When crossing into no man's land has become almost "illegal", and you still crave the ultimate off-road experience in no man's land, then take a look at our trip for shortcuts: the Great Seaway, a no-man's land that you can legally cross. The Great Sea Road is a secret road from ancient Dunhuang to Turpan through Hami, which began in the Han Dynasty, declined in the Tang Dynasty, and was abolished in the Northern Song Dynasty.
It is a legendary stretch of the ancient Silk Road, and there are still many unsolved mysteries.
Today, although the specific route of the ancient road is still lost in the dust of history and has not been revealed, it has become famous as a popular crossing route. Of course, this is also because it is currently the only no-man's-land that can be legally traversed.
Brief introduction of the routeThe core area of the sea road is the part of the Hami sea road. If you don't have to go through the whole journey from Dunhuang to Turpan, but want to feel the scenery of the sea road in more detail and depth, it is recommended to travel directly to Hami. Here is a brief introduction to some of the main routes of the Hami Sea Road. 
Conventional linesAt present, there are 3 more mature and conventional travel routes based on paved roads. First, from the north to the east, from the pier in, Wubao Town Devil City, this line can be one or two days. Second, from the south to the north, from the S328 south entrance in, pier out, this line and the previous line partially overlapped, it takes 2 days. Third, starting from Hami City, along the 312 National Highway through the Devil's City into the sea road, one-way about 180km, of which the last 70km is the original Gobi Road in the scenic area, a little bumpy, but you can basically pass through careful driving. 
Crossing the line: Crossing from north to south, crossing the South Lake and the Great Seaway. This route starts near the Nanhu Desert and then has to travel more than 100 kilometers to reach the Hongliutan Service Center. In addition to the conventional Gobi desert road, there are soft sand areas, large steep slopes and extremely torturous washboard roads. Of course, there are also spectacular scenery that is rarely found elsewhere, such as the primeval poplar forest and the Tiankeng Yadan. 
The more we play off-road, the more we can't take the ordinary road, and we go in this time to walk the Nanhu Sea Road crossing route. 02Vehicle recommendationsAmong them, the conventional line, generally speaking, ordinary SUVs can be competent, of course, the first choice is four-wheel drive off-road vehicles, and it is not recommended to drive ordinary family cars to enter. ps: We saw a Wuling Hongguang in the sea road, far away we thought that the other party was stuck in the car and stopped and wanted to go to the rescue, only to find that people were parking to pick up agate. The road is familiar with good technology, and it is possible to drive any car. But for us non-local enthusiasts, off-road is for fun, not for life, and it's safest to be prepared. 
Crossing the route, it is only recommended to enter the four-wheel drive off-road vehicle, and it is also recommended to form a team, prepare oil drums, food, bring rescue equipment, and find a local guide who is familiar with the road. There is no water in it, there is no signal, everything is fine if there is no problem, and if there is a problem, it is very fatal. 
What kind of car we driveThis time, we are driving this year's hot model: the Jet Traveler (4WD version). The boxy appearance of the Jet Traveler is very attractive to off-road enthusiasts, and the high-end color palette is stunning and beautiful at a glance. But to be honest, at first, we were a little apprehensive about driving it through the South Lake and Haihai Road. It's not a non-load-bearing body, it doesn't have a girder, and we'd be more inclined to think of it as a long, boxy, but not hard-core off-road SUV. 
But this road in the Gobi Desert Road, gravel road, soft sand road, steep slope and other off-road conditions are indeed a bit difficult to walk down, its off-road, passability, comfort in its level of models, is very good. 
To put it simply, it is indeed in line with the official positioning: the positioning of the off-road SUV that can be used in the city. When you want to be wild, it can take you to the wilderness. A more detailed test drive report will be posted separately later, which will not be expanded here (there will be **).
What's the scenery like?I don't want to use "beauty" to describe the scenery of the sea road, primitive, rough, vast, desolate, I think magnificent, shocking, magical may be more suitable for it. 
In the vast black Gobi, red willow and poplar grow tenaciously in all directions;The colorful agate and petrified wood tell the vicissitudes of life here;The strange Yadan is the carving of natureThe scattered volcanic rocks are the freeze frame after the volcanic eruption hundreds of millions of years ago, and it is also the ...... of the most Mars-like places known to the earth
What are the accommodations like?Friends who pay attention to Haidao may know that there is a "Mars base" here. This is a container capsule-style hotel that was completed and opened in 2018 by a traveler who loves the sea route. One person and one cabin are air-conditioned, warm in winter and cool in summer, can be bathed, and are also equipped with restaurants and kitchens. It is the first to help everyone play well, sleep soundly, and eat beautifully in the uninhabited area of Haidao. Reference price: 350-500 cabin nights.
Now, there's one more option: the Red Willow Beach Hotel. This is the investment and construction of Hami Cultural Tourism, it should be officially opened in May this year, the hotel conditions are very good, the room facilities basically have a four-star standard, the overall experience is relatively good. Reference price: The market price is 558 yuan for a standard room, and the average price of the restaurant is about 100 yuan.
Line timeThe trip lasted three days and covered a distance of about 550 km, of which about 320 km was after the next road. Day1 Hami-Nanhu-DahaidaoStarting from Hami, drive along S328 to Nanhu, get off the road near the Nanhu Desert, and start the Nanhu Sea Road crossing route. The distance from the next point to the Hongliutan Service Center is about 100 kilometers. The highlights of the scenery on this day are the poplar forest of Nanhu Lake (in fact, the big red willow group along the way is also very beautiful) and Tiankeng Yadan (Nansha Wozi).
Tiankeng Yadan has a lot of mound-like roundness, a bit like a flat duck egg Yadan. According to the development process of Yadan landform, these Yadan belong to the middle and late years, and the continuous erosion makes the Yadan body become isolated, lower and smaller, and then the Yadan body collapses in the extinction period and becomes a residual mound, and eventually most of it will form a new Gobi surface.
Such a large area of "mellow" Yadan in middle and late life is relatively rare in my travels, and I am very surprised. But the wind of the sea road is even more amazing, the surprise of punctuality. Before 4 o'clock in the afternoon, it was still calm all the way, and there was not a trace of wind, and when it arrived at 4 o'clock, the strong wind visited on time. At about half past four, when we passed by the Tiankeng Yadan, the wind was so strong that it almost blew the car over. At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the wind gradually weakened and blew out the sun wrapped in dark clouds, and the sunset was like a huge fiery orange, and the sunset was beautiful like a mirage.
In the evening, arrive at the Red Willow Hotel for dinner and rest. Day2 Dahaidao Scenic AreaThis day's itinerary is inside the Great Sea Road Scenic Area. Although it is a scenic spot, the construction of infrastructure is on the basis of retaining its original style, and a large area is a no-man's land without construction, which can basically be understood as giving you a legal identity to cross the uninhabited area.
The Haidao Scenic Area is adjacent to the Devil's City area of Wubao Town, which is mainly a geological relics landscapeThe area of the sea road adjacent to the pier is mainly the landscape of Yadan. The Devil's Town area has asphalt roads to reach the main attractions, and the Escayal Castle to the Red Willow Beach Visitor Service Center is also an asphalt road. The sea road area basically maintains its original appearance, and the off-road routes are the mainstay. Tickets**Reference: Tickets are 45 yuan per person;Self-driving cars are calculated by vehicle, 50 yuan for Devil's Town, and 100 yuan for Devil's Town + Haidao. The road to the popular Mars base, water source, Tianmen Cave and other check-in points on the Internet is basically gravel roads, which is not too difficult, but you need to drive carefully.
Although the main thing is to see Yadan, you won't feel aesthetic fatigue if you play here for two or three days, because the paintings of nature are really strange and expressive, which makes people marvel all the way.
The ridge-shaped Yadan body, which resembles a fleet going to sea, is the heyday of Yadan's development, that is, the young Yadan.
Conjoined tower-shaped, tower-shaped, and columnar Yadan, etc., are the prime of life. It is the young Yadan that has been continuously eroded, and the longitudinal grooves cut it into the adjoining small Yadan body.
Day3 The Great Wall of the Secret Land - HamiIn addition to Yadan, another great wonder of the Great Sea Road is the volcanic landform that resembles Mars. On the desolate black Gobi, there is no trace of the crater for a long time, but the scattered and piled up volcanic rocks are traces of the volcanic eruption thousands of years ago.
The most famous of these is the Great Wall of the Secret Realm, a short road, all the way up, on both sides of the continuous towering thick volcanic stone walls, strange and dangerous, very spectacular. Maybe you've seen aerial photography here**, where the convoy passes through a stretch of road that looks like the Great Wall, and the surrounding area is like Mars. Nature's magic is amazing. Standing here, looking at the vastness of the world, my heart is opened.
In addition to the magnificent scenery, another interesting thing is the "treasure hunt", although we have long been unable to find the real precious strange stones, but the agate scattered everywhere on the Black Gobi still makes us happy. Agate is essentially a silica mineral that was born from a volcanic eruption hundreds of millions of years ago. The petrified wood, which can also be occasionally found along the way, is evidence that this was once a forest, but it is a long Gobi ...... where no grass grows
Write on the backThe three-day journey was a bit short, and it was over in a flash. In fact, when I set out, I was worried not only about shortcuts, but also about whether the Kaimido would be extremely cold in mid-November. But after a lap, the travel companion of the short-distance traveler performed well, and the temperature of the Haidao was not as cold as expected, similar to Beijing, and when there was no wind in the Gobi Desert, the sun even felt a little warm.
Nature's wonders, words can't be accurately described, ** can't show them all;The realization of this vast world has to be in it, so that the body and soul can truly feel the desolation, loneliness, grandeur, and openness.
Finally, if you are lucky enough to reach this wilderness, leave nothing but footprints and ruts.
Tip: Off-road is risky, so be cautious and be prepared before you go. This route is not recommended for the average off-road enthusiast to cross by bicycle. The vehicle recommendation must be a reliable 4x4, and the performance of the Jet Traveler along the way will be tweeted in the near future.
The track can be searched for the keyword: shortcut traveler on the hand-grasped map app, and you can query the trajectory of this trip, and you can follow the track. More questions can be left in the message.
Text|Yan Qi Figure|Zhang Fan.