North and South Xinjiang Road Trip (12): Gobi Desert Pearl - Zepu Golden Poplar National Forest Park

North and South Xinjiang Road Trip (12): Gobi Desert Pearl - Zepu Golden Poplar National Forest Park Kashgar Prefecture June 5, 2023 Weather: Sunny, 26-13°C, 1,300 m above sea level. After breakfast, we left Yecheng and headed to Zepu Golden Poplar National Forest Park. Poplar trees in China are in Xinjiang, poplar trees in Xinjiang are in southern Xinjiang, and poplar trees in southern Xinjiang are mainly in the Tarim Poplar Forest in the northeast and the Zepu Poplar Forest in the southwest. We chose the latter. The best time to see poplar trees is in late October. Although it is not the right season now, we still stopped by on our way to Kashgar (Figure 1). Zepu Golden Poplar National Forest Park (5A), a pearl on the Gobi Desert, is located on the edge of the Yarkant River alluvial fan, surrounded by water on three sides, with pleasant scenery (Figures 2-4). The poplar forest covers 30,000 mu, and the unique natural landscape of "poplar, blue water, oasis, and Gobi Desert" presents a unique and beautiful picture of the frontier. In late autumn, the yellow leaves must be as beautiful as a painting. The scenic area is large, and you need to take a shuttle bus or carriage to get around. There were very few tourists, so the park arranged a carriage for us (Figure 5), which stopped whenever we wanted. In addition to the natural scenery, there are also cultural attractions in the park. Zhiqing Courtyard: It was rebuilt on the original Zhiqing site. The exhibition hall inside displays a large number of objects and photos of the life of Zhiqing, which is a restoration of the life of Zhiqing, and resonates with those of us who have lived through that era. The hardships of life at that time are incomparable to today (Figures 6-7). Longevity Folk Culture Village: It is a pilot village for the integration of the resettlement project and tourism industry in Zepu County, with 86 households and 352 people. All the houses have been renovated and expanded on the original basis. We visited one of the houses, and the enthusiastic host, Azuguli, invited us to visit. The three students she hired were helping her make handicrafts. Unlike the Uyghurs we met yesterday, they all spoke Chinese, so there was no communication barrier (Figures 8-9). At present, the scenic area is still being upgraded and renovated, with more amusement and family-friendly projects to change the single landscape and the obvious seasonal low and peak seasons. We spent 4 hours in the scenic area and left at 2 pm. We drove more than 200 km and arrived in Kashgar at 5:30 pm. Tomorrow we will go to the Kunlun Mountains and Tashkurgan.