Rectifying the chaos caused by crushing grasslands, Qinghai Lake is surrounded by barbed wire for 360 kilometers around the lake? Scenic Area: Previously, there were fenced tourists | Qinghai Lake | Fence

Qinghai Lake, as the largest inland saline lake in China, is surrounded by towering mountains and nestled like a jade plate between the high mountains and grasslands in the northeast of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. Every summer, this place becomes a popular check-in spot for many tourists.

Recently, there has been a discussion on multiple social media platforms that "all 360 kilometers around Qinghai Lake are surrounded by barbed wire". Many netizens have questioned this as not conducive to the tourist experience, and some even believe that the scenic area intentionally charges fees for surrounding the lake.

On June 14th, a staff member of the Qinghai Lake Scenic Area Protection and Utilization Management Bureau stated, "That is misleading, and tourists and the public have misunderstood us. The fence of Qinghai Lake has actually existed for many years." The staff member stated that tourists driving around the lake are free of charge, and entering the scenic area requires buying a ticket. In earlier years, there were herdsmen's grasslands around the lake. The herdsmen fenced the grasslands and divided them into separate areas, with entrances and exits within the grasslands. In recent years, in order to attract tourists, some herdsmen have opened channels for self driving tourists to enter and exit the lake. After vehicles run over the grassland, the recovery process is relatively long. In 2022, Qinghai Lake will launch the creation of a national park to rectify tourism chaos such as tourists driving over grasslands, in order to protect the ecology.

↑ Scenery of Qinghai Lake

Netizens have reported that:

Qinghai Lake is surrounded by barbed wire for 360 kilometers around the lake

Impact on tourist experience

Recently, the most popular roast against Qinghai Lake is that "Qinghai Lake is surrounded 360 kilometers around the lake". Open platforms such as Tiktok, Weibo and Xiaohongshu to search for keywords such as "Qinghai Lake", and there are many similar roast. Many bloggers are forwarding the news of the "iron wire fence surrounding the lake", which has attracted widespread attention. A netizen questioned, "The ticket to Qinghai Lake scenic area is 90 yuan, which affects the tourist experience after being surrounded."

On June 5th, netizen "Lao Liu" posted his feelings on a short video platform: "Qinghai Lake is surrounded by hundreds of kilometers, and now only Erlang Sword has an observation deck open to the public. When it arrived, it was raining and it was too cold to walk." In the end, the netizen took three photos at the entrance of the scenic spot and left.

↑ Netizens roast that "Qinghai Lake is fenced"

Below the video, a netizen named "Qingdengzhuo Jiu" commented, "I still want to take my child to Qinghai Lake for summer vacation, forget it!"

Some parents who are preparing to take their children to drive Qinghai Lake during the summer are also adopting a wait-and-see attitude. "I originally planned to go around the Qinghai Lake. I heard that the Qinghai Lake is surrounded by barbed wire. Now I'm going to change my travel plan. I'll go to the First Bay of the Yellow River in West Sichuan, Ruoergai Flower Lake, Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area Valley and other places to see." Seeing the news on the Internet, Mr. Wang, a Sichuan tourist, said.

Local tourists:

Fencing does not affect self driving around the lake

To get to the lake now, you must buy a ticket

"Indeed, there is such a thing!" Mr. Shi, who runs a travel agency in Xining, told Red Star News reporters that Qinghai Lake was surrounded around April this year. Previously, there was a small road that could lead directly to the lake, and local herdsmen could rent horses for ten or twenty yuan to tourists, leading the way to the lake for sightseeing, but now it is not possible. He said that if tourists want to go to Qinghai Lake now, they must buy a ticket of 90 yuan per ticket.

A boss who runs a guesthouse by Qinghai Lake introduced that Qinghai Lake does not only receive tickets recently, but has always had to purchase tickets to enter. She said that Qinghai Lake can be seen from a distance, but to get close to the lake, one must buy a ticket. Before, when there were no fences, there were some remote intersections or small roads that could reach the lake. Many self driving or car rental tourists would choose to use these small roads to get to the lake to save tickets.

The owner of the inn revealed to Red Star News reporters that the fence does not affect the road for self driving around the lake. Some areas are not scenic spots, and local herdsmen can enter for farming or grazing. Other vehicles and personnel are currently not allowed to enter. At first, she thought it was not good to surround herself like this, as it would affect the tourist experience and the business of the inn. However, after understanding it, she realized that it was also good from a long-term perspective. Qinghai Lake is very large and difficult to manage. If vehicles drive to the lake without permission, it will indeed bring adverse ecological and environmental impacts.

At present, Qinghai Lake is vigorously developing and upgrading, and ecological protection is the foundation. Without good ecology, there can be no good scenic spots.

↑ Scenery of Qinghai Lake

Response from the Scenic Area Management Bureau:

"Online news is misleading"

To protect the ecology and rectify tourism chaos such as crushing grasslands

Red Star News learned that Qinghai Lake, as the largest inland saline lake in China, is an important water body for maintaining ecological security in the northeast of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau.

On April 25, 2022, the National Park Administration officially replied, agreeing to the creation of Qinghai Lake National Park in Qinghai Province, marking the implementation stage of the creation of Qinghai Lake National Park.

On June 14th, in response to online rumors of "surrounding the lake" and doubts from netizens, Red Star News reporters called the Qinghai Lake Scenic Area Protection and Utilization Management Bureau as tourists to inquire about the situation. "That's misleading, and tourists and the public have misunderstood us. The fence of Qinghai Lake has actually existed for many years." A staff member explained that in earlier years, there were herdsmen's grasslands around the lake. In order to distinguish each family's grassland, herdsmen fenced the grasslands and divided them into areas. There were herdsmen's living areas in the grasslands, and herdsmen lived on pastures with access roads. In recent years, there has been an increase in self driving tourists. In order to attract some tourists, herdsmen have opened channels for self driving tourists to enter and exit, heading to the lake. Tourists prioritize convenience and speed, and without understanding the situation, they drive directly into the core scenic area. After vehicles crush the grassland, the recovery process is relatively long. "It takes a long time, even decades, to recover to its original state. The entire ecological environment by the lake is relatively fragile, so we will definitely focus more on protecting it."

"In response to such a tourism chaos, we have been increasing our efforts to rectify it," the staff member explained. Especially after exposing the tourism chaos around Qinghai Lake in 2022, the Qinghai Provincial Government, scenic area management bureaus, and local governments have attached great importance to this matter and joined forces to carry out a chaotic rectification work. The local area has fenced off the passages privately opened by herdsmen and set up warning signs to rectify the behavior of vehicles entering the core scenic area and crushing grasslands. It has also increased environmental protection around Qinghai Lake and plans to create Qinghai Lake National Park as an international ecotourism destination.

The Qinghai Lake photographed by tourists in 2020 has already been fenced

The staff introduced that a lot of work has been done in the local area recently, upgrading the functions and facilities of the scenic spots. "The entire appearance, management, and infrastructure have been refreshed. We have also designated waterfront areas, where tourists can engage in water purification activities at several scenic spots after purchasing tickets."

It is understood that there were four scenic spots around Qinghai Lake that were previously open, including Erlangjian, Bird Island, Sha Island, and Xiannv Bay, with tickets priced at 90 yuan each. After purchasing tickets, tourists can enter the core scenic spots for water and bird watching and check-in. At present, the Erlangjian Scenic Area and Xiannv Bay are open to the public, while the other two scenic spots are not yet open and are still being upgraded and renovated.

It is understood that tourists driving around the lake will not charge any fees.