After 4 years of longing, I finally made it to Xiate.

After 4 years of longing, I finally made it to Xiate🏔️||This year is probably my year of snow mountains. From the Matterhorn and Jungfrau in June to the Xiate Snow Lotus Peak in October. My love for snow mountains comes from my first job, where I worked with a group of people who loved the Earth and were passionate about seeing all the snow mountains in the world. My love for Xiate comes from my second job. Four years ago, when I was a travel editor, I saw the name Xiate in a travel note and was immediately drawn to it. Actually, October is not the best time to visit Xiate. Before I went, more than one person told me: The grass in Xiate has turned yellow, it's not as beautiful as in summer; the glacier in Xiate is closed, the scenery is not as rich; Xiate is deep in the Tianshan Mountains, it might snow, the weather might be bad... But this is my first time in Yili, and there's only one place I really want to go, and that's Xiate. So I went anyway. It snowed twice on the night of October 2. The next morning, the temperature was -13°C, and it felt like -18°C. I dressed warmly and went into the mountains. The 12 km walk to the Flower Terrace and back was probably the least tiring hike I've ever done. It seems that heaven rewards the determined: The sky was surprisingly blue, without a cloud in sight. The small wooden houses and felt houses on the road were covered in a layer of fluffy snow, the spruce forest was experiencing a mini snowfall, and I encountered about a hundred brown cows on the way to the mountains. The purpose of this trip - the snow mountains, or rather the Snow Lotus Peak and the North Snow Lotus Peak, were also full of surprises. Even though I couldn't get close, the size of the snow mountains and their cold temperament after the snow still made me sigh. On the way, I always thought of myself 8 years ago when I saw the Five-Color Sea in Daocheng Yading and suddenly decided to go to Daocheng. That was also my first time hiking 15km+, and I didn't feel tired at all thinking about the snow mountains and holy lake ahead. After all these years, that energy hasn't changed at all. I think I might come to Xiate again, to see the green grasslands, the Flower Terrace full of flowers, to ride the small horses of the herdsmen, to go into the mountains, to embrace my snow mountains and glaciers.