It was my first time to participate in a group therapy retreat at my workplace, and I was quite happy. After all, I didn’t have to spend any money and I could have fun with my friends for 5 days. The journey to Ningxia was also full of twists and turns. The first twist was that I had expected to leave, but the day before I was suddenly notified that I might not be able to go, and the leader did not approve it. The excitement has cooled down by half. In the afternoon they said there was no problem. Second discount: I set an alarm at 5 o'clock on the day of departure to catch the flight. At 4:30, I was notified that the flight was canceled due to thunderstorms. I felt hazy that I was dreaming. When I opened WeChat, I saw that everyone had gone back to sleep. . The third discount was that I was finally able to fly the next day. I rushed to the airport to inform me that the flight was delayed. Hahahaha. At this time, I felt calm. I just thought that I could fly and don't let anything happen again. So, we set off smoothly.
The first station
sand lake
Sha Lake is the first 5A scenic spot in Ningxia. You can take a boat through a large area of reeds and arrive at the plank road. There is sand on one side and a lake on the other. It is really magical. Sha Lake integrates the Jiangnan water town and the desert scenery. " "The water surrounds the sand dunes and is the most beautiful in the world." It is indeed a vast scenery in Ningxia. There is a large photo frame in the middle of the sand, which is also a famous check-in point. Standing on the frame, with the desert as the background, each photo is a blockbuster.
The second stop
Zhenbeibao Western Cinema
[Zhenbeibao Western Cinema] is another 5A attraction. Here you can see many familiar scenes from movies such as "Red Sorghum", "Westward Journey", "Longmen Inn", etc. The first impression of the castle is that of dirt, everywhere. It is earthy yellow, and there are many scenes in it. It is not as grand as imagined, but it also retains the original strange, powerful, desolate, tragic, dilapidated, decayed and undefeated scene of the northwest, highlighting its desolate and loess flavor. And the original and folk aesthetic connotation.
The Ming castle preserves and restores the wine-making workshop in "Red Sorghum"; the Qing castle preserves the scene of the classic dialogue "I love you for ten thousand years" in the film "Westward Journey"; on the ancient city wall there are Zixia Fairy and The portrait of Zhizunbao looks like a dog. Some girls wear Zixia Fairy clothes here to look like a movie, checking in, taking photos, and walking around.
The third station
Tombs of the Western Xia Kings
The Xixia Royal Tombs, which contains 9 imperial tombs and 207 accompanying tombs of clan members and palace ministers, is one of the largest existing imperial cemeteries in China with the most complete preservation of ground remains. The royal tombs cover a large area, and many of them are like a mountain. If you drive around it, you can vaguely feel the mystery of the Xixia Kingdom. Building a kingdom in this desolate place, you can't help but think about how they lived before, and you want to go back and watch the documentary.
Fourth stop
Chinese Yellow River Tower
It was already past 7 o'clock when I visited the Chinese Yellow River Tower. It was also the fourth attraction in the day. The attractions in Ningxia are very grand, so the number of steps must be firmly in the top ten. It gets dark very late in Ningxia, so we are trying hard to catch up with the sun. We just want to stand on the Yellow River Tower and see the whole of Ningxia. In front of the Yellow River Tower, there is a 36-meter-tall bronze statue of Mother. She holds an ear of wheat in one hand and a scroll in the other. Her eyes are looking into the distance, watching the Chinese people in the Yellow River Basin. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on her body, feeling like she was exuding the brilliance of her mother.
After checking in at the Mother Statue, we hurried up to the Yellow River Tower. Fortunately, there was still sunset light. From the highest floor, we could overlook the panoramic view of Ningxia and count the nine twists and turns of the Yellow River. I will wait for you in the Yellow River. Standing on it quietly waiting for the sunset. Then go down the stairs. The Yellow River Tower also houses the Yellow River Chinese History and Culture Exhibition Hall, the Yellow River Ningxia History and Culture Exhibition Hall, the Yellow River Impression Exhibition Hall, the Yellow River Cultural Performance Hall, etc. I didn’t have time to savor it carefully, so I just took a quick look and finished the whole journey laughing and joking. The Yellow River Tower is not the famous Yellow Crane Tower that you know. The Yellow River Tower was built in recent years, mainly to develop Ningxia's tourism industry. It is still worth a visit here. After all, there is a museum that comprehensively displays the five thousand years of splendid civilization of the Yellow River. It is an important hub of Yellow River culture in Ningxia. carrier.
The fifth stop
Tonghu Grassland
Tonghu Grassland is located in the hinterland of the Tengger Desert in Alxa Left Banner. Thinking of Alxa, everyone wanted to come here to see if the trees they planted in the Ant Forest were real, but the place we visited was still far away from the place where the trees were planted. Tonghu Grassland is located at the junction of Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. When you come here, you will feel like Mongolia, with horns, colorful flags, deserts, salt lake wetland grasslands, sand springs, oasis, pastoral villages, rock paintings and other natural and cultural landscapes. Tonghu Grassland is a grassland, but it is very different from the Inner Mongolia prairie. The grass here looks green from a distance, but only dimly lit up close.
I don’t come here to see the scenery, but mainly to have fun, including camel riding, horseback riding, desert speeding, desert motorcycles, and sand and grass skiing. In my mind, this was the first time I rode a camel. I sat between two humps, feeling crazy. My camel seemed disobedient and always followed the camel’s butt in front of me, causing my feet to rub all the time. The most exciting thing is the desert speed car. It's close to a right-angle slope and you can fly down it in one stride. It's super exciting. The same goes for desert motorcycles. Driving a motorcycle in the desert and sandboarding are also very interesting. However, the board is too heavy and it takes half the effort to pull it up, which makes me not want to go down. The scenery at the slope is still very beautiful.
Sixth stop
Shapotou
Shapotou, a 5A scenic spot, is also one of the five most beautiful deserts in China, the Tengger Desert. It is a national nature reserve, has China's largest natural sand slide field, and has the "No. 1 Yellow River Cable in the World" across the Yellow River. , there is the ancient waterwheel representing the Yellow River culture, and the sheepskin raft, the oldest means of transportation on the Yellow River. We did not take the sheepskin raft, but chose the speedboat for 5 people. It was super value for money. We traveled all the way to the deepest point on both sides of the strait. Both sides of the strait were surrounded by mountains. It felt like the mountains on both sides of the strait were getting farther and farther away, and the speedboat had passed the Ten Thousand Mountains.
The seventh stop
Qingtongxia 108 Tower
It was a super cold day when I went to the 108 Tower. First I walked across a dam and then took a cruise to the 108 Tower. The towers were built in steps according to the rock formations of the mountain. They are divided into twelve stepped platforms, starting from the bottom. The upper floors increase in height, forming a huge group of towers with a triangular shape in the overall plane. There are a total of 108 towers, so they are named after the number of towers. It is a rare large-scale tower array in the world and is famous for its unique architectural pattern, mysterious Xixia history and profound Buddhist culture. After traveling a lot, it’s amazing to always think about the thoughts and behaviors of the ancients.
The eighth stop
shuidonggou
Known as one of the "hundred most significant archaeological discoveries of Chinese civilization", the national AAAAA-level scenic spot - [Shuidonggou], follow the guide and listen to the story of human beings thriving here 30,000 years ago, and then walk through What comes into view in the reed swamp is Hongshan Lake. After arriving at the dock, you can take a battery boat and wander between the lakes. Then you can take a donkey cart to the Tibetan Soldier Cave. There is an open-air zoo on the way, where ostriches look at you.
It was wonderful to sing and laugh all the way, and then let the grandpa driving the donkey cart hum a few northwest folk songs. The Hidden Soldier Cave, as you can tell from its name, is a place where weapons are hidden. It is a deep hole dug in the mountain to hide weapons. There are also some anti-theft checkpoints and hidden weapons inside. There were no lights before, so it was not easy to dig such a long hole in the dark. It was easy, and the road there was so thin and long that I was a little short of oxygen.
# NINGxia food #
