Gansu-Qinghai-Ningxia Road Trip (15): China's "Mirror of the Sky" - Chaka Salt Lake

Traveling Together Season 16 - Gansu-Qinghai-Ningxia Road Trip (15) China's "Mirror of the Sky" - Chaka Salt Lake Haixi-Hainan, Qinghai September 10, 2023 Overcast with light rain, 10-21°C, maximum altitude 3,817 m. Today we went to Wulan County to visit the third salt lake in Haixi - Chaka Salt Lake. Chaka Salt Lake (4A) is a regular stop on the Gansu-Qinghai loop and a famous tourist attraction in Qinghai. Since everyone is familiar with it, I won't go into detail. I read the guide in advance, but not carefully enough. I didn't know until I got there that it has two sub-scenic areas, "Sky No. 1" and "Mirror of the Sky". The former is a newly developed scenic area, while the latter is an old scenic area. They are far apart, and you have to take a shuttle bus to get to both. We went to "Sky No. 1" first and took some photos near the man-made landscape by the lake (Photos 1-6). In the afternoon, we were still interested, so we went to "Mirror of the Sky". We took the internet-famous small train on the tracks (Photo 7), which was slow and made a "clunk clunk" sound that naturally reminded us of the old train. Our fellow travelers smiled knowingly. Some of the small trains have closed carriages, while others are open. The latter is not suitable in low temperatures and rain. The weather was bad today, so there was no beautiful scenery. Fortunately, there was no heavy rain over the scenic area, so we hurriedly finished our visit (Photos 8-9). After visiting the three salt lakes in Haixi (you can refer to the travel notes of the past two days), I personally think: Qarhan is the largest, with a wide lake and stunning colors; Dachaidan is dotted with rich colors, but lacks water; Chaka is not as large as Qarhan, and its colors are not as good as Dachaidan. Even in sunny weather, the colors are not very outstanding. I've seen them all and have no regrets. This is just my opinion for your reference when you travel in the future. Tonight we have arrived at Heimahe Town on the west side of Qinghai Lake in Hainan Prefecture, and tomorrow we will go to Xining.