Gansu-Qinghai-Ningxia Road Trip (12) China's Largest Salt Lake - Qarhan Salt Lake

Traveling Together Season 16 - Gansu-Qinghai-Ningxia Road Trip (12) China's Largest Salt Lake - Qarhan Salt Lake Haixi, Qinghai September 7, 2023 Sunny to cloudy, 10-21°C, 2,800 m above sea level. Continue along National Highway 315 in the afternoon. (4) Qarhan Salt Lake. The Qaidam Basin is known as the "Treasure Basin" of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and its heart is the famous Qarhan Salt Lake. Qarhan Salt Lake is the second largest natural salt lake in the world and the largest in Asia, with a total area of 5,856 square kilometers. Its salt resources are surprisingly abundant, with sodium, potassium, magnesium, and lithium salts all ranking first in China, enough to supply 6 billion people worldwide for 1,000 years. No green plants can grow in the salt lake area, but it nurtures crystal-clear, ever-changing, magical salt flowers. These salt flowers resemble pearls or corals, standing in clusters in the salt lake. The brine lake water, under the sunlight, appears in an incredible emerald color, making the salt lake look like a fairyland (Figures 1-7). Qarhan Salt Lake is a large mining enterprise, with tourism as a sideline, attracting a large number of tourists every day. (5) Internet-famous U-shaped road, also known as the "Gobi Ribbon," located at the 780 km milestone. On the undulating national highway, a section suddenly appears connected to the horizon, which is very shocking (Figure 8). In recent years, it has become very popular, becoming the most beautiful internet-famous road in Qinghai. This internet-famous road, like a ribbon in the vast desert and Gobi, brings a touch of vitality and beauty to the desolation and wilderness. (6) "Blood of the Earth," located at the 757 km milestone. Here, you can see the red dried-up riverbed crossing the valley and intersecting with National Highway 315, forming a spectacular scene, which netizens call the "Blood of the Earth" (Figure 9). Tonight, we will stay in Golmud, the capital of Haixi Prefecture, and continue to explore the area tomorrow.