Live Your Best Lives
When it comes to Ningxia, what is your first impression?
Picture @Photo.net
Northwest China? Desert? Mysterious? Hui people? Filming location for "A Chinese Odyssey"?
These are probably the only words that come to mind.
Picture @Photo.net
If you want to go to escape the heat in the summer, you will definitely not put it on your long list of travel destinations.
Picture @Photo.net
But it is such a place that nurtured the mysterious Western Xia Dynasty, has the traces of the Silk Road, is the hometown with the strongest Hui customs, and has left behind many poems that remain in the smoke of war.
▲The picture above shows the Helan Mountain rock paintings
Most importantly, this place, often overlooked by travelers, truly possesses the "beating heart of the earth."
Wulan Lake, like a beating heart, instantly strikes the hearts of tourists.
This place has only just begun to gain public attention in the past year. It's eerie! Mysterious! Bright red! Little-known! It's truly a rare natural wonder.
Wulan Lake is located deep in the Tengger Desert. Some people say it is "God's overturned palette", while locals believe it is "the blood of the earth" and therefore named it "the heart of the earth".
Every year, when there is less rainfall in the desert and the water level in the lake drops, the mycocarotene released by the lake water here will cause large areas of blood-red lakes, which is very stunning.
This mysterious red lake cannot even be accurately found on the map, but it has existed in this vast sea of sand for hundreds of years.
There are no roads here, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, mysterious and spectacular. The only way to reach the lake is to drive an off-road vehicle through the desert.
This lake, hidden deep in the heart of the Tengger Desert and accessible only by desert off-road vehicles, looks like a beating red heart bursting with vitality in the desert when viewed from the sky.
China-TravelNote has specially launched a Ningxia special route to Wulan Lake, hoping to explore this magical summer wonder with you.
Recently, various places have been promoting cool summer escapes, with waterfalls, river tracing, rafting, and more all sounding like a refreshing retreat. However, Ningxia, a city surrounded on three sides by the Maowusu Desert, the Ulan Buh Desert, and the Tengger Desert, seems to have nothing on the cool side.
But the actual situation is that when Lanzhou and Xi'an both exceeded 40℃, Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia Province, still had a cool day of 22.9℃.
Let’s see whoever says that the desert is synonymous with heat will come out and get beaten!
Just as it is misunderstood as not being a summer resort, Ningxia’s tourism resources are also greatly underestimated!
Even if you ask the "travel experts" around you if there are any provinces they have missed, Ningxia may be the treasure destination they have always overlooked.
The Yellow River flows through here, leaving behind wonders such as Shapotou, and sheepskin rafts still drift on the Yellow River.
Secondly, the Jiangnan region on the Saishang, composed of the Helan Mountains, Tengger Desert, Liupan Mountain Forest Park, Hetao Plain, and Sand Lake, brings the temperament of the water town to the desert.
The collision of water systems and desolation is a spectacle never seen anywhere else. Over time, the desert and the Helan Mountains have become natural barriers to the Hetao Plain.
The Liupan Mountains and the Loess Plateau on the other side of Ningxia are visible from afar.
Xiaoguan, established in the middle, became the last line of defense of the Central Plains Dynasty.
The Taoism of Kongtong Mountain, the giant Buddha of the ancient Silk Road, the century-old history of the Western Xia in Yinchuan, the murals of the ancestors of the Helan Mountains...all have left special and precious cultural memories here.
Based on such rich natural and historical content, Ningxia has actually created a variety of travel methods, such as
The saying "Drive a long chariot and break through the Helan Mountain Pass" is well-known. The Helan Mountains single-handedly block the cold air from the south and also prevent the desert from swallowing them.
But now, you find that more and more people are willing to run through the Helan Mountains to the Tengger Desert to experience the geographical experience that can only be brought by the endless sea of sand.
Although Tengger is a desert, its high surface water level has given rise to many famous oases, including more than 400 Haizi oases, which have been developed for various purposes.
The black mud by the Moon Lake has a whitening effect, and the Ulan Lake in the hinterland is pink. If you want to have all of this, you first need an off-road sand-punching vehicle.
Our newly upgraded Ningxia route takes you there by off-road vehicle and is equipped with a drone, allowing you to fully enjoy the privilege of off-road sand dune rushing and aerial bird's-eye view!
In addition to driving an off-road vehicle into the 43,000 square kilometers of Tengger, there is another way to measure the greatness of the desert, which is camping and hiking.
We set out from downtown Yinchuan, and the hike's entrance is only a three-hour drive away. We believe this will be our most in-depth exploration of the desert. Camping allows us to experience the desert's 24-hour "seasonal changes" and feel the purest desert sky.
Crossing the five lakes, we can see the boiling water vapor of the "Haizi" at sunrise, and we can feel the "shyness" of the sand dunes exposed at sunset.
After hiking 50km, you can see the brilliant "Milky Way" in the night sky.
Even on the road, we accompanied the "Desert Ship" and "Desert Lizard" to avoid the sun and learned to use a compass to determine the direction.
Or you can master kayaking skills in the sea. All of this is done under the escort of our professional outdoor leaders, so that you can have no worries on every trip.
The cultural history of Ningxia will be much less impressive without its Western Xia history. For example, an administrative district in the urban area of Ningxia is called Xingqing District, which is named after the former capital of Western Xia culture, "Xingqing Prefecture".
Picture @Photo.net
The discovery of Western Xia culture, like Dunhuang studies, was discovered by the Russian Kozlov through the works he discovered in Heishui City. When the documents were moved to St. Petersburg for display, a dynasty buried in Ningxia gradually surfaced. This was a regime established by the Dangxiang people.
Picture @Photo.net
The Western Xia Kingdom later formed a Three Kingdoms situation with the Song and Liao dynasties. The Western Xia people, who worshipped white, left many unique cultural imprints of their own. As a royal capital, it also brought many different colors to Yinchuan.
Picture @Photo.net
Perhaps all of this gradually disappeared with the colorful glazed tiles on the royal tombs, but in just 189 years, Western Xia established a unique writing system, system, and achievements, which were sealed along with the Western Xia royal tombs at the foot of the Helan Mountains, quietly guarding this land.
The "Five Treasures of Ningxia" that everyone talks about are Ningxia's most famous products. They are divided by color: red, blue, white, yellow, and black, corresponding to wolfberry, licorice, Helan stone, beach sheepskin, and hair algae respectively.
Except for Helan Stone, the other four are acquired products. Because wolfberry is of good quality, there is also the "Ningxia Red" brand.
Picture @Photo.net
Ningxia is also renowned for its wine grapes. The vast expanse of vineyards in Ningxia has led to a variety of winery tours. Xige Winery, for example, boasts a massive circular field, punctuated by a stone structure.
The energy of the space is constructed with stones from the Helan Mountains. The courtyard is a reflection of the natural landscape of Ningxia, condensing the cultural atmosphere and the aroma of wine.
This place is a derivative of the agricultural progress of those days. The God-given high-quality beach sheep, high-sugar red wolfberry and grapes make this land full of vitality.
If you want to find another travel destination in Ningxia, Zhongwei may be the most suitable one.
Also a desert trip, Shapotou in Ningxia has a "carnival" feeling.
Picture @Photo.net
It is not just about having fun, the Yellow River Suji has also opened up a new experience of wild luxury in the Yellow River. The hotel itself has become a part of the landscape.
"Living here, you're right next to the Yellow River and across the river from the Tengger Desert. You can walk to the Yellow River and see the Ming Great Wall in the distance. The original ecological decoration style is fascinating."
If you want to take your desert experience to a new high-end level, the view rooms at Desert Star Hotel have opened a new era in the desert.
Photo @ Desert Star Hotel
We took a jeep and went deep into the heart of the Tengger Desert to experience the fun of off-road driving. In the afterglow of the sunset, we felt the grandeur of nature.
In addition, the Gao Temple in the city carries the beliefs of the locals and is a rare temple that integrates Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
The layered layout creates a landscape that rivals the wonders of the desert.
The 260 overlapping palaces and temples on the high platform have amazed many ancient architecture enthusiasts. If you have plenty of time, you must not miss the small town of Zhongwei.
Of course, there is much more to Ningxia’s story than this. At the end of this summer, why not head to Saishang Jiangnan? We welcome every tourist who comes and look forward to you getting to know a Ningxia that has been underestimated.
