Make an appointment with the young lady, and the Great Wall Cannon will take us to Kubuqi, where we can go sandboarding, cross-country, and shoot blockbusters!

The last time I went to the Kubuqi Desert was 7 years ago. There were no cars at that time, so I made an appointment with my friends to cross the Kubuqi Desert. I missed it a lot after I came back, and I always wanted to go there again [heehee]. When I came to take the bus for the first time, I didn’t know the route to Kubuqi. Secondly, the scenery in the desert is really magnificent. Last time I went hiking, I didn’t take many good photos. When I had free time recently, I made an appointment with my friends to spend three or four days driving to Kubuqi. The most important thing is to have a young lady to accompany you! [Dr. Bing]

I know that only young ladies can hold down the house plan. Look back slowly, there are so many beautiful photos! [Laughing]

Quietly, the lady is still single~

This time the Great Wall Cannon took us across the desert, and we drove into the Kubuqi Desert for a wave. Still able to escape intact. [Strong]

Okay, without further ado, let’s start with the main text! [Victory]

From Beijing to the Kubuqi Desert, you can take the Beijing-Xinjiang Expressway or the Beijing-Tibet Expressway and then transfer to the Xingba Expressway. This time we took both high-speed lines. Overall The road condition of Beijing-Xinjiang Expressway is better, the speed limit is higher, and there is more traffic. The Xingba Expressway section has several sections of cement paved road, and it is bumpy for vehicles to drive on it, so it is difficult to see vehicles along the way. The distance between the two lines is almost the same.

After leaving Beijing and passing through Zhangjiakou City, the grassland scenery unfolded in front of us. Without the obstruction of high-rise buildings and high mountains in the city, the view was extremely broad. However, we did not have time to stop and appreciate it because we were located on a plateau with abundant sunshine. You can see many solar power stations and wind power stations.

Time on the road always flies by. My friend and I switched cars and it was already sunset before we knew it. We had already driven more than 600 kilometers. At about 5 p.m., we finally arrived. Arriving at the edge of the Kubuqi Desert, there is a tourist attraction called Xiangshawan. Perhaps because of the epidemic, it seems very lonely. As the easternmost scenic spot in the Kubuqi Desert, Xiangshawan is a must-visit place for many tourists who come to Kubuqi to play in the sand, but we wanted to play more wildly! So Xiangshawan passed directly.

After passing Xiangshawan, we continued driving west along the Xingba Expressway for an hour. When we arrived at a place called Engebe Ecological Tourism Zone, we saw that the sun was about to set, so we decided to find a desert spot in Engebe to watch the sunset.

However, we underestimated the significance of ecotourism areas and the people’s determination to control desertification. Both sides of the road crossing the desert from Engebe south have been transformed into oases. Although there are still scattered sand dunes, the desert close to the road has been fragmented [sad]. We did not give up and drove the Great Wall Cannon further into the desert. But it was still difficult to find a stretch of barren desert scenery. In the end, I had no choice but to use a drone to get a bird's-eye view of the miracles created by generations of sand controllers in Kubuqi, a desert that has existed for thousands of years.

After watching the sunset in the Engebe Ecological Zone, we returned to the Xingba Expressway and continued towards our destination, Duguitala Town. The afterglow of the setting sun on the horizon and the lonely road looked like something out of a movie. scene. At 10 o'clock in the evening, we finally checked into the hotel in Duguitala. And our desert trip has officially kicked off...[heehee]

As off-road enthusiasts who like to play in the sand, Duguitala is a place that often comes because it is a place where we drive south after leaving the town. In a short distance, you can enter the pristine and untamed desert. So the next morning after we had breakfast, we set off to prepare to enter the desert. Before we even reached the desert, the young lady who was traveling with us was so excited that she wanted to take pictures. [Laughing]

To fulfill your wish, let’s start filming a blockbuster!

Desert Goddess

So before going to the desert, I took a group of road portraits. [Color]

It is relatively safe to take pictures on this kind of desert road. Firstly, the road is straight and flat, with a wide view. Secondly, there are very few cars. I didn’t see any for dozens of minutes of shooting. Vehicles other than ours.

After taking photos of the young lady, we drove off the asphalt road and officially entered the vast desert.

Driving in the desert is naturally not a problem for the Great Wall Cannon with low-speed four-wheel drive. However, you need to deflate the tires before entering the desert to increase the contact area between the tires and the sand. If conditions permit, a tall red flag should be installed to avoid collisions caused by poor visibility in the desert. Fortunately, we did not come specifically to the Kubuqi sand dunes, so we tried to avoid the too exciting sand dunes. In addition, you still need to bring some necessary tools when biking into the desert, such as shovels and escape boards. Of course, as a cautious person, I also used a drone to explore the road first to ensure that there would be no unexpected episodes during our light desert off-roading.

When everything is ready, a boring but magnificent desert is waiting for you to explore. The desert has mesmerizing lines carved by the winds of nature. It's like a painting written by an artist, simple and abstract.

Showing a silk-like mechanism in light and shadow makes people sigh that nature is the greatest artist [strong][strong]. Because of our unfamiliarity with driving in the desert, we did not go too far into the hinterland of the desert for the first time. After returning to the road, we headed to a sunset shooting spot recommended by a friend, called the National Geological Park. Returning to Duguitala Town, there is a tourist route that can go all the way to the gate of the scenic spot.

The gate of the scenic spot is indeed very magnificent, but the entrance fee is 80 yuan per tourist. In the spirit of coming here, we naturally bought tickets to enter. The result is naturally that the more spectacular the gate of a scenic spot is, the more mediocre the scenery will be. Rather than calling the entire scenic spot a national geological park, it is better to be called an exhibition area for desertification prevention and control results. The entire geopark is basically an oasis after sand control. From the perspective of ecological protection, it is indeed a good thing for the country and the people. However, as a 4A-level scenic spot, the scenery is indeed too bland. The scenery of several lakes in the scenic area is also ordinary and has no highlights. However, the restaurants in the small and medium-sized villages in the scenic area have good food. Although the price is more expensive than Duguitala, the taste is better.

The scenery in the scenic spot is basically dominated by grassland and sandy land, and it looks a bit like the African savannah when it gets taller. It's just that there are fewer wild animals. In addition to the common free-range chickens, you can occasionally see captive sheep.

The sheep are also full of curiosity about me.

The large sand dunes in the distance remind me that this place was once an endless desert. What a great thing it is to be able to manage it now and become an oasis for animals and people to live in.

After resting for a while in a wetland in the desert, we decided to try to see if we could find a desert that we could drive into in the scenic area. So we started our sand exploration. After asking the staff at the scenic spot, I learned that there seems to be only a small corner at the edge of such a large scenic spot with a small road leading into the desert, so I'll give it a try. [Smirk]

However, contrary to expectations, we walked along the sand road for a while. Although we were indeed in the desert, the continuous desert could not be seen because the management was too effective.

We have no choice but to come here in good spirits and return in disgrace. After discussion, we felt that instead of wasting time looking for deserts in the scenic area, it would be more convenient to simply return to Duguitala and go directly to the desert. So we gave up our plan to watch the sunset in the scenic area and returned to Duguitala. Yes, the 80 yuan ticket is not worth it if you come to see the scenery. But I feel very happy when I think that I can make a small contribution to the desert control of my motherland.

Returning to Duguitala along the same route, we can finally explore the desert without any distractions.

When I entered the desert, I put the Great Wall Cannon in the manual M2 gear. Thanks to the good low-torque performance of the Haval 2.0T engine, I was able to drive in the desert with ease. They say "go slow on mud, go fast on sand", but low-speed four-wheel drive is not very useful when driving in the desert. Occasionally, if you get stuck in a car, you can just use it to get out of trouble. After several trials, I gradually gained experience in desert driving and started to play.

I must praise the Great Wall Cannon here. This car gave me so many surprises when I got it. First of all, it has a light driving feel. It doesn’t look like a big guy with a length of more than 5 meters when driving. Very easy to drive. Moreover, the interior of the passenger version is no different from that of a family car. It is different from the cheap interiors of most pickup trucks. We were asked all kinds of questions by local fellows on the way from Beijing. Even the traffic police uncle was full of enthusiasm for this car. interested. Considering the price of the Great Wall Cannon is more than 100,000 yuan, the 2.0T engine is matched with ZF's 8-speed automatic transmission, and the interior is the best in its class. I am really satisfied with this car from the bottom of my heart. [Naughty]

I am having more and more fun in the desert. I am not satisfied with the fun of driving in the sand. I even brought my skis to try sand skiing! Many years ago, I saw a car video about using a snowboard to skate on the sand. As a snowboarding enthusiast, the seed was planted in my heart. This time I finally got my wish. I took my beloved skis and traveled thousands of miles to the desert to ski in the sand. However...

The excessive friction between the sand and the skis causes even large-slope skis at about 30 degrees to float on the surface as if they were coated with glue and remain motionless. Not to mention walking an edge, even smoothing it is impossible. In the end, I could only pretend to put up a pos and end it hastily! [Cold sweat] After returning home, I thought for a while and realized that other people’s skis must have been specially treated to reduce the friction with the sand.

As the sky gets darker, the joyful day will come to an end. Today we will finally watch a breathtaking sunset in a real desert...

The red rose in the desert [Rose]

The last ray of sunshine gives The lady takes photos.

Taking advantage of the last glow, I quickly set up the tent. I set up my camera and looked forward to taking a time-lapse of the starry sky at night...

Unfortunately, the weather was not kind and the clouds were surging after nightfall. The skylight has not yet dissipated, and thick clouds have obscured the vast starry sky.

I had to sleep silently in the tent for one night, and the next day I met up with my friends staying in the hotel, said goodbye to Kubuqi and returned to Beijing...