Qinghai-Gansu-Ningxia Road Trip (14): Green in the Desert - Emerald Lake

Travel with Ctrip Season 16 - Qinghai-Gansu-Ningxia Road Trip (14) Green in the Desert - Emerald Lake Haixi, Qinghai September 9, 2023 Sunny, 10-21°C Over the past two days, I've met travelers from all over the country and had a few brief conversations with them about our travel experiences and shared travel tips. I thought there wouldn't be many people taking the Kunlun Sky Road to Hoh Xil, but to my surprise, there were quite a few fellow travelers who drove or hired a car to get here. Despite the long journey, we all share a common goal: to care for, love, and respect nature, and to remember the words that often appear here: "The ecology here is precious and fragile. Please treat this land with care." Today is a relatively relaxed day. It's been ten days since I set off, so I need to take a break. I only visited one scenic spot: Dachaidan Emerald Lake. One of the highlights of traveling in Qinghai is the "Emerald Lake", and there are several in Haixi Prefecture. All the "Emerald Lakes" are actually salt lakes, the result of the interaction between halides (water) and minerals (salt crystals). The color of the lake water is related to the concentration of minerals and the weather and sunlight. Dachaidan Emerald Lake (3A) is a long-established scenic spot in Haixi (Figure 1), located on the southern slope of the Qilian Mountains, in the salt lake mining area of the former Dachaidan Chemical Plant in the Dachaidan Administrative District. It is the third largest artificial lake in Haixi Prefecture, covering an area of 26 square kilometers, and is one of the most representative attractions in the area. You can take a "small train" (Figure 2) to various points in the scenic area for sightseeing and photography. Unlike the Qarhan Salt Lake, it consists of small saltwater pools of different colors, and is worth a visit. Unfortunately, there has been less rain this year, so the lake has dried up, and some of the lake beds are exposed, otherwise it would be even more beautiful. Here are some aerial photos, which offer a different kind of beauty from a bird's-eye view (Figures 3-8). On the road, I often see some lonely cyclists (Figure 9), with dark skin and dusty faces, carrying all their belongings on a seemingly "frail" bicycle. They pedal hard, rain or shine, driven by a unique determination and an extraordinary willpower. I sincerely admire these brave souls! In the afternoon, I arrived in Delingha, the capital of Haixi Prefecture. I passed through here in 2015 when I took a train from Xining to Tibet, and I remembered the name because it was quite unique. I'm staying here tonight and will head to Hainan Prefecture tomorrow.