Paradise for Self-Driving Enthusiasts: A Secret Gem in Qinghai's Daqing Shanzi, Stunning Scenery, No Entrance Fee
As economic conditions improve, more and more people love self-driving travel. The biggest advantage of self-driving travel is that after planning the route, you can linger a little longer in the places you like.
The Qinghai Loop is a popular tourist route. On the road, you can encounter surprises at any time. The rich and varied landscapes and magnificent scenery are reasons why many people choose to drive around Qinghai.
My Qinghai Loop starts from Xining. When we arrive in Daqingshanzi, locals told us about a small, non-public attraction with no name, called 'Emerald Lake'. The scenery there is said to be even better than that of Tea Card Lake because the road conditions are not good, and not many people have been there.
Early in the morning, we set off from Daqingshanzi, driving along National Highway 215 until we turned onto a bumpy, muddy dirt road. The weather today is clear and sunny, with countless clouds, which makes our mood bright. When Emerald Lake appeared before us, it was still breathtaking. The blue and transparent lake water and the clouds above it blended together, making us feel like we had arrived in a wonderful fairytale world.
Tourists driving around Qinghai are sure to visit Tea Card Salt Lake, Emerald Lake, and Tea Card Salt Lake, but each has its own unique beauty. Because it is not a public attraction, it is not shown on maps. Without the guidance of locals, few tourists come here, and the scenery is purer and more natural.
People have a natural affinity for the beauty of nature. Seeing self-driving tourists dancing in the blue sky and white clouds shows that they love Emerald Lake.
The formation of Emerald Lake is due to human factors. It is actually a salt lake formed by the mining operation of the original Daqingshanzi chemical plant. Daqingshanzi, in Mongolian, means Great Salt Lake, and is the ‘North Gate’ of the Qaidam Basin, located in northwest Qinghai Province. The mountains are rugged, the salt lakes are abundant, the geological structure and soil structure are complex, and the mining conditions are good, which are the main reasons for mining here.
Qaidam Lake, also known as Daqingshanzi Lake, is rich in boron, lithium, salt, potassium fertilizer, and sodium chloride. The high-concentration saline water in these various salt ponds, known locally as ‘brine’, was formed over years of salt lake mining and is the result of old mining pits.
Many friends who come to Emerald Lake play by the surrounding salt lakes. In fact, you should go deeper to see the scenery, which is more magnificent here. Because it is not a scenic area and there are no crowds, taking photos gives you the feeling of a vast, uninhabited area.
Emerald Lake is like a rough gem embedded in the Qinghai plateau, unpolished and emitting a captivating glow. As more and more self-driving travel enthusiasts discover it, it is also seen by more people. When people arrive at Daqingshanzi, they will come to Emerald Lake specifically to see it.
Driving in Qinghai, beautiful scenery often appears unexpectedly. The scenery of Emerald Lake changes with the weather, and in sunny weather, Emerald Lake is as beautiful as a fairytale.
