Travel Notes on the Three Northwest Provinces—In That Faraway Place

Get up early and watch the sunrise over Qinghai Lake.

It's cool and chilly, and when I leave the inn, I feel calm and quiet.

On the road outside the town, Qinghai Lake was still sleeping. There was a faint glow behind the mountains in the east, and a purple glow slowly appeared. The light gradually spread, and the eastern sky was painted with colorful colors. The red sun has risen from the mountain, emitting dazzling light as soon as it comes up, and there seems to be no transition. Seeing that it was already breakfast time, I was afraid that my group members would be waiting, so I hurriedly took a few photos and left.

 

After breakfast, it's daybreak. Saying goodbye to the Xiqiang Traveler Inn and the charming town, we continued along the 109 National Highway towards Xining.

 

On the way to Xining, we have to go to the famous Jinyin Beach. It is only a few dozen kilometers from Qinghai Lake to Jinyintan.

 

The car drove through Xihai Town, passed the best scenic spots of Jinyintan, and stopped by the road.

When I got off the car, I saw that there was a huge grassland here. There were several yurts and some tourist facilities on the roadside. There were no tourists and it was deserted. Except for us in the car, there was almost no extra person. Only the billboards and posters of the singing festival were blown by the wind, making a "swishing" sound.

 

Facing the empty golden prairie and empty yurts in front of me, I can only let my imagination run wild. In my mind, this place is in summer or 7, 8, In the golden season of September, the vast grassy prairie, flowers blooming, blue sky, green grassland, rolling mountains, singing larks, flocks of cattle and sheep, like floating clouds Scattered among the green grass and wild flowers, herdsmen riding horses graze leisurely on the grassland, and occasionally eagles fly across the sky. Tourists flocked to enjoy the beautiful grassland scenery and feel the artistic conception brought by the beautiful song that is famous at home and abroad. At night, the melodious and passionate grassland nocturne sounds from the yurt, floating into the deep night sky and the vast grassland. This is the Gold and Silver Beach, where the pastures are rich and the cattle and sheep are fat. People here describe this beautiful and fertile land as gold and silver everywhere.

 

It’s just that when we came here, we missed the best season.

 

Jinyintan Grassland may not be the best grassland in Qinghai, but it became famous all over the world because of one person and a song.

 

"In that distant place

There is a good girl

People walked past her counting house

They all look back with nostalgia

Her pink smile

like a red sun

her beautiful eyes

Like the bright moon at night

…………”

 

This is a song that countless people are familiar with. This is a song that makes countless people have endless reveries. The lyrics and melody are both beautiful. As a result, on 2007, , October , month 24, the Chang'e-1 lunar exploration satellite was launched, 380,000 kilometers away from the earth The space also played the song "In That Distant Place".

 

In July 1939, director Zheng Junli came to the Jinyintan Grassland to shoot the documentary film "Long Live the Nation". He invited his friend Wang Luobin, who was teaching in a middle school in Xining, Qinghai, to go with him. . During the filming of the movie, Wang Luobin met Dolma, the Tibetan girl who played the shepherdess in the movie. At the age of 17 and 8, Dolma left a deep and beautiful impression on Wang Luobin with her pure singing voice, enthusiastic personality and beautiful image, and left a lasting impression on her. His sincere affection inspired his desire to create. After completing the filming of the movie, Wang Luobin could not forget it. On the way back, he remembered that Dolma had sung a Kazakh folk song for him, "Among the sheep, there are people who miss you." He was moved by the emotion and the scenery, and the inspiration came to him. , he combined Tibetan, Kazakh and Uyghur folk songs in the western region to create the song "In That Distant Place", and a world-famous song was born. This song then spread throughout China and around the world, becoming an immortal classic that has been sung for decades.

 

"I would give up my property

Go herding sheep with her

Look at that pink smiling face every day

and those beautiful gold-trimmed clothes

I want to be a lamb

follow her

I want her to hold a thin leather whip

Keep hitting me gently.”

 

Wang Luobin had an indissoluble bond with Jinyintan Grassland. During his lifetime, he collected and compiled more than 1,000 classic music works, more than 50 of which were composed on Jinyintan Grassland. In order to commemorate this outstanding national musician, the People's Government of Haibei Prefecture, Qinghai Province built the Wang Luobin Music Art Museum in Jinyintan Grassland.

 

I remembered a movie I watched a few years ago, "The Love Song of the Horizon," which was based on Wang Luobin's experience in composing the song "In That Distant Place." The beautiful pictures of Jinyintan Beach, Qinghai Lake, and snow-capped mountains and grasslands in Qinghai made me yearn for the beautiful scenery of Qinghai.

 

Although it is already the turn of autumn and winter, the green has changed to golden yellow, the sky is blue and the clouds are white, the mountains are majestic, and there are sheep walking slowly at the foot of the mountains in the distance. Seeing this scene, I couldn't help but walk in, wanting to go as far as possible and get closer to this grassland. Standing in front of the "Gold and Silver Beach" stone monument, looking far into the distance, letting your vision blend into the grassland, until someone outside urges you to get in the car.

 

There is a billboard on the side of the road that welcomes you to "Atomic City". An old man who looks like he is in his 70s is standing in front of the billboard, looking at us. Maybe he is wondering, what is there to do here in this season? Look, what are you doing here?

When I approached him to strike up a conversation, he said that after the season, there would be no one here. It is recommended that we go to the "Atomic City". There are many things worth seeing there.

"Atomic City"? I didn’t prepare any homework when I came out. Later, after checking the information, I found out that Jinyintan is not only a beautiful prairie, but also a mysterious restricted area that few people know about. I really know very little about it.

 

From the late 1950s to the mid-1980s, the 1,170-square-kilometer Jinyintan grassland once housed the "221 Factory" of my country's first nuclear weapons development base, the "Qinghai Mining Area", where the older generation of scientific and technological workers remained anonymous and relied on their own efforts. , continued self-improvement and worked hard to successfully develop China's first atomic bomb and first hydrogen bomb, making significant contributions to China's nuclear weapons research and development. On May 15, 1995, Xinhua News Agency announced to the world that China's first nuclear weapons development base was fully decommissioned. With the approval of the State Council, the "Atomic City" was renamed Xihai Town. People of all ethnic groups in Haibei (Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture) who had made great sacrifices for China's nuclear weapons development happily returned to the Jinyintan grassland after more than 30 years of absence. In 2001, Qinghai Atomic City was listed as a "National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit" by the State Council, and in 2005 it was identified as a "National Patriotic Education Demonstration Base." Yes, I didn’t expect that this vast grassland, with herds of cattle and sheep, and flowers blooming, was actually the place where our country’s swords were forged. Yes, it is precisely with the sword of the country that we are not bullied by foreign enemies, and we have peace and harmony in our country and our family.

 

I think that old man must have been the swordsmith of "Atomic City".

 

Unfortunately, I don’t know whether it was the arrangement of the travel agency or the driver and tour guide, but our itinerary did not include Atomic City. We drove past Atomic City and were unable to visit it. We had to go to this desolate grassland for a spin and continue to Xining. go.

 

Xining is the last stop on our trip to the three western provinces.

 

When we arrived in Xining, Xiao Peng took us to a store he knew well that specializes in local specialties from the western region. This was his designated shopping spot. On the way, Xiao Peng suggested that everyone be sure to buy 100 yuan of things when they arrive in Xining, which can be regarded as a little compensation for him leading the tour. To be honest, this Western Grand Ring Tour was really hard for the driver. The driver and tour guide had to get up early and work hard at night. Some sections of the road were not easy to walk. There was no compulsory shopping. It was not easy. Although it was not satisfactory, everyone understood it and did not say much. When they went to the store, they all selected and purchased items worth more than 100 yuan.

 

We didn’t arrange any more sightseeing spots in Xining, we only visited the “Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Nature Museum”.

 

Entering the museum hall, you are faced with a majestic mountain sculpture, standing majestically in the middle, giving people an extraordinary feeling.

The "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Nature Museum" in Xining is currently the largest nature museum in China. The museum now has 24 exhibition halls, including the Wuhua Tianbao Hall, Earth Treasures, Salt Lake Wonders, Azure Sea, Plateau Uplift, and Ice and Snow Zone. The exhibits are rich and detailed, including large landscapes such as plateau glaciers, canyons, and Danxia landforms, as well as The unique specimens of the local plateau are enough to make people feel like roaming on the plateau, exploring the changes of the earth's mountains and rivers, appreciating the scenery of the plateau, and appreciating the beauty of nature. In my opinion, the lighting, scenery and specimen production of animals and plants in the exhibition hall are also first-rate, giving people a lifelike and immersive feeling. It is the best among such museums I have ever been to. If possible, I really want to spend the whole day watching and savoring it slowly. This is an excellent place to learn about the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and nature.

 

Walking out of the museum, getting on the bus, leaving Xining, and returning to Lanzhou from here is also the end of our Western Grand Ring Tour.

 

"Traveling thousands of miles, reading thousands of books." Traveling broadens your horizons. The world is so big and beautiful. It is wonderful to combine the knowledge in books with what you see while walking. This round trip to the three western provinces allowed me to appreciate the beautiful mountains and rivers, the Gobi desert, the history and culture, and the customs of the western region. It increased my knowledge and gained a lot.

This description is made for record keeping.