressway. Ningxia is really too small. We didn’t go far before entering Inner Mongolia. On the roadside is Helan Mountain, a barren mountain. In the midsummer when everything is growing, the mountains here are bare, earth-colored, sand-red, and stone-colored, but there is no green in sight. I noticed that at the foot of the mountain, you can often see cemeteries. They are very simple, with small stones forming a circle and a tombstone in the center. These cemeteries should not cost money to buy, right?

X751 County Road

X751 County Road

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After crossing the mountains, the desert in the distance can be seen, and we get off the highway at Barunbieli. Going south along County Road 751, it is said to be a desert road. In fact, both sides of the road are not deserts, but grasslands. Occasionally, you can see sheep. However, the grasslands are not dense and mottled. It is a semi-prairie and semi-desert landscape.

This section of road is under construction. It should be built into a highway. The road condition is already very good. What's even better is that there are no surveillance cameras installed. Driving as you like is more enjoyable than taking the expressway. At the end of the road construction, there is a fork in the road. If you want to go to Zhongwei City, turn left and turn right to Shapotou Scenic Area. I chose to turn left and then take the 004 rural road. The road is narrow but in good condition and has little monitoring.

Arrived in Zhongwei City at 6:30 and went directly to the Red Sun Parking Lot of Super 8 Hotel. I was really lucky. I followed the navigation on my mobile phone and made many twists and turns. In the end, I successfully found the parking lot, and it was a free parking lot. I couldn't find the Super 8 Hotel, so I booked the nearby Jinjiang Hotel for 147 yuan and the conditions were pretty good.

I am tired and sleepy! I went downstairs for dinner at 7:30. I felt that I should eat some meat to replenish my physical strength, so I ordered porridge and meat buns. After dinner, we walked to Red Sun Square. It was so lively! There must have been more than a dozen groups of square dancers, each with its own music and dance, without affecting or interfering with each other, filling up a large square. I asked about the wolfberry store next to me. The price was indeed higher than that at Yinchuan Tongxin Road Market, and the quality was average. Fortunately, I bought it in Yinchuan.

Zhongwei City, Red Sun Square Dancers