Frozen Qinghai Lake: A Winter Secret Hiding Blue Ice and Swans

As the car rolls over the snow and drives deeper into Qinghai Lake, the world outside the window gradually turns into a minimalist painting—only white and blue remain between heaven and earth. The half-meter-thick ice glistens with a cyan-blue sheen under the sunlight, like a giant gemstone laid out by someone, stretching all the way to the foot of the snow-capped mountains on the horizon. The best time is when the wind is strong; the ice is pushed into waves of ice ridges, jagged and wild. If you listen closely, you can hear the crisp crackling of the ice breaking, a "click" sound, as if the earth is quietly turning over. On sunny days, surprises hide beneath the ice surface. Deep within the blue ice are clusters of bubbles, like stars trapped inside, and the crisscrossing ice cracks look exactly like frozen lightning bolts when viewed from above. Go to Quanwan early in the morning, before the morning mist has cleared, and you’ll be awakened by a chorus of "quack quack" sounds. Hundreds of swans are dancing close to the unfrozen water surface, their wings flapping and stirring up broken ice. The sunlight passing through the mist dyes their feathers with golden edges. If you walk along the lakeshore, you might come across the tiny footprints of Tibetan antelopes, like someone stamping a seal on the snow. In the distance, the Qilian Mountains wear snow caps, their shadows cast on the ice surface. At sunset, the ice lake is dyed a honey color. The prayer flags at the Sea Sacrifice Platform flap loudly in the wind, red and green exploding on the white ice, looking even more sacred than in summer. Occasionally, you can see herders driving yaks across the ice, their hooves thudding "dong dong" on the ice, as if greeting the frozen surface. Don’t go to bed early at night; the Milky Way will spread across the ice lake. Look up to see stars, and look down to see the ice reflecting stars, as if standing at the crossroads of the universe. If you happen to catch the Ice and Snow Nadam Fair, the sound of horse hooves racing on the ice can startle a flock of swans. That lively scene can chase away some of the severe cold. The best time to visit is from December to February of the following year, but you have to wrap yourself up like a dumpling—on nights when it’s minus 25 degrees Celsius, your breath can freeze into frost. But when you step on the ice, listen to the cracking sounds, and watch swans glide over the blue ice, you’ll understand the passion hidden in this chill, worth braving the cold winter to experience.