Self-driving route planning map
■ Hange drives to Xinjiang ■
11｜Horgos-Sailim Lake-Jinghe-Kuitun
Main attractions : Guozigou | Sailimu Lake |
Time distance : 1 day | 450 kilometers |
Today we will cross Guozigou and visit Sailimu Lake.
Guozigou is the natural gateway to the Ili region. Another name for Guozigou is "Talqida Ban". It is a famous canyon tunnel that goes from Sailimu Lake in the north to the Ili River Valley in the south, with a total length of 28 kilometers. The terrain is dangerous. During Genghis Khan's western expedition, he began to dig mountain passes and built 48 bridges, which shows how dangerous the road is. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it was rebuilt into 42 bridges. It is still an important section of the Wuyi Highway. The Guozigou Bridge stands between the two mountains, which is particularly spectacular and majestic. The famous Selim Lake is at the mouth of the northern end of Guozi Valley, and vehicles have been driving along the lake.
Guozigou Bridge is full of style.
Sailimu Lake is located in the western section of the Tianshan Mountains and the southwest end of the Junggar Basin. The national highway passes along the lake shore. It is 100 kilometers away from Bole City in the east, 160 kilometers away from Yining City, the capital of Ili Prefecture, in the south, and 86 kilometers away from the West Horgos Port. Sailimu Lake was called "Pure Sea" in ancient times. The lake surface is 2,071 meters above sea level. It is 30 kilometers long from east to west and 25 kilometers wide from north to south. It covers an area of 453 square kilometers and has a water storage capacity of 21 billion cubic meters. The lake water is crystal clear and has a transparency of 12 meters. It is the largest lake in my country. The lake has the highest transparency and is also one of the famous color-changing lakes in my country.
Sailimu Lake originally had no fish. It is said that in 1998, two kinds of cold-water fish were introduced from Russia for breeding, which ended the history of Sailimu Lake not producing fish. After ten years of development, it has become an important cold-water fish production base in Xinjiang. Sailimu Lake belongs to the Atlantic water system and is known as the last tear of the Atlantic Ocean.
It is about 60 kilometers to drive around the lake. There are many viewing spots around the lake where you can park and visit, and private cars can drive in.
Benben was sighing at the vastness of Sailimu Lake.
Standing on the edge of Sailimu Lake, you can see the transparent blue water at your feet. There are snow-capped mountains in the distance and cattle and sheep nearby. It is vast and boundless. The beauty of Sailimu Lake is no less beautiful than that of Yanghu Lake in Tibet.
After half way around the lake, we took the Jinghe River to Kuitun to stay and rest.
