Gansu-Qinghai-Ningxia Road Trip (2): Mingcui Lake, the Pearl of the Desert.

Traveling Together Season 16: Gansu-Qinghai-Ningxia Road Trip (2): Mingcui Lake, the Pearl of the Desert Yinchuan, Ningxia August 30, 2023 Sunny, 14–30°C, 1,060 m above sea level. The Air China flight I took was delayed for more than half an hour due to air traffic control, and landed at Yinchuan Hedong International Airport at 1:10 pm. I completed the car rental procedures at the parking lot of the terminal building and started my road trip in Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia. I still had some time in the afternoon, so I went to Mingcui Lake in Yinchuan. Mingcui Lake National Wetland Park (4A) (Photo 1) is located in Xingqing District, Yinchuan, 9 km from downtown Yinchuan and 5 km from Hedong Airport. It is one of the first national wetland parks named by the State Forestry Administration, and the third in China (the first two are Qin Lake in Taizhou and Xixi in Hangzhou). It is also the first wetland park in the Yellow River Basin in Northwest China, and is known as one of the six most beautiful wetland parks in China and the best wetland for ecological protection in China. Mingcui Lake was originally called Daozu Lake, and was the middle section of Chang Lake in the Ming Dynasty. It was renamed Mingcui Lake because of the green reeds and the birds chirping among them (Photo 2). After entering the scenic area, I first took a painted boat and shuttled through the reeds (Photo 3). It was the blooming season of reed flowers, and the branches swayed and danced in the wind (Photo 4). I walked to the pier and along the boardwalk. A large area of lotus flowers had just withered, but a few tenacious ones were still standing proudly (Photo 5). The double-row waterwheel with a diameter of 16 meters turned slowly, telling the story of the past and present of this ancient irrigation tool created by the working people (Photos 6–7). I climbed to the top floor of the observation tower and enjoyed a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery of the park (Photos 8–9). The lake and the willows, the grass and the trees, and the smoke and the mist were not in Jiangnan, but better than Jiangnan. After dinner, I went to a supermarket near the hotel to stock up on some food and supplies. I stayed in Yinchuan tonight and will go to Alxa League tomorrow.