But I found a strategy for you. See if it helps.
Three-day tour of Xining, Qinghai Lake, Huzhu and Ta 'er Temple.
I actually wrote this after my May Day visit last year, but I didn't know it was the most fun time in Qinghai from now until the end of September, so I changed a new bottle of wine, hoping to give some reference to the travelers who plan to visit Qinghai in the near future.
May Day didn't hold back after all, so I went to Xining for a tour. I stayed in Xining for three days, arrived on the evening of the 2nd, went to Huzhu Tu Autonomous Region on the 3rd, went to Ta 'er Temple on the 4th, went to Qinghai Lake on the 5th, and returned to Lanzhou on the 5th. It costs 500 yuan to buy Tibetan ornaments with strong ethnic characteristics in Shuijing Lane Market in Xining, including 200 yuan. In fact, if the schedule is tight, two days is enough and the cost can be lower. The general route is as follows: Xining-Qinghai Lake-Huzhu-Ta 'er Temple. Now I will report a more reasonable strategy to all my friends, hoping to provide you with some useful information.
Day 1: Take a bus from Lanzhou and arrive in Xining in three or four hours. Tickets: local train 19 yuan/person, express train 40 yuan/person 33 yuan.
Accommodation: There is a geological prospecting guest house on the left side of the main road opposite the railway station, with two rooms for 50 yuan/night and a single room for 58 yuan/night, which basically meets the requirements of travelers for accommodation: safety, hygiene, cheapness and convenience (the bus station is in front of the guest house, Xining bus station is 20 meters on the right, and the railway station can help each other at 100 meters), which is particularly convenient for friends who want to go to Qinghai Lake the next day. See below for details.
After arranging accommodation, there are two options:
First of all, for people who like to play: Xining bus station is about 50 meters away from their residence, where there is a traffic travel agency, which was one of the top ten travel agencies in Xining in 2003. There is the cheapest one-day tour package of Qinghai Lake, 80 yuan per person/day, including tour guide fee, insurance premium and round-trip fare, plus tickets for Bird Island in 58 yuan (with student ID card, you can enjoy preferential treatment to 38 yuan/person). Special note: For self-help backpackers, it is best to join a one-day tour group unless you plan to walk or ride around the lake. Because the circumference of Qinghai Lake is more than 300 kilometers, the scenic spots are scattered. Although there is a shuttle bus to Qinghai Lake in Xining, it does not go directly to the scenic spot, but to gangcha county. You have to transfer to Qinghai Lake and get off at only one destination. If you visit one place and then go to another, there are only the following ways: running, walking, cycling and hitchhiking. Free ride is not included, and the round-trip fare is at least 60 yuan. It's very comfortable to take a travel agency car. Depart at 7: 30 in the morning, passing through Huangyuan, Sun Moon Mountain (ticket 20, self-care, not recommended), Daotang River, Bird Island, Jinyintan Grassland, Sand Island (ticket 20 yuan, similar to beach amusement park, self-care and not recommended), atomic city, etc. Then go around the lake. Stop at all places to play and return to Xining around 8: 30 in the evening. Tel: 7 1 12099. It's best to contact in advance, because they will arrange the seats on the bus according to the registration order of the guests, especially those who are carsick.
Secondly, for people who like to eat, walk left from the railway station 10 meters, take the bus 1 (in front of the geological prospecting guest house) to the Great Cross, which is the most prosperous area in Xining and the snack night market is quite popular. Friends who didn't have dinner can go there to solve the problem. I recommend you to go to Shuijing Lane Snack Street. Roast lamb intestines, roast lamb chops, hand-grabbed mutton, Ma Zhong noodles, sausage noodles, xinjiang hand pilaf ... are all good choices. They are really delicious, cheap and delicious.
The next day: naturally, I went straight to Qinghai Lake. Other equipment is free for everyone, but there are two things you must have: clothes that are slightly thicker than normal temperature and sunscreen products. Qinghai Lake is nearly 3 kilometers above sea level, with a large temperature difference between day and night. The daytime temperature is generally 5- 10 degrees lower than that in Xining, with strong sunshine. Qinghai Lake is far away from Xining, and it is surrounded by the lake, so about two-thirds of the time is spent in the car the next day, so people with carsickness must take relevant medicines for emergencies.
Day 3: Morning: Huzhu Tuzu Style Garden. You don't have to join a group. Go to Xining bus station in the morning to help each other (fare RMB/person). When we get there, take bus No.3, and we will directly transfer from Huzhu to a Tu village in a nearby village, which is the Qiao Family Courtyard introduced by our comrades in the Tibetan cowhide book. But we think we should go to Tujia Garden in Huzhu County, especially the self-help donkey friends, because the Qiao Family Courtyard is just a family in a village, and there is not much fun in fact. There are still many people to perform and so on. If there are few people, it's just to catch a family meal, unless you pay extra. On the contrary, the amorous feelings garden has already formed a scale. Although the business atmosphere is a bit strong, it is more interesting to go alone and have the opportunity to see the songs and dances of the Turks. Lunch can be settled in the amorous feelings garden. You can try some special snacks of the Tu nationality, such as "Dog's Urine Dumping Cake" (bad name but delicious), Ma Xuan Cake and crispy rice. You can also enjoy the most local ethnic hand embroidery, which is very suitable for taking home as a gift.
If you want to return to Lanzhou on the same day, you should master the time to return to Xining from Huzhu until two o'clock, so that you can go to Ta 'er Temple. Or take the 1 bus to Xiguan and charter a bus to 20 yuan, Li Xia. If you take a bus at the west gate of the gymnasium, 4 yuan/people will go straight to the front of Ta 'er Temple. Tickets to Ta 'er Temple 35 yuan, I suggest a tour guide, because this kind of cultural landscape is really an expert watching the excitement and a layman watching the doorway. Whether there is a tour guide to explain directly affects the quality of your visit, except for the donkey friends who are fully prepared in advance. If the tour guide fee is not high, 60 yuan will do, and it can be merged with other individual travelers, so that the average cost per person will be much less.
It takes three hours for the entire Ta 'er Temple to turn down, so we can return to Xining on the same day and take K378 from Xining to Shanghai at 20: 49 that night. In this way, it only takes two days, and the cost is very small. Among the May Day itineraries organized by many travel agencies in Lanzhou, the lowest quotation for the two-day tour of Qinghai Lake and Ta 'er Temple, which is said to be tailor-made for students, is also above 350 yuan. However, according to this route and schedule, if you play too much in Huzhu Tujia Style Garden and overeat in the snack street every night, it will cost 300 yuan, which is super cheap!
By the way, girls who love yogurt should pay attention: when you arrive in Xining, don't forget to taste the unique "nest milk" there. It is packed in a small bowl and tender as tofu. There is a layer of yellow cream floating on the white yogurt, which is delicious and mellow. You will regret it if you don't eat it as long as 1.2 yuan/bowl!
As for the time, it is best to go to Qinghai Lake in April and May and after the end of June every year, because April and May are the time for migratory birds to return to the island to lay eggs. At this time, Bird Island has another name, but the climate is unstable, the temperature is low and the wind is strong. The weather in June is fine, but the birds just hatched and broke their eggs on the floor, which has a unique taste. No one is recommended to try except Chu Xia. It is recommended to go in July and August. At this time, the egg has hatched into a bird, and parents are giving the bird a flight training class to prepare for a long trip in autumn. A busy scene on the island is much more lively than Pearl Harbor in wartime. Moreover, the temperature is just right in July and August, so friends who have time can camp in the tent hotel on the island, fall asleep every night with the humming of the lake, and wake up in the whisper of birds the next morning. The feeling of being idle and comfortable-it really doesn't change for the little fairy.