Review of Tianchi Lake in Tianshan Mountain, Xinjiang

Good morning everyone. Today we are going to Tianchi, which is known as the "Pearl of Tianshan Mountain".

Tianchi is located in the northern part of Bogda Peak in Tianshan Mountain, more than 40 kilometers east of fukang city, and 0 kilometers away from Urumqi1/kloc-0. It takes about 2 hours to drive there. Tianchi Lake is a world-famous alpine lake, and 1982 is listed as the first batch of national key scenic spots. In 2000, it was rated as a national 4a-level scenic spot.

Tianchi, known as "Yaochi" in ancient times, is a place where Chinese and Western Empresses entertain Zhou Muwang. According to China's Biography of Mu in the pre-Qin period, he yearned for the fairyland of the Queen Mother three thousand years ago and came to the Western Regions by eight fine horses. During the dinner, the two sang poems, and both the host and the guest were very happy. With the emperor gone, they were reluctant to leave and met again. However, as time went by, the mother did not return, and the melancholy mother looked at a pool of clear water and mourned. Many scholars take this myth as the theme, write poems and articles, and spread this beautiful fairy tale to this day. Legend has it that Tianchi is the bathing pool of the Queen Mother of the West, the west small Tianchi is the silver mirror on the dressing table of the Queen Mother of the West, and the east small Tianchi is the washbasin of the Queen Mother of the West. These wonderful myths and legends add mystery to the beautiful natural landscape of Tianchi.

So how did the name "Tianchi" come from? From 178 1 to 1783, Fukang county suffered from drought for three consecutive years, with almost no harvest, and people's lives were in trouble. At that time, Liang Ming, who was appointed as the capital of Urumqi, was a good official who was very considerate of the people, but how to solve the problem of water shortage? He thought Bogda Peak was covered with ice and snow, which would melt every summer. He decided to go up the mountain to look for water. Finally found this quiet lake under Bogda Peak. A pool of clear water, like a huge emerald, is embedded in the waist of Bogda Peak, and the brightness can't help but be shocked by this beautiful scenery. After the canal was cut through, he erected a monument near the mouth of the canal to commemorate it. In the inscription, he left the sentence "Seeing the Shenchi as wide as a celestial mirror floating in the air" and took the words "Tianjing" and "Shenchi" respectively. This is the origin of the name "Tianchi".

Tianchi is half-moon-shaped, with an altitude of1.900m, a length of 3000m from north to south, a width of1.500m from east to west, an area of 4.9 square kilometers at peak water time, a depth of1.05m and a total storage capacity of1.600 million cubic meters. Do you know how such a high mountain lake was formed? It is an alpine moraine lake formed during the Quaternary glacial movement. About 2 million years ago, the global climate turned cold for the third time, and the Tianshan Mountains gave birth to spectacular glacier movement in the valley. Glaciers move down slowly with gravel, and huge glaciers grind the mountain like a giant shovel, forming various ice erosion landforms. The valley became a huge concave ice chamber, and the front end of the glacier tongue was squeezed and melted, and the molten water flowed down the river. The debris and gravel it carried gradually stopped and became moraines across the valley. As the climate warms and glaciers recede, the melting snow water on the surrounding snow peaks is stored here to form a lake, forming the Tianchi Lake we see today. The natural dam on the north bank of Tianchi Lake is a moraine.

We have now reached the foot of Tianshan Mountain. Today we will see four natural landscape belts, namely, low mountain belt, mountain coniferous forest belt, alpine subalpine belt and glacier snow belt.

The river on the right side of the highway is Sangong River, and its water source is Tianchi Lake where the snow in Tianshan Mountain melts. It is clear and smooth, nourishing the farmland on both sides of the road. Now it is Yushugou, densely covered with elms that have been growing for nearly a hundred years. Although this kind of scenery can't be said to be unique, the neat formation is indeed a must in Tianshan Mountain. Maybe in a few years, it will become another tourist attraction.

Now Shimen has arrived. Shimen, also known as Shi Xia, is one of the eight scenic spots in Tianchi. It's called the Shimen Line. It is a canyon formed by the impact of Tianchi water on the mountain in the past hundred years. After crossing Shimen, you arrive at Tianchi Scenic Area. At the same time, it also entered another natural landscape belt-mountain coniferous forest belt.

Now, please look to the right. There is a pool of clear water on our right. It is the West Little Tianchi Lake. Legend has it that this is the dressing mirror of the Queen Mother of the West. In fact, it is a deep pool formed by Sangong River in the low-lying area of the mountain area. Whenever night falls and the bright moon is in the sky, the trees and peaks are reflected in the water, which makes people feel quiet. This is the "Longtan Biyue", one of the eight scenic spots in Tianchi.

After such a long journey, we finally came to Tianchi. Now please follow me to get off and visit. Tianchi water is melted from glacier snow water, and its temperature is very low. Everyone must be careful when playing and taking pictures by the lake.

In front of everyone is the beautiful Tianchi Lake. Under the light of Bogda Peak in the distance and the reflection of pine and cypress nearby, Tianchi looks like a veiled girl, warm and gentle, beautiful and moving.

Standing on the bank of Hubei, you can see three of the eight scenic spots in Tianchi Lake: the majestic Bogda Peak in the south, with an altitude of 5445 meters, and the snow on the top of the mountain does not melt all year round. This scene is called "Looking at the Snow in the South Mountain". Let's look at the west bank again. The spruce tree stretched out and blocked the sun. I wonder if you have noticed that the spruce forests on the west and north slopes are very dense, but there are few on the east and south slopes. Why? This is because the humid air flow in Tianshan Mountain mainly comes from the northwest air flow. Tianshan Mountain is relatively tall, which can block and retain more wet airflow, while the northern and western slopes are semi-shady slopes with rich water vapor, so spruce is relatively dense. This scene is called "Watching Pine in the Western Hills". Okay, look at the left hand side. There is an old elm tree around. This is the sacred tree known as the "Dinghai Shenzhen", one of the eight scenic spots in Tianchi. There is another legend about it: It is said that one year the Queen Mother of the West held a flat peach party by the lake and invited immortals from all walks of life. She forgot to invite the monster in the pool. The monster was angry and wanted to make waves. In a rage, the Queen Mother of the West tore off her head and plunged in, stopping the monster and turning it into this elm tree. Moreover, even during the high water level in spring, the roots of elm have never been submerged, and people are more convinced that this is its credit, so it is called "anchor sea". This tree is also the only elm by the lake. The altitude here is not suitable for elm growth. For some unknown reason, this tree took root here and grew for 200 years, which became a biological mystery.

If you come here at sunrise, you can see that the fiery red rising sun scatters thousands of golden lights, plating the mountains with Phnom Penh, and the ice peaks, pine forests and lakes are filled with smoke. This scene is called "the sea breeze dawns".

On the north side of Tianchi, about 20 minutes' walk, you can see that the water in Tianchi passes through the alpine canyon to form a waterfall. Although there is no momentum of "flying over the eaves and climbing over the walls, three thousands of feet", it is still full of silver beads, and the sound is like Hong Zhong, and the water vapor is coming. This scene is called "Hanging Spring Waterfall", and its downstream is Dong Xiao Tianchi, which is the washbasin of the legendary Western Empress Dowager.

Walking west along Tianchi, there are three huge stones that look like three candles. According to legend, the Queen Mother of the West used these three huge stones to resist the western heaven where the dragon in the pool struggled and tilted. This scene is called "Three Stones in the Sky". In ancient times, Taoist priests hung lanterns on boulders to show peace, so it was also called "Denggan Mountain".

In addition, Xinjiang is the only road along the Silk Road, where various religions spread with economic exchanges. Tianchi has also become a clean place frequented by Buddhists and Taoists. They built eight temples near Tianchi, such as Niangniang Temple and Tiewa Temple, but these temples were destroyed by the war and the remains were hard to find. In recent years, thanks to the donations and investments of some religious believers and tourists, the "Niangniang Temple", that is, the Xiwangmu Temple, has been restored, receiving tens of thousands of tourists every year, and the incense is very strong. If you are interested, we can also burn a stick of incense there.

After staying on the shore for so long, you must have found a dotted white felt house on the grassy grassland, which is the house of Kazakh herders. They call it the White House. Mongolian yurts are houses invented and created by Kazak people in their long-term life practice, combined with their own life and production characteristics. Because Kazaks have lived a nomadic life for generations, and this kind of house is composed of poles, top rings, blankets, skylights, doors and other parts, which is convenient to dismantle, and experienced people can build it in 1 hour. If you are interested, you can visit your home to feel the unique ethnic customs, and you can also try ethnic foods such as Bao 'er Shaq and Milk Knot. When visiting a Kazakh family, there are several things that must be paid attention to: First, when entering the door, let the elderly enter the door first and sit down according to the host's arrangement. Second, the master's hands must be handed over, one hand, especially the left hand, will be considered extremely impolite; When pouring tea, the host should hold the bowl in both hands, and can't pour the teapot himself; It's best not to refuse the food provided by the host. Even if you don't like it, try it and thank you. Third, you can't walk around the host's house, spit, yawn, blow your nose, shave your ears, cut your nails, etc. If you have something to go, you must walk behind people, never cross the tablecloth, let alone step on it. Someone will take a basin and kettle to make you wash your hands before meals. Be sure to wash your hands three times, that is, pour water three times. After washing your hands, you must not throw water like this, but use it.

Well, that's what I'm talking about. Let others feel for themselves. The following are free time. If you are interested in visiting herdsmen's homes, please sign up with me, and I will organize everyone to take collective action. There are horse riding activities in the scenic spot, and everyone can try it, but horse riding is more dangerous, so everyone must pay attention to safety.