Two Views of Qilian Mountains

Qilian County in Qinghai is known as the 'Eastern Switzerland'. When you climb the Zhuo'er Mountain behind the county town, you are greeted by the red Danxia landform (Qianbing Cliff), green alpine meadows, pine trees, golden rapeseed fields, and the distant Qilian snow-capped mountains and villages with rising morning smoke. The alpine meadows are like a slowly unfolding green carpet spread over the undulating hills, occasionally interwoven with golden flowers. The climbing stairs here are very considerate, but the water sports project built here is really out of place with the scenery of Zhuo'er Mountain. Leaving Qilian County, we headed towards Zhangye in Gansu along the Erga Highway, traveling through the Heihe Gorge. The closer we got to Subei, the farther we were from the alpine scenery. The mountains on both sides of the gorge are basically large and small rocks squeezed together, and occasionally you can see fallen rocks on the road, and we also saw huge landslides. Although both are part of the Qilian Mountain National Park, they offer two different landscapes. It's better to avoid this gorge road on rainy days. A big red character on the road made us feel culturally shallow, so we are seeking an explanation. Today, we descended from the highest altitude of 3800 meters to 1600 meters. While breathing became easier, we were drenched by the sun and still missed the cool breeze of Qinghai! In the afternoon, we finally saw the most beautiful Danxia landform in China, and indeed, Golden Zhangye is extraordinary. First of all, kudos to the restrooms at the visitor center, which are very clean and tidy, living up to the standards of a 5A scenic spot. The landform features here are completely different from other places. Could it be that the colorful stone powder fell when Nuwa was mending the sky? Due to physical reasons, we chose the northern route of the scenic area, with a total ticket price of 92 yuan including the bus fare. Among the four stops on the northern route, we found the Qicai Xianyuan Platform and Jinxiu Platform the most worth visiting. It's better to avoid the noon time if possible.