Zhouloushan: A Must-Visit Driving Destination, Known as 'Oriental Switzerland' in Qinghai
With the development of the economy, more and more people enjoy self-driving tours, and many vast natural landscapes have become popular tourist destinations, including remote areas such as Qinghai, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet, Xinjiang, all with spectacular and magnificent natural scenery, which are favorite destinations for self-driving enthusiasts.
When traveling the Qinghai Loop, there is a place that every self-driving enthusiast has been dreaming of – that's Zhouloushan, known as 'Oriental Switzerland'.
The scenery along the Qinghai Loop is incredibly vast, and the scenery changes with the changes in the terrain. Mountains, salt lakes, and badlands – each different landscape brings a visual feast. While traveling along National Highway 214, passing through the Qilian Grassland, you arrive at Zhouloushan.
The Zhouloushan Scenic Area is located in the eight-treasure town of Qilian County, Qinghai Province, adjacent to the eight-treasure river and facing the Tibetan god mountain, Ami Dong So (Cow Heart Mountain), separated by the river. It's a typical (danxia landform) composed of red sandstone and gravel. In Tibetan, it's called 'Zhumu Maoyu' (Beautiful Red Queen), and the scenery is as beautiful as its name suggests – grand and magnificent.
The scenery of Zhouloushan changes with the increase in altitude. The higher you climb, the more beautiful the scenery becomes. A winding wooden boardwalk allows you to appreciate the different landscapes of the four seasons. If you come to Zhouloushan after a rain, you'll encounter even more surprises – clouds meandering around the mountains, flowing towards the distance, and the scene in front of you is like a fairyland. At that time, you really want to pluck one of them to touch.
Standing at a high point, you can enjoy a more stunning view. Zhouloushan's scenery blends the graceful and delicate beauty of southern mountains with the majestic and magnificent beauty of northern mountains.
When you come to Zhouloushan, everyone has to climb to the top. There is a watchtower here, with an extremely wide view on the summit, with no obstructions around.
Standing at the highest point, you can overlook the mountain opposite, which shows all four seasons of a mountain, and on the left and right sides are the La Dong Xia (La Dong Gorge) and Baiyanggou (White Birch Gorge) scenic areas. In the back is the undulating Qilian Mountains, and at the foot of the mountain, the Eight Treasure River flows like a white brocade, encircling the county town.
Zhouloushan is one of the must-visit destinations on the Qilian trip, and it's also a sketching and writing base for writers, poets, and artists. The northwest scenery will always bring us a stunningly beautiful visual experience, and in such vast and expansive scenery, we can feel our own insignificance and our reverence for nature, encouraging everyone to do their best and live in harmony with nature.
Standing at the watchtower, the colorful red and green contrast brings a great visual impact. Zhouloushan's danxia landform and Gansu's Seven Color Danxia have a different feeling because of the green embellishment, which makes the colors feel richer.
Zhouloushan is as if God overturned a color palette, and at will, it creates a colorful pastoral painting between heaven and earth. Red and yellow intertwine on the undulating mountains and lands, and are harmoniously set off with the distant clouds.
Qilian County is known for its beautiful scenery, plump cattle and sheep, and abundant resources. After coming down from Zhouloushan, the scenery along the way is also beautiful – in the distance are majestic mountains, and in the near distance are herds of sheep grazing, which is very relaxing.
