Travel Notes on the Three Northwest Provinces - Populus euphratica forest by the Weoshui River

10 month12 day

Breakfast: A bowl of porridge, two small buns, and an egg. This is the basic standard breakfast.

Today's itinerary is from Zhangye to Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia. The distance is 550 kilometers, which takes about 7 hours.

At dawn, the car left Zhangye. Arriving at Jiuquan, the car drove onto Hangzhou Road, which is a flat and straight road in the Gobi Desert. In a section of the desert, the roadbed was very soft, and the road surface for dozens of kilometers was severely damaged and uneven. Cars would twist when passing by. Fortunately, Xiao Peng was familiar with this road, and his driving skills were good. There are fewer people walking around.

On the road, from time to time, there are red heavy-duty trucks, connected in a row, driving slowly to the right.

The driver Xiao Peng said that this was a truck transporting coal from Shanxi.

The Gobi Desert is a vast desert with no end in sight, covering hundreds of kilometers. Except for cars, it is difficult to see people and houses. The occasional small mountain peaks stand abruptly in the distance, making the desert a little less monotonous. There is also a fluffy camel growing stubbornly, adding vitality to the desert. Suddenly a group of calm and leisurely camels flashed by, which made me cheer a little.

The desert is filled with smoke and the long river is setting. When Wang Wei was sent as an envoy to the frontier, he wrote "The Envoy to the Frontier": "I want to visit the border on my own bike, passing through Guyuan, a vassal state. The expeditionary army leaves the Han frontier, and the returning geese fly into the Hu sky. The smoke rises straight up from the desert, and the sun sets over the long river. I meet a scout at Xiaoguan, and he tells me that the governor is at Yanran." "The desert is filled with solitary smoke, and the long river is filled with setting sun." This is a famous line that Wang Guowei called "the most magnificent sight of all ages." Today, our car is speeding through the desert at a speed of nearly 100 kilometers per hour. When I was in the desert, I sighed that the desert Gobi seems desolate, but it is also strangely magnificent and majestic. I admire its vastness, and its open mind allows you to see everything at a glance.

Well, there is finally a gas station on the roadside. The car refuels and the people in the car rush to the toilet. Only the gas station provides you with such convenience along the way. Even though the toilet is difficult to get out of, it is a place you have to go.

At noon, have lunch in a small town. There were seven or eight tourist buses parked along the roadside. Suddenly, hundreds of people gathered in this small village. It is the season for viewing the golden Populus euphratica forest, and there are many tourists passing by. The roadsides, streets, and restaurants were full of people standing and sitting. Both eating and diarrhea must be solved. There are obviously not enough bathrooms in restaurants, and people are looking for convenience. Behind the wall and among the trees, it became a "scenery bathroom".

At this time, it would be nice to have a paid public restroom! Why didn’t the local government or villagers think of this? Maybe in this empty land, the wilderness, who cares?

No matter what, we have to make do with each other's convenience. On this trip to the northwest, I was really impressed by how "convenient" the journey was.

However, the inconvenience on the way is a small thing after all. When traveling, there are many such things. After getting in the car, the scenery along the way was so striking that I forgot about it.

Far away in the desert, a tall white building and a tall blue tower-like building appeared. That is the satellite launch base of Dongfeng Space City (Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center). Usually it just stands so quietly. Once it makes an earth-shattering roar, it means that another satellite of our country has reached the sky.

After passing the small town, the road gradually became easier, the speed became faster, and there were fewer cars on the road.

Soon, we arrived at Black City· Weow Water Populus euphratica Forest Scenic Area located in Ejina Banner, Inner Mongolia.

Heicheng Weashui Populus Forest Scenic Area consists of three units: Populus euphratica forest, Heishui City and Strange Forest. covers an area of ​​about 50,000 acres. Populus euphratica forest scenic area alone covers an area of ​​10,000 acres. .

"The Classic of Mountains and Seas" records: There is water in the north of Kunlun, but its power cannot beat mustard, so it is called weak water. The Heihe River originates from the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains in Qinghai Province ( was called weak water in ancient times, the upper and middle reaches were called Heihe River, and it was called Ejina River when it entered the banner). It flows from south to north, passes through Gansu, and flows into Ejina in Inner Mongolia. It is the mother river of Ejina .

We entered the scenic spot through gate No. 2.

As soon as you enter the gate, you will see golden poplar trees in the desert. The afternoon sun shines on the golden poplar trees. Looking around, you will see a golden beauty.

On the thin yellow sand, a wooden plank road extends towards the scenic spot.

When I first entered the park, I saw a few Populus euphratica trees, which were still a little green, which made me murmur in my heart. Who knows that beautiful scenery is hidden deep inside? The further you go, the more beautiful the scenery becomes.

In the Populus euphratica forest, tourists look for the best scenery at places and take photos excitedly. The camera functions of mobile phones are constantly improving, which brings great convenience to everyone. Especially the brightly dressed "aunts" gathered in groups under the Populus euphratica trees, dancing with the red silk scarves in their hands, making various graceful poses, and enjoying themselves in the Populus euphratica forest. A shadow. Yes, who doesn’t want to keep his figure in the beautiful scenery, and who doesn’t want youth to last forever. On the other hand, the clothes of young people are not so flamboyant. The occasional ones that are more colorful are mostly modern versions of Hanfu. Maybe it is the season of youth, and they have no feeling for the flowing youth.

In the autumn of October, the Populus euphratica forest by the Weushui River is the most lively and splendid moment of the four seasons. The golden trees, the sparkling rivers and lakes, the reflection of Populus euphratica on the water, red silk scarves, and red dresses are like poetry. Picturesque and extremely beautiful.

The Weushui Populus Forest Scenic Area is located on both sides of the main river in the upper reaches of the Weowui River. It is known as the "intoxicatingly beautiful Populus euphratica forest". The desert, sacred water, and primitive Populus euphratica forest are a natural and perfect combination, exuding the "Popular euphratica forest". The eternal tenderness of "Bai Meisheng, trapped in weak water feelings", that love and the beauty of the autumn colors are really intoxicating, and you don't want to leave. I remember that the tour notice reminded me to "prepare mobile phone power, camera batteries and enough memory cards" to take pictures of this rare beauty and create blockbusters. When I came to this Populus euphratica forest, I realized that it was true.

The autumn wind blows and the sun sets. Large pieces of Achnatherum splendens sway in the Populus euphratica forest, like a yellow wave.

The charming Populus euphratica forest is so beautiful that people don't want to leave, but we have to leave within the three-hour time limit. We have to go to Heishui City and the strange forest ahead.

Walking through the Love Trestle Corridor across the Heishui River, ahead is the sandy slope known as Phoenix Ridge. After crossing the sand slope, we took the shuttle bus and rushed to Heishui City.

The shuttle bus took us to an ancient city. In the middle of a vast desert, a tall city wall stood tall and majestic. At first I thought this was the ruins, but upon closer inspection it didn’t look like it. It turns out that this is a newly built city with new antique buildings. After passing through the tall city gate, you can see the antique streets and houses in the city, as well as the spacious military training ground. It was not a ruins, so we didn’t make too many stops and walked along the streets through the city.

This antique city was rebuilt off-site based on the 1:1 size ratio of the Heicheng ruins and in accordance with the "repair the old as before" principle. The Heicheng ruins, which was included in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council in 2001, were missed by us due to time constraints.

Heishui City, built in the early 11th century AD, was an important military castle located on the northern border of the Western Xia Dynasty. It was also the seat of the Heishan Weifu Military Division, one of the Twelve Military Divisions of the Western Xia Dynasty, so it was also known as "Weifu Military City" " known as. The castle was built long before the formal founding of the Western Xia Dynasty. Although the city is small, it is an important agricultural and animal husbandry base and border defense fortress of Xixia in the western region. By the heyday of the Western Xia Dynasty, Blackwater City was no longer a simple military castle, but gradually turned into a prosperous city with relatively developed economy and culture. In 1226 AD, Genghis Khan led his troops to conquer this fortress. After Kublai Khan unified the country, the Juyan area immediately surrendered to the Yuan army. In 1286 AD, the Yuan Dynasty expanded Heicheng and set up the "Yiji Nai Road General Manager's Office" here to command Shandan and Xining prefectures. This place became The Hexi Corridor in the Yuan Dynasty was an important post station leading to the Lingbei Province. Later, the situation here changed dramatically. In 1372, after General Feng Sheng of the Ming Dynasty conquered Heishui City, the Ming Dynasty immediately abandoned it. The former oasis was swallowed up by the desert and slowly turned into a desert. The once prosperous Blackwater City also turned into an abandoned city, sleeping in the dust of history. It was not until 1886 that the Russian scholar Potanin rediscovered it during his inspection in Ejina. Now half of the Black City ruins are buried in the sand. The Heishui City ruins are called "the most complete and largest ancient city ruins on the ancient Silk Road."

(BlackShuicheng ruins. Internet picture)

(Heishui City ruins. Internet picture)

Not far from Blackwater New City, there is a wonder in the desert: Strange Forest. This is a Populus euphratica forest that died due to lack of water.

People often praise the Populus euphratica tree as "it survives a thousand years of life, survives a thousand years of death, and survives a thousand years if it falls." This is the quality of Populus euphratica, the spirit of Populus euphratica. In this strange forest, we can feel it.

Walking into the strange forest, I looked at the dead Populus euphratica trees in the desert. Due to its unique characteristics, its trunks still remain in the Gobi desert. They are lying or lying down. Curved and stretched, upright or piled up, the immortal trunks stand tenaciously in the wind and sand, interpreting the Populus euphratica spirit of "not falling down for a thousand years" and "immortal for a thousand years".

Here, tourists still rush to take photos. Those strange-shaped withered Populus euphratica seem to bring people not a desolate landscape, but a heroic spirit.

Climbing to the top of the sand dune, watching the sunset, the strange withered woods in the desert, and the golden poplar trees in the desert in the distance, life and death, immortality, I have many emotions in my heart.

Tourists are still coming and going on the plank road, and there are people standing quietly on the sand dunes, waiting to watch the beautiful sunset.

A few hours passed, and with reluctance, we returned to Gate 2 when we entered the park. There were many tour buses in the parking lot, and many people were anxiously calling because they couldn't find their cars. Those who found the cars were also calling their companions who couldn't find them.

The driver Xiao Peng changed the parking position. Ours was a minibus, and he let us search for a while in the group of buses.

The Weoshui Populus Forest Scenic Area is actually very large, and we only saw a corner of the scenic area.

When we came out of the scenic spot, it was already dark. There are still 18 kilometers to go to Dalaihubu Town, the seat of Ejina Banner, where we will stay tonight.

Tomorrow, we have to go to Juyan Lake early to watch the sunrise.