Chapter 19 Section 3 The Unique Landscape of the Rivers in the West

Western rivers only refer to some representative and distinctive rivers and lakes in Xinjiang and Tibet.Such as the Tarim River, Lop Nur and Aydin Lake in Xinjiang, the Brahmaputra River and Yamdrok Lake in Tibet. The Tarim River is the longest inland river in my country.Its length, second only to the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Heilongjiang and Pearl River, ranks fifth in the country, with a total length of 2179 kilometers.It is located in the Tarim Basin in the south of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, winding on the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert.The Tarim Basin is the driest area in my country, known as the "dry pole".The water of the Tarim River in the dry pole comes from the mountains thousands of miles away.There are three main sources: one is the Aksu River, which originates from the Tianshan Mountains, and has the largest flow rate, which is the main source that is inexhaustible all year round; the second is the Yarkant River, which originates from the Karakorum Mountains, and only flows into the Tarim River during flood periods; the third is the Hotan River , also originated in the Karakoram Mountains, it passes through the Taklamakan Desert, flows into the Tarim River, and becomes the second source of the Tarim River.

The water of the Tarim River is mainly supplied by precipitation in the upper source mountains and melting ice and snow.Its biggest feature is that due to wandering in the desert, the seepage, evaporation and sand content of the river are very large, and there are many branches, known as the "water labyrinth".Its river course is erratic, like "unbridled wild horses".According to records, the most recent diversion was in 1921, when its lower reaches flowed through the Kongque River and belonged to Lop Nur. Water is the spring of life, and the desert has sufficient light and heat energy. The combination of water and heat makes populus euphratica forests grow for thousands of miles on both sides of the river of life, becoming a green corridor in the desert.Entering the hinterland of the Tarim River, the Populus euphratica forest covers the sky and the sun.It is hard to imagine that there is such a magical and beautiful virgin forest in the desert.Populus euphratica is called "Tokrak" in Uighur, which means "the most beautiful tree".It has the ability to resist drought, resist wind and sand, and tolerate salt and alkali. It survives tenaciously and reproduces in the desert, so it has the reputation of "desert hero tree".People say that Populus euphratica can live for a thousand years, can stand for a thousand years after death, and can be called a hero if it falls down for a thousand years.Populus euphratica forest is also a sanctuary for rare animals such as red deer and wild camels.

In the 1950s, large-scale military reclamation was carried out in the Tarim River Basin, water conservancy projects were built, water was diverted for irrigation, and wasteland was reclaimed.Today, the vast farms and pastures in the west and north of the Tarim River have become new bases for grain, cotton, silkworms, melons and fruits, oases in the desert, and land of fish and rice beyond the Great Wall. Lop Nur, known as Puchang Sea and Yanze in ancient times, is located in the east of the Tarim Basin.The area is more than 3,000 square kilometers, and the lake is 768 meters above sea level.The water of the lake comes from the Tarim River, Kongque River and groundwater.Lop Nur is located in the extremely arid Tarim Basin, with strong evaporation and high salinity of water, "so it is called a salt marsh" ("Shui Jing Zhu").Lop Nur changes with the change of climate and hydrology, and the range of the lake fluctuates in different historical periods.Especially in recent decades, the Tarim River and the Kongque River, which are the main water sources, have gradually reduced or even dried up due to the construction of water conservancy and water diversion for irrigation.Today, Lop Nur is facing a dry situation and may tend to disappear.

On the edge of the ancient lake basin of Lop Nur, especially in the northeast, a special landform with great ornamental value - "Yadan landform" developed. "Yadan", in Uighur, means a steep hill. The term "Yadan" has become a common term in geography and archaeology in the world, referring to a special landform in dry areas. "Yadan" is commonly found on lacustrine plains in arid areas. As the lake dries up, the land cracks, and the prevailing strong wind blows and erodes along the fissures, forming a series of ridges and grooves in various shapes and arranged in an orderly manner.Like a city, like a house, like a god, like a beast, it is in various poses and with different expressions, confusing and confusing, which makes people have unlimited imagination.

The Irtysh River is the only river in the Arctic Ocean system in my country.It originated at the southern foot of the Altai Mountains in northern Xinjiang and has a distance of more than 600 kilometers in our country.The Altai Mountains in my country are located on the windward slope of the cold and humid Atlantic Ocean, so there is abundant rain and snow, dense forests, lush grasslands, and unique scenery. It is a "desert wet island" in the extremely arid area in the center of the Asian continent.This is the place where the various ethnic groups in the north migrated and lived together in ancient times.On the cliffs of the Altai Mountains that stretch for thousands of miles, thousands of petroglyphs have been left, which have become precious historical materials for the study of ancient Eastern and Western cultural exchanges.

Kanas Lake is like a piece of precious jade, inlaid in the mysterious dense forest of Altai Mountains.The lake is 1370 meters above sea level.The maximum depth of the lake is 188.5 meters, which is a typical glacier-moraine lake.The lake is surrounded by peaks and mountains, and the reflection of the snow-capped mountains is very charming. Kanas Lake Nature Reserve is the only European-Siberian taiga ecological area in China.Rare tree species such as Siberian larch, red pine, spruce and fir grow.There are a variety of rare animals in the virgin forest and meadow, which have high scientific research value and conservation value.

Kanas Lake also has many special landscapes, full of mystery.It changes color from time to time with the change of seasons and weather, sometimes blue, sometimes green, sometimes dark green, sometimes grayish white, sometimes colorful, becoming the famous "color-changing lake".There is also the legend of the "lake monster", which was also revealed by the investigation and research of scientists in the past few years.The big red fish (Jerluo salmon) in Kahu Lake often swim up and down in groups in the lake, and they look like huge water monsters from a distance.These strange natural landscapes and the unique customs and beautiful legends of the Tuva people have aroused great interest in science, exploration, archaeology and tourists.

Located at the bottom of the Turpan Basin, Aydin Lake is the lowest place in my country. The lake surface is 154 meters below sea level, making it the second lowest place in the world, second only to the Dead Sea in Jordan (-392 meters).The Aiding Lake area is also the hottest place in China, with an extreme maximum temperature of 49.6°C.Under the scorching sun in midsummer, the surface temperature of Huoyan Mountain, which does not grow even a blade of grass, reaches 82.3°C. It is not an exaggeration to bake eggs in the hot sand, so it is called "Fire Island". Aiding Lake in Turpan is located in the center of the Eurasian continent, surrounded by high mountains, and the ocean water vapor is difficult to reach, making it the most typical arid climate area in the world.Because the humidity in the air is very low, people feel hot but not stuffy, and the temperature difference between day and night is large, which does not affect people's lives.There is very little rainfall in Turpan, but the groundwater is abundant.Surface water evaporates very easily. To adapt to the environment, the local people have created "Kanat wells" that lead groundwater to the ground through underground canals to irrigate fertile fields and vineyards. There are more than 1,200 Karez wells, with a total length of more than 5,000 kilometers. Together with the Great Wall and the Canal, they are called the three major projects in ancient my country.Due to the large temperature difference, sugar is easy to accumulate in melons and fruits, so the grapes in Turpan are the sweetest in the world, with a sugar content as high as 22%-26%.In short, Turpan is the lowest, hottest, driest and sweetest place in China.

Turpan not only has a unique landscape, but also has a long history and many historic sites.The ancient city of Jiaohe was the capital of the Cheshiqian Kingdom before the Han Dynasty. It was an important town in the Han, Tang, Xiliao and Yuan Dynasties, but it was abandoned at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.The ancient city of Gaochang was founded in the 1st century BC. It was the capital of Gaochang in the 6th century.Looking at its ruins today, the city outline is magnificent, the streets and alleys are orderly, and architectural ruins are scattered all over, which shows the prosperity and prosperity of that year.

The Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves at the foot of the Flame Mountain is a famous grotto in Xinjiang.Excavated from the 6th to the 14th century, there are still 77 caves, which are precious materials for studying the history and culture of the Western Regions. In addition, there is the world-famous "underground museum" - Astana - Hara and Zhuo ancient tombs.There are more than 500 ancient tombs from the beginning of the Western Jin Dynasty to the middle of the Tang Dynasty.The climate here is hot and dry, and a natural sterile environment is formed in the tomb. The ancient corpses in the tomb have not decayed for thousands of years, and 80% of the corpses have become natural mummies. A large number of cultural relics have been preserved, which has become a cultural treasure house for the study of "Turpanology".

The Yarlung Zangbo River, in Tibetan, means the water flowing down from the highest peak.It originates from the northern slope of the Himalayas, along the long and narrow valley between the Himalayas and the Gangdise Mountains, from west to east, across southern Tibet, to Milin and Bomi, and bypasses the southernmost part of the Himalayas. Jagbarwa Peak, making a sharp turn southward, crossing the mountain and cutting the valley, from a big bend at an altitude of more than 2,800 meters on the water surface, straight down to Pasika at an altitude of 155 meters on the water surface, flows through India, is called the Brahmaputra River, and finally flows into Bay of Bengal. The Yarlung Zangbo River has a total length of 2,091 kilometers in my country, with a basin area of ​​240,000 square kilometers. The section of the river above 3,000 meters above sea level accounts for 3/4 of the total length. It is the highest river in the world.On the east side of the Yarlung Zangbo River's Great Bend Canyon area is the Jiala Bailei Peak at an altitude of 7,151 meters, and on the west side is the Nanga Bawa Peak at an altitude of 7,756 meters.From the peak to the river, the horizontal distance is only 40 kilometers, while the vertical height difference reaches more than 7000 meters, making it the deepest canyon in the world. The Yarlung Zangbo River is also the most dangerous Grand Canyon in the world.From the tropical monsoon forest area with an annual rainfall of up to 4000 mm at the valley entrance in the lower reaches to the alpine meadow area with an annual rainfall of only 300 mm in the upper source, the complex changes in the vertical zone, the richness of the landscape, and the diversity of organisms are rare in the world. of. The valley of the Yarlung Zangbo River is alternately wide and narrow. The wide one is 8-10 kilometers, which becomes a fertile plain, and the narrow one is less than 100 meters, forming a cliff and deep canyon.The plain is a rich farming and animal husbandry base, but the canyon is an extremely rich treasure house of hydropower.Just below the Great Bend, the natural water energy reserves reach 68.8 million kilowatts, making it one of the areas with the most concentrated water energy resources in the world. The beautiful Yarlung Zangbo River is the cradle of Tibetan national culture.The three regions of Tsedang, Lhasa and Shigatse-Gyantse in the basin represent the ethnic culture and religious culture of Tibet in the early, middle and late stages.In the Yalong (Longlong) River Valley centered on Zedang, there are still remains of early history and culture.For example, the Monkey Cave on Kampot Mountain behind Zedang is said to be the place where the ancestors of Tibetan monkeys lived.Zedang means "the place where monkeys play" in Tibetan.The watchtower-style high-rise building on the top of the mountain 10 kilometers south of Zedang, Yumbula Kang, is the first palace in Tibet.There is also the first piece of cultivated land at the foot of the mountain, as well as Changzhu Temple, the winter palace of Songtsan Gampo and Princess Wencheng, as well as rich historical and cultural relics such as the large-scale tombs of successive Tibetan kings. Lhasa, located on the banks of the Lhasa River, is the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the political, economic, cultural and religious center of Tibet.Lhasa means "Holy Land" in Tibetan.It was first built in 633 A.D., which was gradually formed after the Tibetan king Songtsan Qianbu moved his capital to Lhasa from Zedang.The Potala Palace, the Dazhang Temple and the Bajiao Street surrounding the temple, the Drepung Monastery, the Sera Monastery, and the Norbulingka Monastery, which now stand on the plains of the Lhasa River Valley, mark the splendor of Tibetan culture and the prosperity of religion since the 7th century. .These traditional historical cultures are integrated into the landscape of modern Lhasa. Shigatse and Gyantse are central towns in the wide valley plain of the Yarlung Zangbo River and its tributaries, the Nianchu River.This is a fertile land with criss-cross paths.Gyantse is an ancient and heroic city.Zongshan is the symbol of Gyantse, and the castle standing on the mountain was the palace of the Sakya Dynasty more than 500 years ago.The Baiju Temple and Baiju Pagoda, which are far away from it, are world-famous ancient buildings.The unique Baiju Pagoda contains 100,000 Buddha statues.There is also a fort on the mountain where the people of Gyantse would rather die than surrender to fight against the British invading army in 1904. Shigatse, once became the political, economic and cultural center of Tibet in the 14th century.Founded in 1447, Tashilhunpo Monastery is the seat of the Panchen Lama. It is built on the hillside, with a building area of ​​300,000 square meters. It is resplendent and magnificent, comparable to the Potala Palace. The beautiful Yamdrok Lake is one of the "holy lakes" in Tibet. According to folklore, this lake was created by a fairy from the sky.Yamdrok Lake has many branches, like Qiongzhi stretching out to the mountains, and there are many islands in the lake, ethereal like fairy mountains.On the west and north of the lake, there are snow-capped mountains that do not melt all year round, which are reflected in the blue water of the lake, which is extremely bright.The grass on the lakeside is full of flowers, the fish in the water are free to swim, and the island is full of swans.In this clean and quiet space, the shepherdess's singing can be heard from time to time—"The fairyland in the sky, the sheep in the world". Yamdrok Lake has an area of ​​678 square kilometers and an altitude of 4410 meters.In geological history, it was once connected with the Yarlung Zangbo River.Later, during the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, they were gradually separated.The height difference between the lake surface and the Yarlung Zangbo River at the foot of the mountain is 850 meters.Yamdrok Lake Hydropower Station was built using this height difference to dig tunnels from the middle of the mountain to divert the lake water into the river.