10 | Wednesday, January 29, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY TRAVEL

BLAZING A RAIL THROUGH CHINA’S SCENIC NORTHWEST New rail links provide an opportunity to experience the natural, the man­made and the historical wonders of the ancient silk road.

Located in Subei Mongolian autonomous county, Gansu, Laohugou glacier No 12 is the largest valley glacier in the Qilian Mountains and has been the focus of pioneering glacier field observations.

By WANG QIAN formed through erosion, that look like ridges, towers or dunes that protrude from the floor Last month, a railway linking Dunhuang, of extremely arid regions. The park is also Gansu province, and Golmud, Qinghai called Devil City, because visitors describe the province, officially went into full operation. noise of the strong wind whistling between Along the 671­kilometer route, trains can the Yardang as sounding like the devil give you a front­row seat to view the moving screaming. The area is great for hiking. sands of the Kumtag Desert and the snow­ capped Qilian Mountains, among other Suoyang City Ruins stunning landscapes. There are 25 stations Founded more than 2,000 years ago, along the line. Suoyang City was an important land­ The railway crosses Qilian Mountains mark on the ancient Silk Road, and one through a tunnel stretching more than 20 which held a key role in the politics and kilometers. the economy of the area during the West­ The railway intersects with existing lines, ern Han Dynasty (206 BC­AD 24). Locat­ including the Lanzhou­Qinghai Railway, ed in Guazhou county, Gansu, Suoyang Qinghai­Tibet Railway and Lanzhou­Xinji­ Ruins is one of the largest and most well­ ang Railway, to form the first circular rail­ preserved ancient sites in China with the way network in the northwestern region. city’s defense structures still standing The network will shorten the travel dis­ and its irrigation system in good condi­ tance between the Xinjiang Uygur autono­ tion. mous region and the Tibet autonomous region by 1,100 km and cut the journey time A railway bridge near the Da Qaidam Station on the Dunhuang­Golmud line. ZHANG LONG / XINHUA Big Sugan Lake by almost 10 hours. Located in the Kazak autonomous county The railway from Dunhuang was extend­ of Aksay, Gansu, the Big Sugan Lake covers ed south into Qinghai, connecting Dunhu­ the earliest listed sites in China. better experience for visitors. low, reed and apocynum, the wall spans 136 an area of about 101 sq km. The lake is ang to Subei, Mahai and Yinmaxia near In ancient times, the oasis city in the Gobi km from the Northern Lake in the east to known as a paradise for migrant birds and, Golmud on the Qinghai­Tibet Railway. desert, at the far western limit of traditional Highlights of the trip Mamitu, bordering Xinjiang in the west. as well as keeping tabs on the avian inhabit­ Construction of the Dunhuang Railway Chinese settlements along the Silk Road, While the entire length of the Dunhuang ants, visitors can also experience the feeling started in December 2012, with a total was the first trading town encountered by Railway is an exceptionally scenic ride Laohugou glacier No 12 of roaming the nearby grassland on horse­ investment of 13.48 billion yuan ($1.94 bil­ foreign merchants entering Chinese territo­ through the Qilian Mountains and Gobi Located in Subei Mongolian autonomous back like true Kazaks. lion). ry from the west. desert, there are nine extraordinary scenic county, Gansu, Laohugou glacier No 12 is the The single­track electrified line is In the early 1970s, Dunhuang’s impor­ spots along the way. largest valley glacier in the Qilian Moun­ Da Qaidam Salt Lake designed for speeds up to 120 km per hour tance as a trading hub had been largely lost tains and has been the focus of pioneering Da Qaidam Salt Lake in northern Qaidam and freight trains of up to 4,000 metric tons, due to a lack of good transportation infra­ Mogao Grottoes glacier field observations. It is a major water Basin in Qinghai province is known for its with provision for future double tracking. structure. Sitting in Dunhuang, the Mogao Grottoes source for the Hexi Corridor, part of the liquid and solid boron resource. More than China State Railway Group said the line Thanks to increasing investment in infra­ are home to a priceless collection of Bud­ ancient Silk Road. Despite its rapid reces­ that, pinnoite­rich sediments that occur in will be of great importance for the rail net­ structure projects, the city saw robust dhist artwork. The 1,650­year­old UNESCO sion as a result of climate change, it is still an the lake, are a global rarity. work in western China and will also play a growth and development in tourism last World Heritage site boasts more than 2,000 impressive sight. role in the Belt and Road Initiative global year. It received more than 13.37 million sculptures and 45,000 square meters of Mount Kunlun Geopark development drive. trips in 2019, generating nearly 15 billion murals housed in 735 caves carved into the Yumen Pass Mount Kunlun Global Geopark is 90 “Based on the Dunhuang Railway, we are yuan ($2.15 billion) in tourism revenue, cliff face. Digging of the site began in 366. Yumen Pass is located in the Gobi Desert, km from Golmud city, Qinghai. It covers able to promote high­quality, circular train according to the latest statistics from the The artifacts there symbolize the great about 90 km northwest of Dunhuang and an area of 1,403 sq km. The park is tours in West China,” Fu Qingzhong, an offi­ local cultural and tourism authority. achievements of China’s Buddhist art from was a strategic point on the ancient Silk endowed with abundant geological cial of a travel service affiliated with the Chi­ In 2005, the number of visitor arrivals to the fourth century to the 14th century. Road. It served as an important passage for attractions that provide evidence of com­ na State Railway Group, told Xinhua News the city first passed 1 million. jade from the western regions. The parapets plicated crustal movements and ocean­ Agency. Amid a growing influx of tourists from Great Wall of Han Dynasty of the pass still remain, in square rammed­ land conversions. With magnificent As a major stop on the ancient Silk Road, both home and abroad, local authorities The Great Wall of Han Dynasty (206 BC­AD earth structures. glacial and permafrost landforms, it is an the historic trading network linking East have expanded Dunhuang airport and 220) in Dunhuang was an important construc­ ideal place for research on landscapes. and West, Dunhuang is best known for the accelerated construction of railways and tion for both frontier safety and cross­border Yadan National Geological Park Tibetan gazelle, goat antelope, wild yaks, Mogao Grottoes, which cover a large highways. The 976­million­yuan expansion trading, made by piling up sand and weeds. About 180 km northwest of Dunhuang, argali sheep, blue sheep and ibex can be expanse of Chinese history, including the project on the Dunhuang airport enables it Over the past 2,000 years or so, many parts of it Yadan National Geological Park occupies an found spread throughout the range. golden age of the Tang Dynasty (618­907). to handle an annual capacity of 960,000 have been lost to erosion, but the remaining area of about 398 sq km and is the largest yar­ The relics there were inscribed on the passengers and 1,700 metric tons of cargo. sections still reflect traces of the original wall. dang landform found so far. Yardang are Contact the writer at UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987, one of All of these things will help to provide a Built from a mixture of sand, dry dirt, rose wil­ unique landforms, carved from bedrock or [email protected]

From left: Yumen Pass; Yadan National Geological Park; Big Sugan Lake; Mogao Grottoes; Suoyang City Ruins. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Chinese tourists become largest foreign visitor group in Finland’s Rovaniemi

HELSINKI — Tourism in Finland’s Lap­ number of overnight stays in Lapland was lowed by France and the United Kingdom, tourists were the largest group, followed by period one year earlier. land is expected to set a new record in 2020, 2.6 million, increasing by nearly 4.0 percent according to data obtained by Yle. French, German and Russian. Among the foreign tourists visiting Fin­ and Chinese tourists have become the larg­ from the same period of the previous year. In Rovaniemi, a favorite destination for According to Statistics Finland, in addi­ land, overnight stays by Chinese increased est group among foreign visitors in Rovani­ 53 percent of the overnight stays during foreign tourists, the number of overnight tion to Lapland, tourism also grew else­ most in absolute numbers, by 42,100 nights, emi, the administrative capital and the period were domestic tourists. Over­ stays in January­November 2019 was where in Finland during the period. A total or up 14 percent in the first 11 months of commercial center of Lapland, Finnish night stays by foreign tourists grew slightly 600,000, increasing by over 12 percent. 60 of 21.32 million nights were spent in Finnish 2019, compared to the same period of 2018. national broadcaster Yle reported. more than Finns. The biggest group of non­ percent of those spending the night in Rova­ accommodation establishments, which was From January to November last year, the resident tourists was from Germany, fol­ niemi were foreigners, of which Chinese 4.1 percent more than in the corresponding XINHUA