The Great Northwest in Winter

Current Winter Situation in the Great Northwest — December (If you’re planning to visit the Northwest in winter, you must read this) Here’s a self-driving travel guide. Honestly, self-driving in the Great Northwest is quite tiring. We only traveled for 7 days and drove every day. Because we didn’t want to be too exhausted, we only visited one attraction per day. Day 1: Arrive in Xining, stay one night. Upon arrival in Xining, I already experienced altitude sickness and felt unwell, so I took some time to adjust. Day 2: Route: Riyue Mountain — Qinghai Lake — stay in Chaka (Staying in Chaka was really not good. The food and drink options there are average at best, and since it’s the off-season, it’s even worse. There’s only one pharmacy, which opens late in the morning. For medicine, you can go directly to the health clinic.) Riyue Mountain mainly has a large Buddhist prayer wheel, nothing else much. Qinghai Lake is very beautiful but extremely cold. The bus ticket costs 30 yuan. Day 3: Chaka — Chaka Salt Lake — Dachaidan (Because the place we stayed on Day 2 had no floor heating, we switched last minute to a place with floor heating. An accident happened, causing me to catch a cold from the cold, plus altitude sickness, so I felt very unwell and canceled the rest of the itinerary. We only went to Chaka Salt Lake — the entrance ticket to Chaka Salt Lake is free, but there was no small train at the time. It was sunny when we went, but the scenery was average. Since it’s free, just take a walk, but all the food and drink places inside were closed. Yes, if you’re self-driving, the highway service areas’ food outlets are also mostly closed, so it’s best to bring your own supplies.) Day 4: Dachaidan — Emerald Lake — stay in Dunhuang (The accommodation in Dachaidan is relatively good; I recommend staying there. The ticket for Emerald Lake is 30 yuan, the small train is 60 yuan. The lake is not dry and is quite beautiful. We saw four different colors of the lake. See photos 4/5/6/7. Great for photos, not too tiring, the weather was warm and there was no wind.) Day 5: Dunhuang — Crescent Lake — stay in Yumen (We originally wanted to go to Zhangye, but the road was too far, so we chose to stay in Yumen.) At Crescent Lake, you can take a small train to the bottom of the lake, then climb stairs up to the desert. I’m not very fit, and after climbing for half an hour, I was exhausted. You can also sandboard down for 40 yuan per person. See photos 8/9/10. Day 6: Yumen — stay in Zhangye (Zhangye Danxia was closed, so we didn’t go. Because of altitude sickness and fatigue from driving, plus sleepless nights, we chose to rest well on Day 6. Low-energy people really can’t handle it.) Day 7: Zhangye — Ebao Town — Qilian Grassland — Gangshika Snow Mountain — stay in Xining (Ebao Town has a great photo spot with snow mountains and roads, see photo 16. We also went horseback riding, 280 yuan for two people for a big circle plus drone footage. Gangshika Snow Mountain is the most crowded attraction among these spots. There are food vendors inside the attraction. We took a bus up the mountain to Lianxin Lake for photos. See photos 1/11/14/18.) Day 8: Return to Hangzhou The Great Northwest in winter is truly desolate. On the Qinghai side, there are very few cars on the road; hardly any vehicles all the way. On the Gansu side, there are more cars. Basically, every day is spent on the road and taking photos at attractions (all food and drink places inside the attractions are closed, so there’s nothing available. It’s very cold, so you can’t stay long—just take photos and leave). In summary, you really need at least two weeks to fully explore the Great Northwest. We visited very few attractions, and each day involved 4 to 5 hours of driving. It’s hard to imagine how exhausting it would be to spend 7 to 8 hours on the road daily, with poor food and sleep. It’s more suitable for high-energy people.