Annual Travel Review | Self-driving to Xingyi Lake in Western Sichuan: After hardships, finally see the fleeting beauty of the secret land

In 2023, it was a year full of harvest for Cai Cai Juan Er and Mr. Dog on their self-driving journey. At the beginning of the year, we arrived in Guangxi and unlocked several secret places around Nanning that are comparable to the landscape of Guilin. Then we visited Qinghai and Gansu for the third time, where we enjoyed the extreme beauty of the 'most beautiful Three Gorges' north of the Yellow River: Liujiagorge, Lijiagorge, and Longyanggorge. Then it was our sixth trip to Western Sichuan, where we found the 'secret ceiling' of our self-driving journey this year: Xingyi Lake in Haizishan, Daocheng County. This is also the place where Cai Cai Juan Er will take you to explore in depth in the future. The sixth self-driving trip to Western Sichuan Ten years ago, when we passed by Haizishan, we mistakenly identified the Xueou Lake next to the national highway as Xingyi Lake. It was not until this revisit that we realized that all the secret places are on the other side that is hard to reach. If we hadn't gone through hardships, we wouldn't have had the chance to see the extreme beauty in it. ——Travel notes of Cai Cai Juan Er Xingyi Lake, at an altitude of 4420 meters, is the largest of the more than one thousand lakes in Haizishan, Daocheng. It is located in the middle of Haizishan and can only be reached by a ten-kilometer unpaved road. About six kilometers of the road is a bumpy mountain road with narrow and many stones, and visitors need to go through a lot of hardships to get there. But even if you reach the lake, because Xingyi Lake is located in the hinterland of the plateau, leaning against the towering snow mountains, with complex geographical environment and unpredictable weather, you may need a little patience to wait for the extreme beauty to appear. Fleeting beauty, long wait. What we saw in Xingyi Lake —— 1. The fantastic snow mountain in the intermittent light The intermittent light that protrudes from the pressure cloud layer is compelling, illuminating the towering snow mountain that Xingyi Lake relies on. At this time, the mountains are magnificent, the lake is like a dream, and the fleeting beauty of Xingyi Lake finally shows after we have waited for a long time after a storm. 2. The broken jade lake beaten by the light wind The Xingyi Lake we approached, the light wind blew the water surface into broken jade, shining under the intermittent light after the storm. The shimmering waves in front of us and the ups and downs in our ears seem to be telling us her ultimate beauty that has nowhere to hide. 3. The plateau beach around the lake The plateau at an altitude of 4400 meters seems to have nothing to do with the beach. But in Xingyi Lake, the delicate and soft beach is under our feet at this moment, a piece of gold is spread out in front of us, gently embracing the lake. Our journey to encounter the beauty begins from the moment we step on the beach. The ups and downs of our trip to Xingyi Lake —— Let me briefly talk about our self-driving experience. First, we went through six kilometers of mountain dirt roads, with broken stones, washboards, and bomb pits all here. It was not easy to reach the destination, a cloud just blocked the snow mountain, the lake surface instantly turned lead gray, and then it became misty, and a storm came from the sky. We had to rest in the car and wait for the rain to stop. Fortunately, after a sleep, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared, and we finally saw the beautiful Xingyi Lake. 📌Practical tips for self-driving tours 📱Navigation: Set 'Xingyi Lake'. 🅿️ Parking: The lakeside viewing platform has been built and can be parked. 🎫Cost: Free to visit, free parking, no fees. ⏳Time: It is recommended to arrange half a day to explore along the lake. ‼️ Note: The road condition of the mountain road about six kilometers before the lake is poor, it is recommended that cars with higher chassis go. Cars need to be careful to choose the road to prevent bottoming, slow driving can also reach the destination (we are cars). ▶️The above content is summarized based on personal travel experience, please forgive me if there are any omissions. ▶️Affected by time, some scenes may change, based on the current situation. ▶️The address location information is provided by the website, please leave a message for more detailed information. ▶️All the attractions that Cai Cai Juan Er and Mr. Dog have traveled to can be reached by car. 🔸🔹🔸 If you like self-driving tours and don't want to take the usual path, please listen to Cai Cai Juan Er's story.