August Tour Around Qinghai (8. Kunlun Mountains)

The morning in Xidatan was still drizzly, only around a dozen degrees Celsius. This should be the most comfortable temperature we've had during these days of travel. Restaurants here are a bit pricey, but they all have local characteristics. In the middle of the room, there was a large stove with a big kettle constantly boiling water, and free sweet tea was provided for guests to enjoy.

Our plan was to make a brief stop at Kunlun Pass first, then switch to driving mode, trying to reach Yushu early, where we could wander around Ethnic Street and such. Hopefully, we could return to Xining tomorrow.

A few dozen kilometers passed in no time, and we arrived at Kunlun Pass. The best thing here is the wide-open view. Interestingly, there is also a volunteer service station. The person on duty was a big boy, sunny and healthy. Most of them are recent graduates or young white-collar workers who come here to briefly escape the city's hustle and bustle and change their mindset. Their main task now is to promote knowledge about animal protection. They had all been trained before coming, so they could talk endlessly about it.

The animal resources here are quite abundant. The most famous is the Tibetan antelope. Because its fur is very valuable, poachers have always been flocking to it. The most renowned hero in protecting Tibetan antelopes is Sonam Dargye, whose tomb is located here.

There was a famous movie called "Kekexili" that tells this story. At that time, county leader Sonam Dargye resolutely carried out the tasks assigned by the state despite limited funds. When I watched that movie, I just felt it was "tragic." The team members fought wits and courage with countless poaching groups using old guns and broken cars. Sometimes they had to sell antelope skins to raise funds. That was the 1990s, and some poachers were already equipped with Western-made gear and advanced telemetry devices, at least one generation ahead of Sonam Dargye's team equipment. After several small victories against poaching, the poaching organization became furious and planned an ambush. It is said that five days later, when the rescue team found the hero's body, Sonam Dargye was still in a posture of holding a gun in his right hand, pulling the bolt with his left, and staring wide-eyed in anger. He was motionless, frozen into an ice sculpture by the minus 40 degrees Celsius wind and snow of Kekexili. However, the state did not let the ambushers off the hook and had been pursuing them for years. Now, almost 30 years later, of the more than 20 people involved in the ambush, only two are still missing. The most recent arrest happened just two years ago.

The good news is that since the millennium, thanks to the upgrade of national satellite technology and military equipment, poachers no longer have room to operate. The ecology has been improving, so now the scene of large-scale migration has reappeared.

We were only going to stay for a while before departing, but then a bigger problem arose: our RV experienced "altitude sickness." We had only been there for a few dozen minutes, and when we tried to start the engine, it wouldn't turn over, and the oil fault light came on. There was no help for it—diesel vehicles are troublesome. I had no choice but to call the RV company. After trying their simple troubleshooting steps without success, I was told to wait for rescue right there. The RV company would send a seven-seater vehicle and a tow truck from Golmud to take us and the RV back separately. That journey is over 160 kilometers, another several hours—just wait! The rest of the trip was definitely scrapped.

"This is Kunlun Pass, about 4,800 meters above sea level. There are mountains on both sides of the pass, at least 200 meters tall, and the peaks must be over 5,000 meters. Why not climb up!" My proposal was only answered by my daughter; the others were clearly tired, which is understandable at such a high altitude.

We advanced a few dozen meters. At the open area at the foot of the mountain, there were prayer flags for Tibetan worship. Most people went no farther than this to take photos and then left. Beyond that, it should be sparsely populated. Looking up from here, I seemed to see many small animals scurrying through the grass, with rustling sounds filling the air. I had no idea what they were. Searching online didn't yield any results either, though I heard there are also wild wolves and snow leopards in Tibetan areas. Because the lower areas are long-term human territory, they won't easily come down to harm people, but up there, it's uncertain.

I sent my daughter back and planned to explore first. Just then, a fellow from Sichuan came over and also wanted to go up the mountain, which made me much more at ease. He went ahead, and I followed. Before setting off, we saw some dirt holes about 10 centimeters in diameter on the mountain. We had no idea what animals were inside or if there was any danger. Since the slope angle was at least 30 degrees, to be safe, we took a diagonal route ascending in a zigzag, so that if something popped out from a hole, we wouldn't be knocked rolling down the hill.

The journey indeed brimmed with vitality. These small creatures were everywhere.

This little thing was afraid of humans, always keeping a considerable distance from me. After descending the mountain, I asked the volunteers and learned that it was a pika, the most active small animal on the plateau. It doesn't hibernate and plays all year round. It moves extremely fast. While walking, I heard three "pat-pat-pat" sounds, like the sound of a grasshopper flapping its wings three times in autumn when I was a child. Looking at where the sound came from, I only saw a row of small grass blades shaking. Within one second, it must have run at least ten meters and quickly hid into its burrow. It is probably the animal with the most natural enemies on the plateau—everyone's common food—so its escape skills are naturally top-notch.

When we reached the mountainside, a clatter of hooves swept past above me. It was a lone Tibetan antelope running along the ridge. By the time I reacted and raised my phone, it had already vanished without a trace.

After a while, we reached the top. The highest point had been piled with several stacks of wishing stones by others. I couldn't resist joining in. The view here was extremely open. Below the pass was Kekexili, and behind us were vast snow-capped mountains. At the summit, I was the peak!

This was the discovery while descending—the biggest surprise!

When I spotted it, it was at least 20 meters away. I couldn't miss this opportunity. I held my phone down, lens forward, carefully adjusting the focus and slowly approaching it. At the time, I didn't know what it was, but it looked cute and slightly silly. It probably wasn't carnivorous, right? The chance of it coming over to bite me was likely low? It just looked at me like that. In many ways, thoughts are mutual. In its eyes, I was probably also a big, silly creature. Anyway, it didn't seem scared. We kept staring at each other, gradually getting closer. When we were about a meter apart, it lazily crawled into its hole.

Later, I asked the volunteer and learned that its scientific name is "Himalayan marmot," commonly known as the groundhog. Then it suddenly dawned on me—this was the very creature common in short videos, the cute thing that opens its mouth wide and screams when something extraordinary happens. However, it is said that its actual sound is more like a rat's and absolutely not the kind of sound in those short videos.

Time flew, and the rescue vehicles had arrived without me noticing. I checked the time; we had actually spent over seven hours here. When it was time to go down, only the little kid named Xiaoyu felt a bit dizzy and threw up a couple of times, but no other discomfort. It seemed everyone was in good shape, so driving to Tibet in the future should be fine.

On the way back, while chatting, I learned that our driver, Master Yang, is a devout Muslim, and I love history. Since there had also been a COVID outbreak in Golmud recently, a checkpoint was set up at the city entrance, making security checks especially slow. The traffic jam outside stretched at least 10 kilometers. It took almost six hours to cover this short distance, which created a good opportunity for an in-depth conversation. Here are a few points summarized:

1. Master Yang is very proud of his faith. The doctrines have a complete theoretical system, and various rituals permeate every aspect of life. He explained in great detail, clearly stating the ins and outs, giving the impression that he has a strong sense of religious superiority.

2. The Hui Rebellion and Bai Yanhu.

3. The epidemic and the Illuminati.

4. In Qinghai, ethnic unity work has been done quite well, with no major incidents. Generally, as long as policies ensure ethnic equality, everyone can live peacefully together. Ironically, it's the places with more preferential policies that tend to have more problems.