How about traveling to Qinghai in April?

Text/Pictures by Liang Luodan

The pictures in this article are original from "Western Tourism" magazine. Reprints must contact the staff and indicate the source

When I wake up, I see in front of me It's all a mirror image of the northwest.

The short adobe houses look like piles of loess-style mountains. Looking through the car window, there is a hazy yellow tone. I was a little at a loss. In this row of iron boxes, I was transported thousands of miles away in a daze. I once heard a friend talk about Qinghai. It’s great, Qinghai Lake, Kumbum Monastery, and Qilian Grassland. Now that I have arrived in Qinghai, I am looking forward to the scenery I will visit and what adventures I will have.

Day1: Stations in three languages, hearty halal pasta and yogurt, and heavy rain.

Xining West Railway Station is a temporary station, although it is temporary but it is temporary. Responsible for Xining's main railway transportation. It is backed by a northwest-style loess slope, and in front is a uniform blue-roofed house. I put my luggage on my back and headed out of the station. The speakers were playing prompts in three different languages. English, Tibetan, and Chinese were surprised by it.

There are special bus lines to the train station in Xining City. About 5 or 6 lines are named special lines, which is very convenient. I took a car to the family hotel I booked online. The owner was a mother-in-law and was very welcoming. The room is very clean and has a northwest style. Pack your things, put on your coat, and get ready to go out and satisfy your cravings. Xining City is more than 2,000 meters above sea level, with relatively cool temperatures and large temperature differences. Even in the summer, it is necessary to bring a jacket when going out.

Having dinner at a Hui restaurant on Koufu Street. Halal food is an essential part of Xining’s food, mainly beef, mutton, and pasta. I ordered a fried noodles and a few skewers of meat. The portion is larger than expected. The fried noodles have a rich sauce and are paired with refreshing fresh vegetables to warm the stomach and comfort you. The grilled meat skewers are fat but not greasy and hearty. After eating, I walked around and bought some fresh yogurt. I tasted it while walking and sighed that this is how life should be.

Qinghai Lake outside the car window

Just when I was intoxicated with the delicious food and beautiful scenery, I encountered the rain in Qinghai, which was really different from the rain in Sichuan. First there was a few thunderclaps, but before I could take a few steps, the rain started falling heavily. Like soybeans, it hits the body hard, and soon it penetrates into the skin and makes it cold. There was no awning in the store on the street, and I didn’t bring any rain gear, so I had close contact with the northwest rain and felt each other. Fortunately, it comes and goes easily. Just when I was anxious about what to do, the rain stopped.

Day2: Muslim grandfather, a fall at Kumbum Monastery, butter flowers, and thangka murals

The next day, I got on the bus to Huangzhong to see the legendary Kumbum Temple.

On the cream-colored bus, there was a Muslim grandfather sitting next to me. When I got off the bus, I asked him how to get to Kumbum Monastery. He pointed out the way to me and where he was going. place, a mosque. The two temples are only one street apart. Then we walked forward and met Kumbum Monastery at the end of the street.

Walking through the archway with a Tibetan-style pagoda, there is a row of prayer tubes inside, and you can turn around and enter. There is a row of white towers erected on the square. They look the same, but if you look closely, each decoration is different. Pigeons flew to the top of the tower and stared at the worshipers praying below. Believers surrounded the row of white pagodas, chanting blessings, and touching the white marble pillars with their foreheads every few steps. Each stone pillar was rubbed warm and shiny.

There are more and more tourists when they reach Kumbum Monastery. Believers, monks from other places, tourists and commentators make it very lively.

The combination of Tibetan style and Chinese style of Kumbum Monastery

Tambum Monastery is also called Pagoda Temple. There is a pagoda first and then a temple. It is the founding sect of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The birthplace of Master Kaba was renovated because the mother of the master missed her son. The entire building complex is built on the mountain and was first built in the Ming Dynasty. Han structural methods are combined with Tibetan paintings. The Buddha statues in the hall are exquisite and vivid. The crowd, rubbing shoulders with each other, was in awe.

The Custer Landforms Encountered on the Road

Butter flowers, embroidered thangkas and murals, these three unique skills are all made by the artistic monks of Kumbum Monastery. As the highest institution of Qinghai Buddhist Academy, it has many capable and knowledgeable people. Vajra, Dharma Protector, and Buddhist stories all tell a story. The embroidered Thangkas are mainly hung in the sutra room and in the place where the lamas of the temple gather to chant sutras. They have a strong smell of butter. Butter flowers are colorful sculptures made of butter. They are grand in scale and rich in content. Maybe I was surprised by the unique art of Kumbum Monastery. I fell heavily while walking, but it made me determined to keep walking.

The temple under the wind flags of Kumbum Monastery

Day3: Blue sea, Princess Wencheng, Jinyintan grassland

The itinerary starts with a story and ends with a story end.

It is said that when Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, it took her a year to reach Qinghai. The King of Zabet repaired Zamblinka and gave the princess a month's rest. Zamblinka, when the princess leaves it, it means that she has completely left her hometown and entered Tibet. Because the princess missed her hometown, she left her precious mirror behind, and the precious mirror turned into the Sun and Moon Mountain. The tears of missing my hometown flowed endlessly and turned into an inverted river.

I didn’t get to experience the magic of the Daotang River during this trip, but I was lucky enough to visit Zamblinka and Riyue Mountain. I even heard a lot of legends about Princess Wencheng in Zamblinka Palace. The story begins with praising this strong woman and being impressed by her kindness and intelligence.

On the road to Qinghai Lake

Qinghai Lake Riyue Mountain

After getting to know Princess Wencheng, I saw Qinghai Lake. Qinghai Lake. It is called Kukunaoer in Mongolian, which means blue sea. The first feeling is that it is like a fairyland. The water is the same color as the sky. The blue color starts from the light yellow sand line and is light at first. It gradually becomes darker as the distance increases. Then it becomes shallow again at the intersection of sky and water, and then towards the sky. Darker? The role of clouds at this time is to separate the water and the sky. The clouds above the horizontal plane curl up in layers like ink, like tulle, like light smoke. The light smoke becomes more lively as it rises. The clouds are like cotton balls condensed by light smoke.

I saw a huge creature at Mian Tuan’s place, which was incompatible with the beautiful scenery. A huge yacht was parked on the pier, its flute rumbling. The plateau ecology is extremely fragile, and it has not experienced too much commercial development and too many tourists. Can Qinghai Lake remain beautiful? This is a difficult question.

Day 4: Clear Yellow River, green rapeseed flowers, heavy rain to pack mushrooms

When we went to Menyuan, we encountered the most changeable weather on the plateau. But because of the weather, the memory remains fresh.

Menyuan pastoral scenery

Standing under the viewing platform of Menyuan and looking down, the rapeseed flowers have withered. Although there is no golden patch, it is still very good. The nearby, distant, and even further snow-capped mountains are all in full view. Between the mountains and between the mountains, there are rapeseed fields, which are beautiful and green. The mountains are also worth seeing. They are covered with green grass nearby and there are sheep, cattle and horses. What is in the distance is dark red and has unique landforms. Even further away are the snow-capped mountains, only the heads of which can be seen.

Going inside from Menyuan is Qilian. The first place I went to Qilian was Zhuoer Mountain. At that time, the clouds on the mountain were layered together. I listened to Uncle Li and brought my rain gear, but I didn’t listen to his advice and took a car to go up the mountain. I thought, how can I take a car in such a beautiful place?

It was raining but not clear in Zhuoer Mountain in Qilian

Walking up the mountain, the highland barley fields and rapeseed fields at the foot of Zhuoer Mountain are very beautiful, and when the wind blows, they are very dynamic. The sky was particularly attractive because it was about to rain. Unexpectedly, as soon as we reached the mountainside, strong winds rolled over the rocks and it started to rain heavily. The rain was very heavy, and it hurt when it hit my body. When the wind blew, the pain and cold penetrated into my bones.

As soon as the rain gear was opened, the umbrella ribs were blown over and it didn't work at all. Where are people? He couldn't walk at all, so he had to squat next to the mound and play with mushrooms. Although the rain didn't stop, it cleared up ahead, so I had to get up and move forward. After walking through the rain shower, there was sunshine, which allowed me to dry out my almost soaked body. As we can see, it didn't take long for the clouds to drift over again, but the drizzle was not enough to stop my steps.

Qilian rape flowers and highland barley fields

The rain did not stop the next day, and the temperature dropped below 10 degrees. The plan of playing in the grassland and picking up mushrooms came to nothing, and it even snowed on the way back. I got out of the car and felt the heavy snow. When I was playing and playing, I felt like I was frozen into a popsicle, but I was still happy.

I miss this journey and the various adventures along the way.